Page 22 of Javier

“The hell I’m not. If you think I don’t understand, then clarify.”

“Okay. Fine. Since we never seem to get to it. Here it is. I need you and the family to come to the ranch. That’s the short and sweet of it. A simple request from your dying, estranged brother.”

“Just like that? Drop everything?”

“Yes, because after all these years, all of you, especially you, still meant something to him.” She was crying now. “I’ve got to go. I enjoyed our picnic and the sunset. Thanks for the ride.” She turned and jogged toward the inn.

He hurried past her, stopping and turning, blocking her from the steps into the inn. “Memphis.”

“Good night, Javier. It was not my intention to lead you on. You swept me away, but I’ve gotten my head back on. We can discuss details tomorrow morning before I leave, by phone.” She brushed past him, setting off sparks in his blood.

It was all he could do not to grab her and shake some common sense into her. “This isn’t over. You can’t dismiss what’s happened between us. How good we are together and how much better we’re going to be.”

At the door, she spun and faced him. “Weareover. It’s been amazing. Real. But the timing is off. I have commitments to my father.”

“I’ll be at home. After you’ve tossed and turned enough, when you can’t sleep because you’re not with me, come over. We’ll hash it out.”

“No.”

“I’ll see you soon, Memphis.” He called before she disappeared inside.

* * *

She leaned against the door after closing it and let the tears flow.What the hell am I doing? What needs to be done. Stay on course.Time was up. The message she received from Eben ruined her night. She had to get an agreement and get back home. Fast.

Memphis rinsed off in a cold shower, climbed into bed, and turned on the TV, channel surfing, looking for something to grab her attention and provide a reprieve from the growing conflict between a heart full of anguish and a head rife with fear. Her thoughts flitted all over the place.

Pops had pressed a note into her hand the week before he died. She was so busy with attorneys, the hospital and doctors, the funeral home, the ranch, and on and on, that she forgot it and it remained, unread, until she changed purses for the service.

The note was short. The script was a shakier version of his surprisingly beautiful cursive:

My family. Muscle, a big presence, and rebellious. Gray wolf.

She had so many questions, but Javier was not talking—other than sweet nothings. He had seduced her, and she had been more than willing, falling for a man who lived states away. A man who she had known for days. The man she needed to convince to help her.

And what else do you need? I want him in my life.

How was she to accomplish both? Memphis scooted from the bed, flipped on the blinding overhead lights, and got her device with its digital pen off the desk. Once back in, she punched the multiple pillows into a cushioning support for sitting and bunched the covers around her, intending to write. It always helped.

Her father had suggested writing to examine inner turmoil when she struggled with decisions. Or whenever something was on her mind.

“Lindy,” he said, using Mama’s name “encouraged me to write, sweet girl. Writing helped me work through and resolve things that happened before I met her. Putting the words and feelings on paper helped me forgive myself, even though the pain lingers. It’s downright powerful. Your mama, bless her soul, she helped me to be a better man.”

His words had her mind wandering and revisiting the past.

Pops had never shared the “things” with her, and she never pushed because when he mentioned it, his voice cracked and she saw how his Adams apple moved, forcing whatever it was back down. He would look away, but not before she saw the mistiness in his eyes. Whatever it was, was deep, an undertow that had pulled at his soul.

After Pops passed, she was tasked with going through his personal items. Eben wanted nothing to do with it and spent his time with Arla and Trey Rooney at their Eastfork Ranch.

It was emotionally painful and lonely. Memphis spent weeks going through the cabinets, files, and paper in his office. Ransom Creed kept everything it seemed, except the notebooks he claimed to have written in to process the past transgressions he alluded to and any indications of the family he mentioned.

For having such a short marriage, he had abundant photos of happier times. There was no doubt he had been madly in love with Lindy Fuller and a proud devoted father to her and Eben.

Wedding pictures at the courthouse captured her beautiful redheaded mother and handsome blond father beaming megawatt grins.

Memphis as a newborn, cocooned in her parents arms. Love and pride infusing their expressions. Pops’ face wet with tears as he displayed her birth certificate, pointing to his name as father.

Only one of the four of them, taken in the hospital room after Eben’s birth. Mama barely smiling and ghostly pale. Pops wearing a smile that failed to mask his sorrow.

---