Page 49 of Fury
She sat up, nearly bumping his nose with her head. “Ty! Oh my God,Ty. He and Mikey were tight. I need to call him.”
“Tomorrow,” he soothed, taking advantage of her position to grip the hem of her shirt and lift, forcing her to raise her arms. “We’ll call him tomorrow.” He glanced at the clock. “It’s going on midnight, baby. Let him have his rest. Tomorrow is soon enough.”
“Will you go to Kentucky with me?” She looked up at him as he crumpled the blouse, tossing it on top of the jeans. “His family plot is there, so that’s what he’d want.”
“I’ll go anywhere with you, baby.” She smiled, the expression so sad and wan it made his chest clench. “Climb under the covers. Let’s go to bed.” Staring down at her, he was struck again by how lucky he was.Never would have called this one, not in a million years. The idea that she could be here, with him, in his bed? Impossible. That she could have forgiven him so easily, put aside the lies and betrayal, because she loved him? Even more impossible.
In his bed, dressed in the sexiest set of lingerie he’d ever seen, the woman of his dreams.Pinch me. She moved, pushing up near the pillows to shove the blanket and sheet down, slipping underneath. “I’m gonna go lock up. Be right back.”
She smiled and smoothed the pillow next to her head in clear invitation, then gave him a gift he never would get accustomed to receiving. “Love you, Gabe.”
“Love you, too, Bethany.” He bent, pressing his mouth to hers then stood. “I’ll be right back.”
***
Bethany
She was still, curled small as she could manage while Gabe lay wrapped around her. He’d come back to bed as promised, then succeeded in distracting her wonderfully for a length of time. Sweaty and out of breath, he’d gathered her close to his side, caressing her with fingertips and lips until slumber claimed him. With heavy limbs, he’d turned in his sleep, his movement forcing hers. Then he crowded close like he did every night since she’d come to find him. Even in sleep he kept her close.
The third day in Fort Wayne, the first she’d surfaced from being with Gabe, Willa had sought her out. Mason’s wife had become a friend and confidant, reaching out often just to keep in touch, doing a much better job than Mason or Bethy had ever done, lending them both her innate resilience and strength in different ways. Willa’s son, Garrett, was the spitting image of Mason, something Bethy had been very glad to see given the timing of the pregnancy. She’d never asked and Willa hadn’t offered, but the relief had been clear on her face when Bethy had come to visit and could answer that yes, Garrett looked a lot like Mason’s baby pictures as she remembered them. Willa doted on the boy, taking him everywhere with her, even to work once she started back.
So when Willa showed up at Fury’s without Garrett, Bethy knew it was an orchestrated visit. She smiled at the memory of how Willa paled when asked her reason for visiting. One thing about Willa was you knew exactly where you stood with her, and Bethy knew Willa liked her, but at that moment, she hadn’t liked Fury at all.
“Why don’t you come with me? We can go get some coffee or something.” Willa leaned her shoulders against the door, seemingly unwilling to move away from the opening. “I brought the car and everything.”
Bethy eyed her sister-in-law for a moment, taking in the level of discomfort showing on her features and then slowly nodded. “Let me just change clothes and tell Gabe where I’m going.” Willa’s face scrunched up, a movement Bethy would bet money the woman didn’t know she was doing, but it coincided with Gabe’s name, and surely telegraphed her feelings louder than a shout. This was an intervention.
Not that she hadn’t expected one. To the outsider, this would seem intensely fast, because most people only knew about Lamesa. To the uninformed observer, her tracking him to Indiana then Ohio and facing down her brother, and then turning around and calling Gabe “her man” would seem the highest of folly. Those people, Willa and Mason included, had no clue about what had happened sixteen years ago. They didn’t know she and Gabe had a history, good and bad, and to Bethy, the good outweighed the bad by a large measure.
So, sitting in a café across from the woman her brother loved more than breath, his words, she laid it out for Willa. Not all the bad, there was no reason for anyone to know that part. It would forever be between her and Gabe. But talking about the holler and how he’d been the sweet boy who was her best friend’s sorta brother figure, and then how he’d happened on her in Nashville so many years ago. How they’d fallen into a sexual relationship that was just getting deeper when business tore them apart. She spoke about how she’d dated since, finding herself measuring every man against Gabe. Him always coming out ahead, even though he wasn’t there.
Willa had nodded at that and smiled, shyly sharing her first encounter with Mason and how, even if she’d put herself out there to give him her number, that hadn’t gone anywhere for months. How, when they started seeing each other, there was always something getting in the way, something pulling them apart. Bethy knew in that moment that Willa got it, she understood, and she’d do her best to make Mason understand, too.
So with that handled, they spent the next hour talking about Willa’s pregnancy, how that was advancing. Willa was excited about the chance to build their family, but her stories about Mason’s nervous concerns were hilarious. Bethy grinned, knowing she’d be leaving this little sit-down with a dozen new jabs in her arsenal.
“Do you have siblings?” Bethy watched as Willa’s eyes warmed, her face softening as she shook her head.
“Always wanted a brother or a sister.” She twisted the handle on the mug holding her decaf. “Gar has Chase, of course, and I couldn’t ask our sons to be better brothers.” Bethy smiled to hear her say it like that, liking how Willa took ownership of Chase. “But there’s a huge age gap.”
“Mason and I have eight years between us, and we seem to get along.”
“Chase and Gar have twice that. Once this little one comes along, I’ll have to figure out how to keep Chase from feeling like he’s part of a different family.” Willa frowned, then set her shoulders back, lifting her chin. “I’ll do it, though. He’s too good a boy to need to wonder where he fits into the whole family.”
“If…” Bethy paused and took a breath. “If I tell you a secret, can you keep it from Mason, just for a little while? I want to tell him myself.” Willa frowned again, this time more exaggerated, not hiding how that request made her feel. “Just for a couple of days until I can figure out how to tell him.”
“Are you pregnant? Because that would be kind of a miracle if you already knew, unless it’s from Texas?”
Bethy laughed, shaking her head. “No, I’m not pregnant. Can you keep my secret, Willa?”
“Just for a couple of days?” Bethy nodded. “Promise?” She nodded again. “Okay.” Willa held up her hand, palm first. “Unless it means you’re putting yourself in danger. I can’t stand thinking of something happening to you.” She reached across and cupped Bethy’s hand, wrapping her fingers around and holding on tightly. “We’ve been through too much together. I can’t stand it, Bethy.”
“Promise you it’s nothing bad. It’s something from years ago, but I need to sort things first, then tell Mason.”
“Okay,” Still holding Bethy’s hand, Willa lifted her other one and sketched an X across her chest. “Cross my heart.” She wrinkled her nose. “I don’t say the rest. I’m way over any kind of wanting to die.”
“Agreed.” Bethy took in a deep breath. “I have a son.”
Head tipping to the side, Willa repeated her words. “You have a son?” Bethy nodded. “A son.” She nodded again. “As in a flesh-and-blood boy, not a wooden Pinocchio thingie?” With a laugh, she nodded a final time. “Jesus. How old is he? What’s his name?”
