Chapter Fourteen
MARLEY
HALLIE IS mumbling low enough that I can’t hear what she is saying to the horse in the stall next to the one she is cleaning up.
The mare is leaving in a few days, I’ve arranged for her to be transferred to a lodge close to Keystone Lake to be a trail horse.
She loves riding the trails on our property, and even though it took some convincing that not every human is going to hurt her, she loves people.
I smile to myself, I know just how good it feels to connect with a horse.
Some people see them as just another animal, even worse, a volatile animal.
But just like people, they like connection and they want to be accepted and loved, too.
Just like we bring out the best in them, they bring out the best in us.
Over the past week, she has got attached to that particular horse. I’ve been calling her Maisey. I’ve seen her press their foreheads together several times, and I know just how healing that can be.
Needing more pellets to mix with the grain, I walk past and hear her quietly say something that makes me stop in my tracks. At least you don’t have to worry about anyone coming back to get you.
Turning to face her, I can’t hold my tongue. “Are you worried about that?”
Hallie jerks up, she didn’t know I was right outside the stall.
She sighs and scratches Maisey’s nose before she walks to the door of the stall and leans on the frame.
“I worried it was too good to be true.” She looks down at the piece of hay in her fingers and twists it nervously.
“You know, when they told me he would be in jail a long time.”
I don’t say anything. I’m too afraid that anything I do or say will scare her into silence.
Her eyes meet mine, and she looks so remorseful. “But, I wanted out so bad that I grabbed onto that shiny little nugget of fool’s gold and I ran. I let myself believe he wouldn’t be able to get out of it this time.”
Not able to hold back, I ask, “How would he get out of it?”
Her shoulders fall when she looks at me, and I can see the guilt in her eyes. “He always gets out of it because he knows people. I’m so stupid.” Her voice is low and raspy as she drops her hands to her sides and defeat wraps around her like a second skin.
All this time, I’ve thought ‘D’ is just a low-level drug dealer. Do they have connections? The kind that can get them out of jail time?
Several months ago, when she got the call about him being released, she was told it was a crowding issue. He was sentenced to four years and only served seven months. We didn’t question it too much, but maybe we should have.
Setting the bucket down next to my feet, I try to use a conversational tone, but the worry is obvious in my voice. “What kind of people, Hallie?”
Joining her hands in front of her to pick at her nail, she looks down. “The bad kind. I’m not sure what all they are into, but I know that drugs and money laundering are involved.”
My thoughts jump to the new car he was driving when he showed up at the wedding, his nice clothes, the expensive bouquet of flowers, and the cruelty behind the cat.
I realize that my image of him being a second-rate drug dealer who hung out on corners peddling pills and little packages was way off.
I think he may be a little more dangerous than that.
Taking a cautious breath, I decide to go for it. “What I don’t understand is why he wants you back after all this time and you pressing charges.”
Her eyebrows pinch together. “He always said he would never let me go, and I thought it was just because he was so possessive and jealous, but I’ve wondered the same thing. It’s been nine months. I don’t know why he’s doing this.”
“How many times have you tried to leave before?”
She shakes her head once. “Only the one time before, but when he found me, he beat me up so bad that I was in bed for days. I was too afraid to leave again after that. The last time he beat me up, it was over the dinner I made, he said I put too much seasoning on his potatoes.”
“Oh, Hallie, I’m so sorry. You must have been so scared all the time.” I take a step toward her.
She looks up and her naturally berry colored lips tip up in a smile.
“After a while, I got used to it, you know? I just adapted and adjusted to avoid setting him off.” One side of her lips tip up further than the other and she shrugs her shoulder.
“But now, sometimes, I don’t make my bed just because I don’t have to. ”
“Where’re my girls?” We hear the old, scratchy familiar voice at the front of the stable, and we both light up as we smile ear to ear.
“Opal!” I say and turn to meet her. Hallie is hot on my heels.
The old woman hasn’t changed a bit since I was a little girl. Her smile is big as she sees both of us walking to her and we both crash into her. I inhale her familiar smell of laundry detergent and baked bread as her arms go around us and hold us tight.
Opal may be older, but she’s stout. When we ran into her, she didn’t falter, she only threw her arms around us. When Opal came to work for us after my mom died, she became like a live-in aunt that took care of us kids.
It definitely took some of the work off me, Mason and Gray, especially when it came to Breanna, she was still a newborn and even though we tried to help Dad as much as possible, taking care of her was hard.
I don’t think I have ever seen Opal wear anything besides a pair of Wrangler jeans and a button-up shirt, whether its flannel or short sleeve depends on the weather.
Her long gray hair is always in a braid and hangs down her back.
She was widowed not long before my mom died and she always used to tell us kids, ‘God knew you young-ins needed me more’n my husband did, so he went home to the Lord so I could take care of yuns’.
She just retired about a year ago to go live with her daughter, who went back to work.
She asked if Opal would move in to take care of the house and the kids.
Only she ended up having more free time than she thought she would have while her grandkids were in school, so she volunteers at the homeless shelter in Tulsa a couple of days a week.
That’s where she met Hallie.
“How’re my girls?” She says over our heads.
We both reply at the same time. “Good.” But our voices are muffled in the fabric of her shirt on her shoulder.
Her arms loosen and we both step back. “Oh, yeah?” Her eyebrow shoots up in disbelief. “That’s not what I heard. A little bird told me that a molehill of trouble was a brewin’ around here.”
I roll my eyes. “Is that bird named Kinley?”
