Page 62 of Gentle Persuasion

“Taking a shower,” Case said, and resisted the urge to sock his brother-in-law. “If I were you, I’d be a whole lot more concerned about where Debbie was.”

Cole’s smile disappeared. The sick feeling came back into his stomach with rude force. “What the hell do you mean?” he asked.

Buddy sauntered into the room. “She’s gone.”

Morgan thought fast and shoved a chair behind his son’s knees just before he hit the floor.

“What do you mean…gone?”

Case already regretted the hasty way he’d announced the fact. They’d all suffered a similar panic only moments before, but his son’s distress had taken first place in the sequence of things to be done.

“He means she’s packed. She’s gone. She’s on her way back to Oklahoma. That’s what he means,” Case said shortly. “I told you things were bad. It took you damn long enough to show up and fix them. Looks like you were an hour late and a dollar short.”

“Oh God!” Cole groaned. “When did she leave? Does anyone know when her flight leaves? Maybe I can catch her before—”

“She won’t be on the plane.”

All eyes turned toward Buddy’s bland announcement.

“What do you mean?” Morgan asked. He’d spent too many years seeing that same expression on his son’s face at the worst possible moments.

“I mean, she’ll miss her flight, that’s what I mean,” Buddy said, mouthing each word slowly and distinctly, as if his family’s elevators didn’t go all the way to the top. It is a trial, living with people who can’t understand the simplest facts, he thought. “Are there any brownies left?” he asked of no one in particular, and started out of the room.

Cole grabbed him by the arm and plastered him against the wall. The hard stare was unmistakable. Buddy began to get nervous. His brother was mad.

“How do you know she’ll miss her plane, Buddy?” Cole’s voice was very quiet. “What have you done?”

That he’d done something, there was no doubt. Cole had also known his brother too long to miss the look of feigned innocence.

“Well, it was obvious that you weren’t going to do something,” he accused, and pushed Cole’s hands off his arms. “So it was left up to me, that’s all.”

“I repeat,” Cole said. “What the holy hell did you do?”

“I put my castle and princess computer game in her luggage, that’s all,” Buddy said.

Cole’s mouth dropped. He slapped his forehead with his hand to keep from slapping his brother instead. “You don’t mean the—”

Case was lost. He didn’t understand these Brownfield men. He was still having a hard time understanding the woman. “I don’t get it,” he asked Morgan and Cole. “What’s the big deal about a game? Everyone has them.”

“Not like Buddy’s,” Cole said. “It’s one of a kind, and it looks like a remote control for detonating a bomb. Remember when we came to Oklahoma last year? Well, we spent several hours in LAX trying to explain that our brother is a harmless nut.”

Cole spun around and slammed his fist against the wall. “For the love of God, Buddy. You’ll get her arrested, and you know it. What were you thinking?”

Buddy looked at them as if they’d suddenly lost their minds. He couldn’t understand it. How could he have a family so dense? “I was thinking that you love her but that you’re terribly stupid.”

“Oh,” Cole said. There was nothing else to say. He patted the baby’s tiny back. “It was nice meeting you, Charlie,” he said quickly. “I’ll be back later. I’ve got a plane to catch.”

“She won’t be on the plane,” Buddy reminded him.

“She will kill us all,” Cole said, and made a run for the door.

Chapter 12

If anyone had told her she’d be running away, Debbie would have called him a liar. But the truth was, she’d met her match. It was time to face facts, no matter how much they hurt. Cole might love her, but he didn’t trust her. And without trust, there was no love.

Tears sprang into her eyes. Her heart ached. Shaky legs carried her through the thick throng of people coming and going in the busy Los Angeles airport terminal. More than once she was jostled by an impatient traveler hurrying to catch a plane. But she didn’t care. The farther she got from Cole, the worse she felt.

Leaving had been her last option. There was a limit as to how long a woman could humiliate herself for love. Everyone in the family knew she loved Cole.

---