Elijah gritted his teeth. Miguel had called from one of their boats out in the Gulf. Ben, one of their best captains, was in trouble. He’d been sober for eighteen months, but now he was drunk at the Watering Hole and was trying to drive himself home.
The owner had called Miguel instead of the cops, and in turn Miguel had called Elijah. He’d done this before.
With a quick glance at his watch, he calculated how much time he had before he was scheduled to pick up Rosemarie and Jazmine. He could get Ben home, then take his daughter out to the ranch for her first ride.
Crossing the threshold to the old dive had his skin crawling over his muscles. The dim lights of the bar hid the grunge and sadness. The smells turned his stomach. God, let me get in and out as quickly as possible.
More than five years had passed since he had been a patron. There was nothing pleasant or temping about his old hangout. This place had distracted him from his real life. The pressure from her family and his uncle had been his focus instead of Jazmine. He had hated the life he thought he was supposed to be living. But the beautiful parts had been lost too, because of fear.
He spotted Ben by the jukebox, arguing with Patrick, the owner. When the short man saw him, relief flooded his face. “Elijah! See, Ben, I told you he would come and get you home. You don’t need to drive.”
Ben’s red-rimmed eyes glared at him. “You said Miguel was...coming.” He tried to turn away and fell against the jukebox. “I don’t need no help. I can...drive just fine.” He stumbled in the other direction.
Patrick shook his head. “He won’t give me his keys.”
Elijah nodded and put his hand under Ben’s arm. “Come on, buddy. Let’s get you home. When Miguel gets off the boat, he’ll stop by for a visit.”
“I can’t go home. She won’t...” The man started crying. “I promised—” He fell to the side.
“I’ll take you to Miguel’s place, okay?”
The older man nodded.
At first it went smoothly. Ben followed him to the parking lot. When Elijah opened his passenger-side door, the older man fell apart. Deciding he was being kidnapped, Ben made a run for his car, yelling and screaming.
With a heavy sigh, Elijah went after him.
Arms wide, Ben tried to swing at his rescuer.
“Ben, I’m here to help you.”
Another swing.
Elijah managed to duck, then tackled the man against the car. “Give me your keys so we can go home.” Not knowing where the man’s keys were, he was carefully guiding him toward his Ranger when Ben’s fist punched him in the center of his gut.
Being so unsteady on his feet, the older man didn’t create much of a threat. Even so, he managed to get another shot in, right on the bridge of Elijah’s nose. Great.
Miguel and Ben owed him big-time.
A patrol car pulled into the lot, blocking Elijah’s vehicle. He sighed. This was just getting better and better.
Officer Sanchez approached them. “Everything all right?”
“Oh, peachy. Just trying to get ol’ Ben to Miguel’s place safely.”
“Sounds like a good plan. Need help?”
Ben finally relaxed and let Elijah take him to the passenger’s door again. “Thanks, but I think we got it.”
This time he was able to open it as the drunken man leaned his head against the side of the Ranger. He was clearly giving up the fight.
Pulling out his phone, Elijah checked the time. Not too bad. If he could get the older man home, he’d be only a few minutes late. One arm braced against Ben’s chest to hold him in place, he scrolled and found Jazmine’s number.
A strange noise came from the man next to him. Before he realized what was happening, Ben had leaned into him and lost his last meal.
With a yelp, Elijah leaped back, dropping his phone, but it was too late. His shirt was covered. Bending down to rescue his phone, he gagged. Lying on the filthy pavement, his phone was even in worse shape. The screen was broken.
Officer Sanchez laughed. “No good deed goes unpunished.”
“Thanks,” Elijah growled. There was a towel in his backseat, but it wasn’t much help.
Ben leaned into Elijah. “I’m so sorry,” he mumbled.
Sanchez went to his car and returned with a plastic bag and a T-shirt. “Here. Put your phone in here. The shirt might be a bit small for you, but it’s clean.”
“Thanks.” Elijah made a fast job of taking off his once favorite tee and tossed it in the plastic bag with the useless phone. It was history. He’d have to get a new phone in the morning. “Come on, Ben, let’s get you home. I have a date with a very special lady.”