Opal laughs. “You know that girl couldn’t keep a secret even if her life depended on it.” Her eyes meet mine. “I also heard that a certain young man has been spending a lot of time around here.”
My cheeks heat and I feel my whole head turn red.
She smiles and winks. “That’s what I thought.”
Hallie’s eyes go wide and she swings her head in my direction. “Is that why Jax is here all the time? I thought he was just eating all the food, I can’t keep him out of the cookies.”
I smile inwardly, Sloane said the same thing before Hallie got here. He’s got a bigger sweet tooth than anyone I’ve ever met.
Opal turns to Hallie. “First, I wanna know how you’re holdin’ up. I can’t believe they let that scat stain out already. I want you to be careful, no leaving the ranch by yourself.” Her tone is strict as she gives the order.
“I know, Mason already read me my rights.”
She squeezes Hallie’s shoulders. “Good. I know my boys won’t let anythin’ happen to you. Come on, let’s go up to the house and I’ll make some lunch.”
It’s almost like old times. Opal makes grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup, our favorite when we were kids, and the smell brings everyone to the kitchen. Even Breanna, who just got home from school last week, walks into the kitchen with her nose in the air. The only person missing is Tuck.
Jax walks in with Mason and Gray, and when Opal sees him, she walks over to shake his hand. “You must be the strapping young man I’m hearing about.” Her smile is big as she looks him up and down. “I’m Opal and you don’t know how happy I am to meet you.”
He doesn’t miss a beat, he reaches for her hand. “Nice to meet you. Masons talked about you a lot over the years.”
She grabs his shoulders and stands on her tiptoes to kiss his cheek. She pauses for a moment next to his ear, as her lips quietly move, Jax’s eyes slide to me. His expression doesn’t change, but when Opal moves away, still holding onto his shoulders, he looks back at her and nods his head.
Everyone is scattered all over the kitchen, at the bar, at the breakfast nook, and dad is standing at the counter eating his grilled cheese while we all laugh and share the fun times as kids when Opal was here.
Kinley is at the bar with Breanna, half into the conversation and half in her phone. Nothing new there.
It catches my eye when she sits erect and shoves her phone into Breanna’s face, who looks annoyed at first, but then her eyes are glued to the screen and she snatches the phone from her hand to start reading. They both turn and look at me, shock and concern in their eyes.
“What? Why are you looking at me like that?” I look between them, but they don’t answer.
Mason gets up from the breakfast nook and grabs the phone from Breanna’s hand and reads what they were reading. I know my brother, and I know when he is trying to hide something from me, which makes me even more worried about what they are reading.
“Don’t do that.” I say to Mason, who looks up from the phone, his face a mask of calm.
“You don’t get to hide things from me. I’m not glass, damn it!
” The room has become so quiet, you could hear a pin drop.
He takes a deep breath and scoots my glass of water close to me and then hands me Kinley’s phone.
It’s a news story and my heart starts beating harder in my chest when I read the headline.
Popular Gynecologist found dead days after his father, Tulsa County District Attorney, also found dead.
I only get through the first paragraph of the story about Keith and his father before I feel like I’m going to throw up.
They were both tortured and killed in their homes within two days of each other.
Lifting my fingers to my mouth, I skim through the rest of it.
At the time of publication, after they found out he was dead, five women have come forward to report they were touched inappropriately during their gyno appointment.
Lifting my eyes to Mason, my hand drops to the counter and Kinley’s phone slips out of my fingers.
“Are you okay, Mar?” Breanna’s hand is on my arm, but she sounds like she’s in a tunnel.
My head spins and I’m sucking in deep breaths as I look at Mason. “Did you know about this?” But he won’t answer.
In my peripheral, I see Jax push away from the counter on the other side of the island, and based on Mason’s eyes tracking him, he’s moved behind me.
Mason asked me years ago if I wanted him to take care of Keith and his father, but I didn’t want it on my conscious and I wonder if he had anything to do with it, but why would he wait until now?
Maybe it’s somehow wrapped up in the mess with ‘D’, I heard the guys talking about the DA having something to do with his release.
How could he not tell me?
I can barely take a full breath and a hand covers mine on the counter. I look down at the strange tattoos covering the back of Jax’s hand and fingers. The one that I’ve always wanted to ask about is the angel wings on his right hand ring finger.
“You knew.” It’s barely a whisper. “And you let me find out like this.”
Regret crosses Mason’s face and a flash of anger moves through his eyes as he looks over my head at Jax.
“What?” I turn and tip my head back to look at Jax, but my knees are weak and I have to slap both hands on the counter for support.
His large arm twines around me and pulls my side to his front. “You knew about it, too?”
Icy blue eyes look down at me, but he doesn’t utter a word. Even more betrayal sucks the air from my lungs. I push his arm off me and turn to go out the back door, I can hear Jax’s footfalls on the wood floor behind me, but I keep going.
To anyone else, I probably look like a petulant child marching across the yard to my stables to hide, but I don’t care. I need to get away from all the eyes on me, and the air in the room felt thick. I need the air of my stables.
The news report said they were tortured. My stomach roils as I imagine bloody crime scenes and I stop over the trash barrel and hold on to both sides, waiting to see if I’m going to lose my lunch.
“Lepa.” Jax stands behind me and wraps his arm around my stomach.
“Stop! Let go!” I push off the barrel and turn on him, taking two steps back. “I’m sick of everyone acting like I’m some kind of porcelain doll!” I turn and press the back of my hand over my mouth and take a few more steps away from him.
He stays where I pushed him and holds his hands up in front of him. “I do not see you like that, lepa, on the contrary, you are one of the strongest women I know.”