Cathy Thacker - The Texas Lawman's Woman

Austin gave her reason to rethink that decision as he glanced up at a nearby tree. “Bird, Momma!” he shouted enthusiastically, after being lifted from his car seat. “Look!” He grabbed his mother’s face. “Look, Momma, look!”

Shelley mollified her son, then gazed over at Colt in resignation. “Okay, but seriously, this is the last favor I’m taking from you.”

Colt respected her independence even as he doubted the viability of her declaration. He favored her with an accepting nod, and joined her in the office that housed the law practice of Liz Cartwright-Anderson and her husband, Travis Anderson.

Shelley plucked the hand-carved little red truck from her bag and handed it to her son. “You’re going to stay with Colt while I go talk to Liz,” she explained to her son.

Austin scowled. “No!” He shouted at the top of his lungs when his mother attempted to leave. “I. Go. Momma!” He vaulted out of the chair she’d set him in and wrapped himself around Shelley’s leg, refusing to let go. Sighing, she sent Colt another apologetic glance and picked Austin up.

“Yell if you need me.” Colt sat down in the waiting room and opened a magazine.

Mother and son disappeared down a hall.

More shouting followed, at earsplitting levels. “I. Want. My. Deppity!”

Shelley appeared again. She looked at her wit’s end with her irascible toddler. “Do you mind coming back?” she asked in desperation. “Maybe Austin will sit on your lap.”

“Sure thing.” Colt rose casually and joined her in the hallway.

The little boy grabbed a handful of Colt’s shirt and latched on to Shelley’s delicate cotton blouse with his other. “Deppity and Momma!” he said with a satisfied grin.

His mother was not amused. “Someone needs an N-A-P,” Shelley muttered beneath her breath.

Austin shook his head, then fixed his gaze toward the ceiling. His head fell sideways, until it rested on Colt’s shoulder. “No nap,” Austin declared just as feistily, clearly able to spell at least one word. He turned, and with both hands suddenly reached for Colt again. “I want my deppity.”

“Looks like you have your hands full,” Colt murmured to Shelley.

She sighed with the fatigue of a single mom. “You have no idea...”

Still, he couldn’t help but think, she handled it all well.

Their old friend appeared in a stylish suit and heels, her hair cut in the short, practical style common to working mothers. Liz smiled, understanding as only another mom to a toddler could. A wicker basket of toys in hand, sheaf of papers tucked beneath her arm, she ushered everyone into the conference room and motioned for them to take a seat.

While Austin sat on Colt’s lap and dug into the toys, Liz explained to Shelley, “I just looked up the court documents. The debt in question was run up by your ex-husband, Tully Laffer. He apparently took out a line of credit against the property you inherited from your parents, at 903 Spring Street, here in Laramie.”

A look of panic crossed Shelley’s pretty face. “Whoa, whoa, whoa.” She held up both palms. “Tully doesn’t have any ownership in that property. Although we initially inherited it jointly, it was given to me in the divorce settlement, free and clear.”

“His name is still on the deed,” her attorney retorted.

“Which means what?” Shelley asked, appearing even more frantic.

Liz sobered. “As far as the law is concerned, your ex is still part-owner. Which is why the liens were placed on the property.”

Shelley wrung her hands. Austin mimicked his mom and did the same. “Why didn’t anyone tell me any of this?”

“Letters were sent—” Liz shifted a paper Shelley’s way “—to this townhome in Dallas.”

Shelley looked at the address and then her shoulders slumped. “That’s where we lived when we were married. Where Tully still lives.”

Liz continued, “When Tully didn’t respond to the notices from the bank or the collection agency they hired to enforce the debt, the bank took him to court. He did not appear and a default judgment was made in the bank’s favor.” She paused. “The property was foreclosed on last week, and you now have ten days to vacate the premises. Meanwhile, arrangements have already been made to sell the property at auction.”

“On the courthouse steps of the county that it is in, on the first Tuesday of each month.” Shelley recited the facts she had already committed to memory.

Liz nodded. “Right. Which means you have ten days before the eviction takes place, sixteen before it’s actually auctioned.”

Shelley sat back in her chair, her expression sober. “All right. What’s next? How do I stop this?”

“I can take the case to court and ask that the lien be reversed at least temporarily since you were not given proper notice.”

“And if the judge agrees?” Shelley asked, seeming not to breathe, as Austin cuddled against Colt’s chest.

“It will buy us some time but that’s all.” The noted attorney paused briefly to let her words sink in. “You are still going to have to deal with Tully’s one hundred and fifty thousand dollar debt.”

* * *

COLT DROVE SHELLEY AND HER SON home. He offered to stay around long enough for her to make a few calls. It wasn’t much of a sacrifice. Little Austin was adorable and so well behaved. The boy unearthed Colt’s yearning to have a son and a woman to come home to. It sure beat his lonely house down the street.

Unfortunately, judging by the demoralized expression on her face, the latter part of Shelley’s morning went no better than the first. “No luck?” Colt asked when she joined them on the front porch, where he and Austin sat on the chain-hung swing.

“Momma!” Austin said, reaching for her.

Shelley caught him before he lost his balance and fell off the seat of the swing. Because he still had a hold of Colt, too, she sat down beside them, her baby boy wedging distance between them.

“None.” Her slender shoulders slumped. “I’ve left messages for Tully everywhere. He hasn’t responded.”

Colt turned his glance away from the sexy glimpse of soft, silky thigh peeking out from beneath the hem of her khaki skirt. He focused on the pretty contours of her oval face. “Is this typical?”

She went still for one telling beat. “When it comes to financial matters? Oh, yes. He’s as irresponsible as the day is long.”

He stared at her, wanting like hell to understand. “And you married him anyway.” When she had to have known...

Shelley turned and met his searching gaze with a bravado strictly her own. “When I first met him, he was a heck of a lot of fun. I wanted to go everywhere and see everything and break out of the small-town Texas mold. Thanks to Tully’s trust fund, he and I had the means to go just about everywhere. Or so I thought,” she finished darkly.

“Go on,” he said gruffly, having an unsettling feeling that he knew where this was headed.

“Turns out he’d blown through much of his money by the time he met me. Credit cards and cash advances were footing a lot of our travels. Until it all caught up with us anyway, on our fifth wedding anniversary. Suddenly—” Shelley drew in a jerky breath “—we not only did not have a dime to our names, we couldn’t charge anything, either. It was then I found out that instead of three credit cards charged to the max, we had twenty-five.”

Colt blinked. “You’re kidding.”

“Nope. His entire trust fund was gone. Our debt went well into the six figures.” Her shame and anger was palpable. “His parents bailed us out. That time. They insisted we both get regular jobs and live within our means. And for a time, we did. Or at least I did.”

Colt braced for the rest, suspecting by the regret in her voice that it had been bad.