Sanchez raised an eyebrow. “Really? And you came here to save this old coot?”
“Yeah, he wanted to drive. Not going to let that happen.”
As Elijah buckled Ben into his passenger seat, Sanchez clapped him on the shoulder. “I don’t care what anyone says, you’re a good man, De La Rosa.” The officer laughed at his own joke.
Elijah grunted. This was a good reminder of why he was sober. He had a date with his daughter. That lifted his heart.
He waved to Officer Sanchez, then glanced at Ben, now snoring against his window. He’d drop him off, then head over to pick up his family.
Hopefully, he wouldn’t be too late.
Thank you, God, for the reminder and the opportunity to be that little girl’s father.
Jazmine placed the dry dishes in their proper places and resisted the urge to look at the time again. Elijah had worked too hard for this day to show up late. He owned several businesses now, so maybe something had happened. Bracing her hands on the edge of the granite counter, she dropped her head.
Did she really just start making excuses for him? He had a phone.
“Momma! What time is it? How much longer until he’ll be here?” There was the sound of a truck outside. Rosemarie ran to the window and looked out. She turned around with a pout. “Did he say what kind of horse I was going to get to ride?”
“I think he wants to surprise you.” She broke and glanced at the clock. Fifteen minutes. Her heart plummeted. He had been early to every appointed time.
No. He said he would be here. She wasn’t going to panic. He’d be here. She was just on edge because she was going to have to tell him something that would upset him. “Do you have a change of clothes?”
“Yes.” Rosemarie bounced and twirled. “He said my cousins would be there. I’ve never had cousins before. Did you know I have five, but three are babies? They’re triplets, like twins but there are three of them. Zoe and Claire are twins, but there are only two of them. Three at one time. I’ve never seen triplets. Have you?”
“Only on TV.” There had been a time it was challenging to raise one baby by herself. But triplets? She couldn’t even.
Elijah and Xavier had been so close. It had to be difficult to know he wasn’t coming back to his children.
“It’ll be fun to have cousins.” Rosemarie had gone back to her perch on the window seat.
Jazmine went to the window and stood behind her daughter. She had worked so hard to protect her. If he did anything now to prove her mother right, she’d...well, she wasn’t sure what she’d do, but he would regret it. No one hurt her baby.
And he was going to have to deal with her and Rosie going back to Denver sooner than expected. It wasn’t going to change anything other than the daily lunches. She was doing the right thing taking her daughter back home. Getting back into a routine was good for a young child.
Restless, Rosemarie ran to pick up her horse and pack it in her bag. “Maybe my horse will be a palomino.” Zipping up the bag, she skipped around the table, excitement bouncing off every part of her body. “Maybe it’ll be black, like Black Beauty.”
Tires crunched the crushed gravel in the drive. With a squeal, her daughter ran to the window. “Oh.” Her tiny shoulders dropped, right along with the excitement in her voice. “It’s just GiGi and Papa.”
“How about we pack some snacks and make Papa’s tea?”
Rosemarie skipped to the pantry and pulled out her favorite snacks. “Should we get some carrots and apples for the horses?”
“I’m not sure.” The door slammed downstairs. She had hoped they’d be gone before her mother and father arrived. She made the tea, trying to keep her heart from pounding with each passing minute.
After a minute her mother’s heels hit the stairs, but before she reached the top she hollered up. “Jazmine, come down here. I need to speak with you in private.”
She closed her eyes. Dread filled her. After giving Rosemarie a task to keep her busy, Jazmine gave the clock one last glance, then made her way to her mother.
“What’s up, Mom?” Her mother’s tight face didn’t ease her anxiety.
“I saw him. It’s not good.” Azalea crossed her arms.
From his recliner, her father scowled. “Jumping to conclusions is a waste of time, honey. We should have stopped to see if he needed help.”
Eyes rolling high into her brows, Azalea shook her head. “I know what I saw, and you needed to be home to rest.” Her gaze bored into Jazmine. “Has he called?”
“No.” Jazmine hated the hesitation she heard in her voice. “Did you see him?”
With a nod, Azalea narrowed her eyes. “In the Watering Hole parking lot. He couldn’t stand straight. Looked like he was fighting with someone. The police were pulling up as we sat at the red light. It didn’t look good.”
