Page 29 of Texas Scandal

“I’d say,” Bebe added. She twisted her fingers together. “Jason always wanted a sister.”

“I wish I’d known him,” Melody said as a rogue tear escaped. She apologized.

“Don’t ever say you’re sorry for having an emotion,” Bebe said. “I wish I could cry. It might make me feel better to get some release.” She shook her head. “All I get is dry eyes and a heart that feels like a thundercloud that can’t rain.”

Acting on pure instinct, Melody leaned in and hugged Bebe. Her body stiffened at first, but then she relaxed into it.

“Thank you for that,” Bebe said when Melody let go. “I still haven’t given the coroner instructions on where to send the...him, after they release him. I just can’t believe he’s gone. When I look at the front door, I expect him to come bursting through. His hair was always in need of a cut. He was a mess this year after he decided to locate the bastard who walked away from us.”

“Why now? Why after all this time?” she asked, hoping the reason could give a hint as to who his real killer was. Could her father have been afraid his secret was about to get out?

“It was about six months ago,” Bebe said. “Jason said he didn’t want to graduate high school without knowing who his father was.” She braided her fingers again. “I warned him that he would be disappointed.” She flashed eyes at Melody. “Henry told me straight out that he wanted nothing to do with the kid after I told him I was pregnant.”

There were so many words that came to mind at this moment. She wanted to unleash them on her father.

“Before that, he made me feel like the most beautiful person in the world,” Bebe said, a wistful quality to her tone. “I was younger then. Naive, I guess. I fell hook, line and sinker. When he told me that I couldn’t come to his house for dates because he was caring for an ailing mother, I didn’t see that as a red flag. I think it made him look noble in my eyes.”

“How old were you when the two of you got involved?” Melody asked.

“Nineteen,” Bebe said. Barely older than Melody at the time. This made her sick. She’d once broken off a friendship with a girl named Leslie who said she didn’t like sleeping over at Melody’s house because of the way her father looked at her. Melody had jumped to his defense. Now, she wanted to give Leslie a call and apologize. How could her father be such a jerk, and Melody not see it sooner?

“That’s so young,” Melody said.

Bebe nodded. “He was older than me. Obviously. I believed his story that his wife and kids were killed in a boating accident on Lake Travis. It made me fall even harder for him, but then I used to bring home every stray animal, too. Turns out, I’m a sucker for a sob story.”

“Good people believe others,” she said. “It’s a sign you were a nice person.”

“I hope something good can come out of this,” Bebe said. “It’s been nothing but heartache since the day I found out I was pregnant.” She glanced up. “Oh, don’t get me wrong. I loved my kid with all my heart. And your dad, too. I never would have slept with someone without falling for them.”

“You were manipulated, pure and simple,” Melody pointed out. “He preyed on you because you were young, and he could. He can be convincing, too. Believe me, I know better than most. The man had me believing we were the perfect family for most of my life.”

“You were a child,” Bebe said. “There were so many red flags. I should have known better.”

“Signs only work when we know to look for them,” Melody countered.

Bebe nodded and some of the weight in her eyes lifted. “That’s a real fair point.” She worked her fingers. “I guess I owe you an apology for the way I treated you when you first showed up.”

“Not necessary,” Melody said. “But I would like to know more about Jason. We looked at his social media page. He seemed like he was thriving before he went to find my dad.”

“He was a good kid.” Bebe sighed and gave an exasperated look. The kind of frustration that came from a mother who couldn’t quite figure out what had happened to her child. It was the same expression she’d seen from parents of teenagers after they talked about eye rolling and slamming bedroom doors that came out of seemingly nowhere.

Melody could only guess how much more difficult child-rearing could be when there was only one parent. All the hard decisions fell on one person’s shoulders. No one to bounce ideas off of or take some of the heat during an argument.

“Did he quit soccer because of my dad?” Melody asked.

Bebe made a dramatic show of shrugging her shoulders. “Who knows what actually happened to make him quit sports. He came home from school one day and said that he was leaving the team. I never got the real reason out of him. All he said was that he was turning a new page in his life. He’d gotten in a couple of fights at school with his teammates. It’s happened before, so I thought it would blow over like always.”

“High school can be hard. All those raging hormones and kids being forced in close proximity all the time,” Melody sympathized.

“You don’t have kids.” Bebe’s eyebrow arched as she examined Melody.

“No,” she admitted. “Afraid I’m not interested in having any, either.” She wasn’t sure why she felt the need to point that out when her mind had indicated she would consider having a family with someone like Tiernan. The thought shocked her as she forced herself to focus on Bebe. “Why do you ask?”

“You seem to understand a lot about parenting,” Bebe said. “More than most single folks.”

“I doubt that,” she said by way of defense. This wasn’t the time to go into how pitiful her personal life had become or the fact there’d been no prospects for a decent date in more months than she cared to count. Annabelle, the administrative assistant from work, would wag her finger at Melody and tell her to go do whatever young people did these days instead of sticking around the office long past closing hours. Melody defended herself by saying she was a career woman. Was that all? Or had her father’s action left an indelible mark on her heart? Did he make it impossible to ever trust people, especially men?

“You’re welcome to come by the house after work,” Bebe said. “I get off in two hours. I wouldn’t have come in at all except that I don’t have anything else to do with my time now that Jason’s gone.” Her chin quivered. She blew out a breath. “I can show you pictures and you’re welcome to go inside his room. If you want to know who he was.”

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