Page 104 of The Honorable Texan
“Yes, but I understand that Shea’s two bouncers meet Rey at the door these days and won’t let him in if he’s not smiling,” Micah contributed.
Rey shrugged.“I never get drunk anymore.I’ve learned to handle aggression in a nonphysical manner.”
The other two men actually walked down the hall.Meredith noticed their shoulders vibrating.
Rey took a step toward Meredith, half irritated by the character assassination job his brother and Micah Steele had just done on him, and even more put out by Meredith’s unmasking.
“You knew I had no idea about your education,” Rey accused Meredith.“Why didn’t you say something at the outset, when Leo first went to the hospital?”he demanded in a low, deep tone.“I may have jumped to conclusions, but you provided the springs, didn’t you?”
She grimaced.“I guess so.But it was only a little jump from telling you about my job to talking about the reason Daddy started drinking.It’s…still very fresh in my mind,” she added huskily.“It’s only been six months.The memories are—” she swallowed and looked away “—bad.”
Unexpectedly he reached out and caught her fingers in his, tugging her closer.The hall was deserted.In the background there were muted bell-tones and announcements and the sound of lunch trays being distributed.“Tell me,” he said gently.
She bit her lower lip hard and lifted her tormented eyes to his curious ones.“Not…yet,” she whispered tightly.“One day, but…not yet.I can’t.”
“Okay,” he said after a minute.“But I’d like to know how you learned to shoot.”
“My brother, Mike, taught me,” she said reluctantly, staring at his broad chest.She wanted to lay her head on it and cry out her pain.There hadn’t been anyone to hold her, not when it happened, not afterward.Her father withdrew into his own mind and started drinking to excess at once.Her job was all that had kept Meredith sane.She hadn’t been able to let out her grief in any normal way.
Rey’s mind was working overtime.He stared down at her, still holding her fingers entwined tightly with his own, and he frowned as bits and pieces of memory began fitting themselves together.
“Mike.Mike Johns.”His eyes narrowed.“Our cousin Colter’s best friend, and one of Leo’s acquaintances.He was killed…!”
She tried to tug her fingers away.He wouldn’t let her.He pulled her into his arms, holding her there even when she struggled.But a few seconds of resistance were all she had.She laid her flushed cheek against his broad chest and let the tears flow.
Rey’s arms contracted roughly.He smoothed his hand over her nape, caressing, soothing.“There was a bank robbery in Houston,” he recalled quietly.“Mikewas a cop.He was at the bank with your mother.It was Saturday.He was off duty, but he had his service revolver under his jacket.”His arms tightened as her sobs grew painful to hear.“He drew and fired automatically, and one of the robbers sprayed fire from one of those damned little automatic rifles in his general direction.He and your mother died instantly…”
Meredith’s fingers dug into his wide back.He rocked her, barely aware of curious glances from passersby.
“Both men were caught.You don’t kill a cop and get away with it in Texas,” he added softly.“They were arraigned and treated to a speedy trial just a month ago.You and your father testified.That was when your father really went off the deep end, wasn’t it, when he had to see the autopsy photos…”
Micah and Leo came back down the hall, frowning when they saw the condition Meredith was in.Even as they watched, her eyes rolled back and she would have fallen to the floor except for Rey’s strong arms lifting her.
Later, she wouldn’t recall much except that she was hustled into a cubicle and revived.But when she started sobbing hysterically, they’d given her a shot of something that put her out like a light.She came to back at the ranch, in her own little garage apartment.
She opened her eyes, and there was Rey, sitting by the bed, still wearing the same jeans and shirt and boots he’d worn to the shooting range.Meredith was aware of the bedspread covering her up to her waist.Her boots were off, but she was also wearing the same clothes she’d started out in that morning.
“What time is it?”she asked in a husky, slightly disoriented tone.
“Five hours past the time you flaked out on me,” he said, smiling gently.“Micah knocked you out.He thought some sleep might help.”The smile faded into quiet concern.“You don’t sleep much, do you, Meredith?”he asked surprisingly.
She sighed, brushed back her disheveled blond hair, and shook her head.“When I go to sleep, I have nightmares.I wake up in a cold sweat, and I see them, lying there on the floor, just the way they looked in those vivid crime scene photos.”She closed her eyes and shivered.“People look so fragile like that, they look like big dolls, sprawled in pitiful disarray on the floor.Everybody stares at them…”
He brushed back her hair with a lean, gentle hand.“They got the guys who did it,” he reminded her.“Including the trigger man.He’ll serve life without any hope of parole.He’ll pay for it.”
Her pale eyes were tormented as they met his.“Yes, but it won’t bring them back, will it?”she asked.“And do you know why they said they did it?For a bet.For a stupid bet, they killed two innocent people!”
“They also ruined their own lives,” he reminded her, “and the lives of their own families.”
She looked at him blankly, scowling.
“Don’t you ever think about that?”he asked softly.“Criminals have families, too.Most of them have loving, decent parents who took care of them and disciplined them and blame themselves for what their children do.It must be pure hell, to have your child kill someone, and feel responsible for it.”
“I haven’t considered that,” she admitted.
He continued.“When I was in high school, one of my best friends was arrested for murder.He killed theold man next door in the process of stealing his wallet.He wanted to buy his girl a diamond necklace she liked, and he didn’t have any money.He figured the man was old and didn’t need money anyway, so he might as well take it.He was sorry about it, but he never figured on killing the man or getting caught.”
“Was he a good friend?”she asked.
