The Texan's Surprise Return

“I didn’t come back for people to take care of me.” Low and gravelly, his voice turned her spine to mush. She straightened.

“You can’t drive. You can’t see, and you can’t speak some of the time. Living on your own is not an option right now. And where would you get the money?”

He growled. Actually growled at her.

“I know you don’t remember our house or me, but there had been a garage added and you converted it into a man cave. It’s right next to the house. You can stay there. Xavier, I’m sorry but—”

“Let’s make an agreement not to apologize every time we speak the truth, or the word sorry is going to get repetitive and obnoxious.” He didn’t look very happy. “I have money in an account. It’ll take care of any needs I have.” His back was straight, his jaw set in a very familiar hard line.

No doubt about it, his pride was still intact.

She wanted to ask him when they started keeping secret accounts. He wouldn’t remember anyway.

He sighed. “I hate this.”

“We’re family, and family takes care of each other. We’ll work it out tomorrow.” Maybe another solution would come in the light of day. She wasn’t sure having him back in her space would be good for any of them.

He rubbed his head again.

“Belle is bringing your meds and some food. Do you want me to turn off the light?”

Nodding, he kept his eyes closed.

After plunging the room into darkness, she turned and rushed out the door. As soon as it closed, she pressed her back to the wall and slid to the floor in the hallway.

Selena wrapped her arms around her middle. The emotions she had been holding in erupted. Her husband had returned from the dead and was home. They’d been granted this incredible, life-altering gift.

But where did that leave them now? Their marriage had fallen apart before he left. It had been over, but with the news of his death she had decided not to follow through with the divorce. She didn’t even know where the papers were now.

There had been no point to mess with everyone’s memories of him.

She hadn’t talked to anyone about their problem. No one knew. Her husband didn’t even know.

When they’d gotten married, he’d told her that he would love her forever and that nothing would ever separate them. He’d vowed back then that, even if he lost everything, she would be the one thing he clung to. Apparently, forever had a time limit.

The day he left for the job, the anger had consumed her. In a rage she had gone online and had found the website to start legally ending their marriage. She had wanted the paper in hand when he walked through the door to prove how serious she was about ending his secret work. But he had never walked back into their house.

So much in her life had changed. She had to tell him about the triplets. That would be a shock, even if he had all his memories.

Before he left for the last job, they had gotten another negative result on a pregnancy test. As he had held her, he’d said it might be for the best.

At the time, that had torn her heart in two. They had always been on the same page, but she had drawn into herself, had pushed him out. The love that had burned bright had gone out. They had been left with nothing but ashes.

Now she wasn’t even a part of his memories.

She would never forget staring at the door after he left, waiting for him to come back. He hadn’t returned. Until now. But it wasn’t real. He hadn’t returned to her.

There would be no starting over.

She wouldn’t think of the past. Instead she chose to focus on the boys. They had their father now.

“Selena.” Belle stood in front of her, a duffel bag over her shoulder and a plate of food in one hand. She crouched down. “Sweetheart, are you okay?”

She nodded.

“So, you didn’t tell him about the boys?”

Her throat was too tight to speak. She just shook her head.

Dropping the bag and setting the food aside, Belle pulled Selena into her arms. She shifted, leaning against the wall. “We have him back. It’s something straight out of a movie. But we’re De La Rosas, and we don’t do anything the easy way. Not even death or reunions. And, man, his timing. ‘Home for Christmas’ has a whole new meaning.”

Selena couldn’t help but snort against the denim jacket Belle had put on over her formal gown. “It’s the most amazing gift ever. Belle, I spent the last so much time telling myself that he was gone forever. Now I’m so afraid I’ll wake up and find out this is some twisted dream.”

“I know. But for Xavier this has to be a nightmare. We don’t have a clue what he’s been through.”

“I should have told him about the boys.”

Belle shook her head. “No. It would have been too much. In the morning, after we’ve all had time to process, we’ll talk. This is better. This way, as soon as you tell him, he can meet them. There’s no point in telling him now. He already has too much information to process. You did the right thing.”

Or had it just been the easier thing? She wriggled out of Belle’s embrace and stood. “Let me take this to him. Then I want to go check on my boys.”

Understanding and warmth radiated from Belle’s deep gray-green eyes, so much like Xavier’s. A sob escaped her throat,

She needed to hold her babies and snuggle them, to feel their little heartbeats. They didn’t even know their world had just changed.

Four years ago, she’d been too angry at God to trust him with her marriage or anything else. Not leaning on Him had led her to push her husband away. This time she had to stay in her faith. She had to trust God.

One thing was for sure. She couldn’t trust her heart or the stranger that the world saw as her husband.

Chapter Three (#ue0c7ecc3-2169-5d69-8b8a-38ca39e89d87)

Yellows and soft pinks marbled the sky as the sun rose from the watery horizon. Selena glanced into the rearview mirror, checking on the boys out of habit. In the far backseat of the Suburban, her nieces were singing. From the corner of her gaze, she caught her own reflection.

Puffy, bloodshot eyes made it obvious there had been no sleep for her last night. She’d lost track of the hours she and Belle had talked on the phone. Every time one of them had said good-night and promised to go to sleep, the other would call again.

Her phone vibrated and she cast a glance at her father seated beside her. “Dad, would you check that and see if it’s someone I need to talk to?” The phone had not stopped for the last few hours. Word had spread that her husband was back from the dead. She wanted to turn it off, but with so much going on, she didn’t dare.

Riff glanced at the screen, then shook his head. “Not anyone you need to talk to right now.”

“Tía Selena!” Cassie, Belle’s older daughter, yelled from the third-row seat. “Lucy and Rosie won’t stop singing. I have a headache.”

Elijah’s six-year-old daughter’s eyes went wide, and she clamped her lips closed. Lucy just sang louder.

“Lucy, I love your voice, but it is a bit early. Be nice and wait to sing once we’re out of the car.”

The tight pressure pushed harder at the front of her skull.

Her father stared at his coffee without taking a sip. “This has to be a crazy dream. How is Xavier back from the dead? Are you sure it’s him?” Even though his voice was low, he twisted and looked at the boys, worry on his face. “Oh, I shouldn’t say stuff in front of them, but I can’t even start…” His voice dropped, and tears hovered in his eyes again.