Page 51 of Texas Splendor
Sitting in bed, the blankets draped around his waist, Austin held Loree. “It’s all right, Loree. It was just a bad dream,” he said, his voice low as he rocked back and forth, stroking her back.
“I didn’t know where you lived. I didn’t know. I shouldn’t have come here,” she wailed.
“It’s all right, Sugar. No one’s gonna hurt you here.”
She tilted her head away from his shoulder and the light from the lamp glistened over her tears. “I’m so scared, Austin.”
He pressed her face back into the nook of his shoulder. “I know you are, but I’m gonna make things good for you, Loree. You’ll see.”
Dee eased toward the bed. “Why don’t I warm up some milk for Loree?” she whispered. “It always helps the children get back to sleep when they wake up with a bad dream.”
Austin glanced over his shoulder at her, gratitude etched over his features. “And put a lot of sugar in it.”
Dee strolled to Dallas and placed her hand on his arm. “Light their lamp for them, then give them a little privacy while I warm some milk.”
When she left his side, Dallas walked to the bedside table and lit the lamp. “Need anything else?”
Shaking his head, Austin settled down on the bed, carrying his wife with him. Dallas heard her stifling sobs and Austin’s repeated words of comfort. He strode back to his own room, jerked open the door to the balcony, and stepped into the night. He was trembling almost as much as he imagined Loree was. Taking several deep breaths, he stared at the canopy of stars overhead.
Long moments passed before he heard Dee’s soft footsteps. She joined him on the balcony and rubbed her hand up and down his bare arm. “Loree’s sleeping. Come back to bed.”
“Did you see his back? They beat him in prison.”
It wasn’t a question, but she answered anyway. “It looks like it.”
“When we find the man who killed your brother, I’m gonna string him up from the nearest tree.”
“You need to let the law handle—”
He spun around. “The law sent my brother to prison.”
“The law isn’t perfect, but you have to trust it to serve justice. You have to let the law send the real murderer to prison.”
“They had better damn well hang the man, and I want a front row seat.”
Austin held Loree as she sipped on the warm milk Dee had prepared for her. She was trembling so hard that the bed shook.
After all she’d lived through, he wasn’t surprised she still had nightmares. On the journey, he’d heard her whimper a few times in her sleep. It seemed the farther they traveled from Austin, the more restless she was when she slept. He hoped bringing her here wasn’t a mistake, but he’d feared she’d continue living as a hermit if they’d stayed at her home.
She gave him a shaky smile and handed the empty cup to him. “Thank you,” she whispered.
He set the cup aside, and with his thumb, he wiped the milky mustache away from her lip. “You’re welcome.”
She released an awkward chuckle. “I am so embarrassed. Your brother must think—”
“He doesn’t think anything,” he assured her, lying her down and tucking her against his body. Lord, she fit so nicely, even though she was beginning to swell with his child. As it rested against his chest, her hand curled like the petals of a flower closing for the night. He wrapped one hand around it, while the other lazily stroked her back. He kissed her forehead. “Were you dreaming about your family?”
She moved her head up and down against his chest.
“And the man who killed them. There was so much blood,” she whispered hoarsely.
“What did he look like?”
He felt the shiver course through her body.
“I don’t want to talk about him.”
“While I was in Austin, I talked with a detective about hunting the man down—”
