Page 26 of Tex's Angel

“No, it’s all your sister. Today’s been a bit of a rollercoaster for me.” Shooting her a tired grin, he says, “Try not bite each other’s head off while I’m dealing with this migraine.”

She smooths her hand down his arm and grins back at him. “We’ll try our best. If I don’t make it, let it be known that you inherit all my worldly possessions.”

“Don’t fucking kill each other. Your cat hates me. I can’t be his master.”

As he walks off, I call out, “Ask the brother at the bar for some pain killers.”

Wade throws one hand up but doesn’t look back. I tell Clara, “I think we’re driving that man a little crazy. He clearly doesn’t like to deal with conflict.”

She plops back down in her chair and leans on the table, putting her chin in her hand. “Don’t let Wade fool you. That man thrives on conflict. He married my sister after all. And then made four of the most rambunctious kids I’ve ever seen with her. I offered to babysit tomorrow so Wade can spend the day with them.”

“Yeah, I heard that when I standing on the porch. That was a real nice thing for y’all to do.”

She flashes me a worried look. “If it’s a problem having them here, I can watch them at my place.”

“That’s crazy talk. The Legion loves families and kids.”

“That’s good,” she says with a note of relief on her voice. “I plan to hang back and let Wade enjoy the day with them.”

I know Wade told me not to say every damn fool thing that came into my head, but I want to straighten things out, “I don’t think you’re gullible. Really. That’s not what I meant.”

She gives me a weak smile, “I know. I shouldn’t have gone off on one, but I’ve been so angry with myself for being a gullible, naïve idiot, to get married to a waste of space like him. You just touched a raw nerve.”

Getting back to the task at hand, I ask, “Can you think of anyone else who might be harboring a grudge against y’all?”

“No, but one thought did come to mind. What if this is a case of mistaken identity? Maybe they want the person who lives across from me and they just got the wrong house. Maybe I should ask around?”

“I think everyone in the damned neighborhood knows your car alarm is being set off at all hours. If anyone knew anything and was willing to talk, they probably would have by now so they could get a decent night’s sleep.”

“Yeah, I suppose that’s true,” she responds thoughtfully. “I can’t really think of anyone who’s ever had bad enough feelings to stalk me.”

“You weren’t competing for the same scholarship in college or anything like that?”

“No. There’s no unhappy ex-boyfriends, no one I bullied trying to get revenge and no one I pissed off at work. I’ve never had a lot of conflict with others. If anything, it was the other way round, a good friend of mine at college ended up in an abusive relationship. I saw how that wrecked her life.”

I shrug, “Maybe someone lost a pie bake off to y’all at the country fair last year and are just getting around to exacting their revenge.”

“Does California have county fairs? I don’t think I’ve ever been to one.”

“Well, sugar pie. I’m running out of ideas here. Since all this happens at night, I’m gonna stake out your house tonight with some prospects. Maybe we’ll turn up something?”

“If you plan to stay up all night, you should probably try to get a few hours of sleep,” she tells me.

“I might do that. You can hang out with Levi and Evan if you like. I’ll come down right before dark, grab a bite to eat, and head out.”

“That sounds like a plan.”

I waggle my eyebrows at her. “You gonna be okay sleeping alone in my big ole bed?” With Wade staying at the clubhouse we were gonna have to be creative about the sleeping arrangements. I had originally intended on letting Clara have my bed, Levi could take the second bedroom, and I’d sleep on the sofa. But now the prospects have started wiring up her house, it made more sense for me to stay there overnight.

“It’ll be difficult, but I think I can manage,” she jokes. “Would your president be okay if I invited my best friend over for a few hours?”

“That should be fine, I’ll square it with Siege. Y’all need to explain the way we operate here and keep her by your side. Because I haven’t had her properly vetted, any trouble she makes lands on me.”

“I don’t have to invite her if it makes you feel uncomfortable.”

“It doesn’t bother me one little bit. I like the idea of you having a little company on a Saturday evening. What’s her name and I can run it past Siege.”

Smiling, she pulls out her cell phone. “Her name is Abigail Sanders. I’ll text her and see if she’s free. My best guess is she’ll jump at the chance to come to the Savage Legionclubhouse. It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity for naïve little schoolteachers like us.”

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