Karen Whiddon - The Texan's Return

Still, it was better than scrambling around town looking for odd jobs and part-time work, he thought.

“I’m going to have to refuse. I just don’t think it would work.”

Shocked, he swallowed hard, trying like hell not to let his disappointment show on his face. He hadn’t expected an outright refusal. “Do you mind telling me why?”

Her sideways look told him she thought he shouldn’t have to ask. “Because it’s your father. Because of what he did.”

Her words brought a wave of pain so intense he had to briefly close his eyes. “I could swear to you on a stack of bibles that he’s innocent, and you still wouldn’t believe him, would you?”

“I...I don’t know.” She hesitated. Once, she would have offered an instant confirmation. “But as long as I don’t know for sure, I don’t think I can be around him.”

Damn. “He’s dying, Hailey.” His voice broke. “He’s dying and I love him. That ought to be enough.” He wanted it to be. Oh, how he wanted it to be.

“I don’t know that I can care for the man who killed my sister.” She swallowed. “I’m sorry.”

“He didn’t.” Though he knew his defense would fall on deaf ears, he had to give it a shot. “There was no real evidence. He had an indifferent attorney, and the police just wanted to close the case.”

“Maybe so, but unless reopening the case shows me otherwise, I have no proof he didn’t do it.” She came closer, her earnest expression breaking his heart. “I’m sorry, Mac. If I think of anyone who could do the job, I’ll have them call you.”

He shouldn’t have been so shattered, but he was. And even so, as she turned and walked back the way she’d come, he struggled with the urge to call her back, to ask her to take the weekend and think it over.

Had the rift between them grown so deep that there would never be a way to bridge it?

Once she’d gone out of sight, he climbed into his truck and started the engine. He still needed help. He’d wanted it to be her, but if she wouldn’t do it, he’d have to find somebody else.

And figure out another way to get Hailey to give him a chance.

* * *

All the way back up her long, winding drive, Hailey berated herself. She didn’t have the luxury of turning down work, especially work that paid so much. And this was Mac, who’d once been her everything, asking for her help.

Yet Gus... She considered Mac’s words. What if the truth she’d believed for ten years wasn’t really factual? What if Mac was right, and Gus hadn’t committed the awful murder? Was there any sliver of reality in what Mac said, or had this just been a desperate attempt of a man to reconcile his love for his father with the possibility that Gus might be a monster?

She didn’t know. She wasn’t sure she’d ever know.

As she rounded the last corner and the house came into sight, her heart sank. June sat in the driver’s seat of their one car, vainly trying to start the engine. Instead of a motor coming to life, every time she turned the key there was a clicking sound.

“Hey.” June looked up as Hailey approached. “It’s Friday night and I’m ready to party. But the car won’t start. We either need a new battery or the alternator is gone.”

Hailey winced. She’d just bought groceries and paid the electric bill. She had maybe five dollars left to her name, at least until she found some other work. Maybe she could pick up a shift waitressing in the café. Sometimes Jed Rogers would take pity on her and let her fill in when one of his waitresses called in sick.

Except without a car, how would she get into town to work?

She eyed her mother. “I don’t suppose you have money to get that fixed?”

June started shaking her head before Hailey had even finished speaking. “My check doesn’t come until next week,” she drawled, not sounding the least bit concerned. “I don’t have a dime.”

Except somehow, from somewhere, she managed to come up with enough cash to buy a bottle or two. Hailey had searched numerous times, trying to find out where her mom hid her stash of cash, but so far the location eluded her.

“I don’t either.” Throat tight, Hailey refused to cry. This was the last straw. “I guess we’re going to have to do without a car until we can come up with some money.” Except she knew they couldn’t, not past the weekend. Not only did she take the kids to school, but she picked them up. Eli’s elementary school was close enough that he could ride his bike, but the twins’ middle school was several miles away. She dreaded informing them that they’d need to ride the bus. They’d steadfastly refused every time she’d tried to suggest it, hinting how much money they could save on gas. Apparently to a fourteen-year-old, riding the school bus was the height of dorkiness.

Ah, well. They wouldn’t have a choice if she didn’t have a vehicle.

For the first time, June appeared slightly concerned. After all, how could she hang out at her bar without a way to get there? Then, staring at Hailey, her expression smoothed out, and her frown disappeared. “You’ll figure something out,” she said. “You always do.”

Hailey shook her head and turned to go inside. Even though she was the daughter, she and her mother’s roles had become reversed. Hailey was the one who worried if they had enough food, if she’d be able to clothe the children and keep the electricity and water turned on.

Now this.

There was no way she could turn down Mac’s job offer now. More evidence of a hard truth she’d come to learn at an early age. Sometimes one had to swallow their pride in order to survive.

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