Her gut twisted. All the old memories of waiting for him swamped her.
Hearing the Ranger outside, they both turned toward the door. Her mother crossed her arms. “Do you want me to tell him to leave?”
“No. I’ll talk to him.” She had made a promise not to run and hide behind her parents. She met him at the door. His hair was disheveled, and the shirt he wore was too small. It was obviously not his.
“I can’t believe you drove here.”
Frowning, he looked at his truck, then back to her. “How else would I get here?” He walked closer to her. “So sorry I’m late. Are y’all ready?”
“Do you really think I’m going to let her go with you like this?”
“What?” His eyes went wide. “Wait. You think I’ve been drinking?” He stepped closer to her.
She stepped back, repelled. The smell. It was as if they had slipped back in time to all the nights he had showed up late and lied to her. But it was worse. He was lying to their daughter now. He was making their daughter wait.
She forced herself to step out of the house and close the door. “I can’t believe you would come here like this. And you drove.”
He blinked, a look of confusion on his face. The exact same look he used years ago to pretend he hadn’t been drinking. “Jazmine, I haven’t had a drink. I had... Well, I went to help a friend. I didn’t think it would take this long, but it got complicated. And even if I was drunk, I’d never drive. You know that.”
“I don’t know anything.” She waved her hand. “This situation was so complicated you couldn’t call or text?”
He reached out to her, his eyes burning. “Baby. Listen to me, please. I haven’t—”
“Don’t.” She wrapped her arms tight around her middle. She had been so stupid. “I know that smell all too well. I’m not doing this. I’m not putting my daughter through this.”
Biting the inside of her cheek, she willed back the tears. Crying over him was in her past. It wasn’t going to happen again.
“Jazz.” He looked up to the balcony, then back to her. “I’m not drunk. I know how—”
“Stop. For all I know, you’ve gotten worse. Maybe you even drove back then. I was so naive I believed anything you told me. I won’t go there again.”
Taking his cowboy hat in his hand, he slammed it against his leg.
She jumped.
“Right.” He dropped his head and pinched the bridge of his nose, then winced.
Was that a bruise?
He took a deep breath and looked back at her. “There was an emergency. I couldn’t just ignore it. Yes, I went to a bar. The Watering Hole. I had to go inside. Someone got sick, and I had to borrow this shirt. I didn’t go home and change because—”
“Daddy?” They both looked up to the balcony above them. “Can I come down? Are we leaving?”
With a big intake of air, Jazmine forced a smile. “So sorry, sweetheart. There’s been a change of plans.”
“Jazz, please don’t do this.” His voice, low and gravelly, made her want to believe him. Forgive him. “I’m less than thirty minutes late.”
“Your dad just dropped by to tell me he doesn’t feel well.”
“Jazz.” He closed his eyes and gritted his teeth for a moment before putting that wide smile on his face. “So sorry, sweetheart. We can’t go today.”
He was blinking, and his breath was coming in quick pants. “I promised her.”
She would not, could not give in to him. “Don’t make promises you can’t keep.” She forced each word from between clenched teeth.
He put his hat back on and ran the back of his hand over his eyes.
His eyes were cold. And, she realized, clear. There weren’t glassy or hazy, but stone-cold clear. Without breaking eye contact with her, he spoke loud enough for Rosemarie to hear. “We will be riding on the ranch before the month is up.”
Her mother joined Rosemarie on the railing. “I’m so sorry. I thought she was in her room. I’ll take her inside.” She put a protective arm around the small shoulders. “Goodbye, Elijah.”
His eyes went colder. “She saw me at the Watering Hole, didn’t she?”
“Don’t blame her. She wouldn’t have seen you there if you hadn’t been there.”
“So instead of asking me why, you jumped to conclusions.” He took a step back. “I’m not going to argue about this. If you can’t listen to me right now, I need to walk away. But I promised Rosemarie a ride, and we are going to make a new time and date.”
He turned and walked toward his truck.
Why did she feel like she was in the wrong? He’d been the one to break promises. “You can’t just make plans without my approval. Before you do anything, call me.”
