Her Texas Rebel

Outside the window, an owl hooted in the darkness. He peered out the window. He didn’t feel at all tired, but he lay down on the bed, anyway. Placing the ice on his shoulder, he closed his eyes.

He’d spent much of his life trying to control the chaos around him. But here, in this small town, things moved at their own pace. His teenaged self had hated it. Now it was exactly what he needed. Too bad he couldn’t stay.

The rattle of dishes woke him up. He didn’t remember falling asleep. The rich aroma of warm bread drifted down the hall. Abuela must be making tortillas.

He slipped a pair of sweatpants on and made his way to the living room. Nothing had changed since the first time he saw it all those years ago. The flower pattern on the sofa had faded, but his grandmother’s afghans and doilies covered up the worn places. Papa’s recliner sat in the corner, facing the ancient cabinet television taking up most of the space on the far wall.

He smiled. “Does that thing still work?”

Papa looked up from the newspaper. “Yes. Do you want to watch something? We still only get the three channels.”

No cable TV. No satellite. No cell phones. Yep. It was like he’d stepped back in history. If only he could go back in time. So many things would be different now. Starting with Sabrina.

“No, thanks.” The crumpling sound of the newspaper page being turned drew his attention. And he froze. From across the room, he could clearly read the headline on the front page of the open paper. “Hero Cop Has Roots in Lampasas County.”

“Can I see the paper for a minute?” Tony crossed the room and sat on the couch across from his grandfather.

Without waiting for a reply, he took the paper and scanned through the article. His name jumped out at him, followed by a story hailing him as a hero for jumping in front of a bullet to save a young man’s life. It failed to mention that the young man he’d taken a bullet for was the same one trying to rob the store. “How did the newspaper get this information?”

Abuela appeared, wiping her hands on a dish towel. “Me. A reporter came by and wanted to know if you were the cop.”

“So you gave them a story?” He rubbed his hands on his legs. “You shouldn’t have done that.”

“Why not?” She lifted her chin. “I’m proud of my grandson and I don’t care who knows it.”

He pinched the bridge of his nose. It wasn’t her fault. The last thing he wanted to do was worry her, but she had to know. “Abuela, sometimes I work with dangerous people. If they ever wanted to retaliate for any reason, this article could lead them right to you two.”

Her mouth opened but nothing came out. After a moment, she turned to her husband. “Did you know about this, Antonio?”

Papa shrugged and stood up. “No. Not until I got to San Antonio and talked to his captain.”

“How dangerous?” Her eyes darted back and forth between Papa and Tony. “Should we be worried?”

This was exactly what Tony wanted to avoid. He set the paper down. “I chase drug dealers and I work with kids from gangs. All small, local operations and I’ve managed to stay under the radar, but if I get promoted to detective, it may not stay that way.”

Abuela’s brow creased. She pressed her lips together and turned to her husband. “You call his captain and tell him he’s not coming back. He’s staying here.”

“You can’t protect him from everything, Elaina. He’s a grown man and makes his own decisions.”

“That’s what you said about Teresa and look how that turned out.” Her voice had risen an octave.

Tony held his breath at the mention of his mother’s name, waiting for the explosion. He’d lived with his grandparents for four years in his late teens, but it had only taken a few months to learn not to ignite Abuela’s anger.

Papa pulled her into his arms and pressed a kiss to the top of her head, immediately defusing the tiny woman’s temper. Only Papa could calm her down as fast as she riled up.

Tony swallowed. He’d once had someone who affected him the same way. How much trouble had he avoided because Sabrina had talked sense into him? He’d believed they would be as happy as his grandparents.

Until she’d ruined it by believing in him enough to sacrifice her future.

CHAPTER TWO (#ubd1f6704-cb28-576d-96db-ab50cfcebb0e)

FOR OVER A WEEK, Tony stalked his grandparents’ house, looking for something to keep himself busy. How was he going to make it six weeks without going nuts? Or driving everyone around him nuts? More than once Abuela scolded him for moving around too much.

Tony decided that when Papa came home for lunch, he’d insist on returning to the hardware store with him for the afternoon. Papa was probably still using the same old cash register he’d had when Tony was in high school. Abuela couldn’t complain about him sitting on a stool and checking people out. It’s not as if the tiny store would be swamped with customers.

The thought of getting out of the house for a while lightened his dark mood. He stuck his head into the kitchen. “Can I set the table?”

Abuela flipped some frying potatoes. “That’d be just fine.”

Tony slipped behind her and gathered plates from the cabinet. When he’d first come to live with his grandparents, he thought it was odd that Abuela cooked her biggest meal at noon. The evening meal was lighter, usually leftovers.

He’d just finished placing the condiments on the table when Papa came in. Like clockwork, he closed the store every day at noon to come home and eat what his grandparents called dinner. Breakfast. Dinner. Supper.

“How are things going at the store?” Tony waited for Papa to sit down before pulling his own chair out.

“Good.” Papa never elaborated on work. “Robert Davis came in this morning.”

Tony almost dropped his fork. Sabrina’s dad. His heart kicked into overdrive. “Why’re you telling me?”

“He heard you was in town and he doesn’t want you getting any ideas about going out there and bothering Sabrina.” Papa’s words were clipped.

That meant Sabrina was in town. Her memory had haunted him for ten years. No way he was going to pass up an opportunity to make things right. He swallowed. “Nice to see Robert’s opinion of me hasn’t changed much.”

The platter Papa was holding hit the table with a thud. His eyes were hard as flint. “It’s got nothing to do with you. Or Robert. Sabrina hasn’t had it easy. Her fiancé was killed in Afghanistan, leaving her to raise her son alone. Robert only just convinced her to move back home where he could help her.”

Fiancé? Son? His racing heart plummeted. She’d moved on with her life, just like he’d wanted her to. So why did it bother him so much? “He told you all this today?”

Abuela piped up. “We heard about Sabrina’s fiancé years ago.”

“Years? When did this happen?” And more importantly, why hadn’t they told him?

“Let me think.” She pressed her lips together. “I guess it was about the same time you started at the police academy.”

Tony leaned back. Eighteen months. It’d taken her all of eighteen months to get over him and love someone else.

He had hurt her. On purpose. It was the only way to keep her from giving up her scholarship to follow him to Louisiana. The kicker was that he’d only accepted a job out of state so he could earn enough money to follow her to the university in Houston. But when he got to Houston, he couldn’t find her. She wasn’t in any of the student directories and none of their mutual friends knew where she was. If they did, they wouldn’t tell him. Now he knew why.

He shot a glance at Papa. “Why did Robert feel it necessary to send me a warning?”

“You know why.”

Silence filled the room. Yes, he knew why. Until he came along, Sabrina Davis had been Salt Creek’s brightest star. And he’d tarnished her.

Papa stood up. “Might as well come to the store with me. I need to get some inventory done if we have to go to Lampasas tomorrow morning.”

“Yes, sir.” Tony picked up his plate along with Papa’s and carried them to the sink.

The ten-minute ride to town was quiet. Tony expected another lecture from Papa about staying away from Sabrina, but nothing was said. His cell phone chimed as Papa parked his small truck in front of the hardware store he’d owned for decades.