Texas Rebels: Elias

“I think she was,” the sheriff replied.

She paused long enough to make sure Elias was following her. She went through the door and the warm June breeze kissed the heat of her cheeks. A faint hum of traffic from the interstate broke the early morning silence. Fading moonlight and the ancient streetlights provided illumination. She walked toward one of the old live oak trees that shaded the courthouse, and sat on the bench beneath it.

Words rolled around in her head again and she desperately searched for the right ones to start the conversation. It wouldn’t be easy, but nothing in life for her had been.

Elias sat beside her and she wanted to move away. He was too close for her comfort zone. In high school, they were always looking at each other, but they both knew that’s all they could do. With their feuding families, there was no way they could ever go out on a date or even socialize. That’s just the way it was. But she had always thought he was the most handsome guy in school. Tall and lanky with an attitude that bespoke confidence, he had a daredevil approach to life that had been exciting for a young girl.

Nothing was said for a few seconds. “You wanted to talk, so talk,” he said. “But before you start, I just want you to know I’m not loaning you any money.”

“Elias, I need help, and I’ll pay you back.”

“Do you have a job?”

She forced herself not to fidget. “No, not yet, but I will soon.”

“I’m not in the habit of loaning people money, especially if they don’t have a job. And for the record, Wyatt was right. Your kid needs to learn a lesson.”

“You don’t even know my kid.”

“I think I do. I’m the one who tackled him when he ran off.”

“You did what?”

“He ran, Maribel, from the law, and they will stick him good for that.”

She turned on the seat to face him, not caring how close she was. “You can’t let that happen. His whole future is ahead of him. He made a mistake because he’s upset about the move from Dallas. You see, he’s a good football player and he wants to play in the NFL. He thinks all his dreams have been ruined because he won’t be playing for a big school. Instead, he’ll be playing here in Horseshoe. He’s mad and that’s my fault. I shouldn’t have uprooted him.”

“So the stealing thing was his stupid attempt to get you to move back to Dallas?”

“Yes.”

He rested his forearms on his knees and clasped his hands. “I don’t understand why you’re telling me this or asking me for money. You have family here and I should be the last person you’d ask since you wouldn’t even speak to me earlier at Rowdy’s, just like in high school.”

“Things had to be that way in high school.”

He rubbed his hands together. “I know.”

“I can’t ask my family. None of them have tried to make contact since I’ve been home and I can’t ask Phoenix and Rosie. They have their own problems right now and I don’t want to cause them any extra worry.”

“But why me?”

She kept talking because she didn’t want to answer that question and with luck she wouldn’t have to. “I have an interview with Gladys at the diner and I feel sure she’s going to hire me.”

“For minimum wage?”

“Yes, but it’s a start.”

“What did you do in Dallas?”

“At first, waitress. Then after I got my high school diploma, I attended a junior college and took restaurant management courses. That enabled me to get a better job and I worked my way up the ladder to being a manager of an upscale restaurant. I can start over again and I can pay you so much each week.”

“I could be married, Maribel. Have you ever thought of that? My wife wouldn’t like me throwing my money away, and investing in your kid is like throwing money away.”

“You’re not married,” she stated with confidence.

“How do you know that?”

“Because no one would marry you.”

“Really? Is that the way you talk to a man you’re asking for money from?”

“You’re wild and crazy, Elias, and everyone knows it. There’s not a woman in this town who could tame you.”

“You got that right.”

“Remember that time you brought beer to school and Bubba and another boy got drunk and you tried to jump off the roof as a superhero? Someone told the principal and he came out and told you to get off the roof. You jumped and fell right on him.”

“My shirt wasn’t a very good cape.”

“See, young guys do crazy things and that’s what Chase is doing now. I just need your help to get him out of this so he won’t have a record. Please, Elias.” Begging was getting easier, especially when it concerned her son.

He rested against the back of the bench and stretched out his long legs. “Give me a good reason I should loan you money.”

“I’ll pay you back. Why do I have to give you a reason? Just call it—”

He wagged a finger in her face. “Don’t call it a friend thing because we were never friends.”

“Why do you have to be so...?”

“Crazy?”

“Yes. Why can’t you just help me? Do something good for a change.”

“Give me a reason, Maribel. A very good reason to part with my money.”

They were going around in circles and she was growing weary. He wanted a reason and she could give him a good one, but it would take a slice of her pride just like she’d known in the sheriff’s office. She would have to say the words out loud for the first time in her life. She would have to say them to Elias. There was no other way.

Her stomach cramped tight. “You want a reason? I’ll give you one.”

“Let’s hear it.”

The words stuck in her throat. She swallowed, trying to force them out. But they were trapped in the mind of that seventeen-year-old girl who had run instead of facing the gossip and the rumors and a man she barely knew. Life had come full circle and she had to say the words she should’ve said years ago.

“You’re...his father.”

Chapter Three (#uca8f0cfc-38c5-5ad2-8547-c3f6d7ac32ae)

Elias laughed so hard it startled the pigeons roosting on the top of the courthouse. “Wow, Maribel, you had to reach deep for that one.”