He paused but didn’t turn around. “I’ve lost your number. Call the Painted Dolphin and leave it with them so I can put in my new phone.”
“New? What happened to your phone?”
He opened his door. “I’m sure you wouldn’t believe me. I’ll have my lawyer contact you. We can set up all future dates through her.”
“Are you threatening me?”
“No.” There was a deep sadness in his soft voice. He finally turned. “I’m setting boundaries. We both need to come from a place of respect, and if we can’t, a mediator might be a good idea.” He paused at his opened door. “I’m leaving now because I’m not going to fight with you. I’m not going to try to make you believe something you don’t want to believe. But I want to be very clear about this—I am not walking away from our daughter.”
Slipping into the truck, he shut his door and backed out of the drive.
Everything in her told her to run after him and...what? Apologize? She didn’t have anything to be sorry for. He had slipped into his old ways, and she wasn’t going to be an enabler this time. She had done her own coddling. Without knowing it, she had helped his addiction. She was smarter now, stronger.
But his eyes had been clear, part of her brain insisted. It didn’t matter, she argued with herself. Even if he was sober by the time he drove out here, it was obvious where he had been. She couldn’t afford to disregard the warning signs and explain away his actions.
She should feel strong, so why did she want to throw up? She glanced at the balcony where her sweet, innocent daughter had been standing. Her fears had come to life. Elijah was so easy to love when he was sober. But what she remembered the most was the waiting.
All alone at their house, waiting late into the night. Waiting for him to reach out to her when she had moved to Denver. All the waiting had hurt her so deeply.
Now her daughter was hurt.
Elijah gripped the wheel. His jaw hurt, and his breathing was short and shallow. Did he really expect her to trust him?
Yes. Without trust, how would they be able to parent Rosemarie together?
He’d jumped through all her hoops. Then the first time he’d been a little late she’d slammed the door in his face. The urge to stand and fight, to yell until she listened to him, was strong.
But he had done the right thing. He slammed the steering wheel. He wanted to show her the phone. Wanted to drag Sanchez up there so he could explain. He wanted her to believe in him. But he couldn’t force her.
Even now, he wanted to go back and say more. The words he wanted to scream swirled around his head. He wanted to force her to listen. But force was never the right answer.
She didn’t trust him, and he couldn’t make her feel something she didn’t. His knuckles twisted.
If Miguel hadn’t called him to get Ben... No.
He wouldn’t start the blame game. Pulling into the barn area, he rested his head on the steering wheel. God, how do I fix this?
His gut hurt.
His sister stood at the barn door and waved with a huge grin. Her girls came out and ran to the truck. They were excited to see Rosemarie. Family was so important to his sister.
But there was no Rosemarie. His eyes burned. No way was he going to cry, but the pain was deeper than any he had felt in a while. He had already missed too much of his daughter’s life. There had to be a way to fix this before they left, but if Jazmine wasn’t going to have any faith in him, he was fighting a losing battle.
Confusion marred the faces of three of the most important people in his life. They glanced into the truck and then back at him.
“Where’s Rosemarie?” his older niece asked.
“Elijah?” his sister asked, her hands resting on his open window. “Where are they?” She frowned. She leaned in and sniffed. “And why do you smell like...” Her nose wrinkled. “Is that cigarette smoke?” Horror flared in her eyes as she stepped back. “Girls, go inside.”
Leaning his head back against the headrest, he closed his eyes. Great. Not only had he upset Jazmine and disappointed Rosemarie, now he had upset his sister and nieces.
Lord, help me change the things I can, accept the things I can’t and give me the wisdom to know the difference.
“Elijah, what happened? Tell me, please, because right now I’m scared to death.”
Opening his eyes, he studied the face of his beautiful sister. Together they had been through so much. Life had taught them early on that the people you love had the greatest power to hurt you. And yet here she was, still willing to love him.
He looked into her eyes as the story spilled out, swallowing his raw emotions. Here was the one person in his life who would believe him and be there without question, the way family should.
All he wanted to do was love his daughter the way his sister loved him. Loved her girls. Now all Rosemarie knew was that he had broken a promise.
Had he been an idiot to think Jazmine might ever trust him again? She had once, and he had crushed her.