Lone Star Hero. Jolene Navarro

to San Antonio after almost drowning. He thought they had connected that night and she would be more open to reviving their old friendship.

      Going by the Mercantile where she worked, he tried talking to her, but she managed to be in the back of the store whenever he stopped by.

      Vickie made it clear that he had no place in her life.

      He finally got to see her face-to-face, only to have to threaten to arrest her. Not the impression he wanted to make.

      Easing into the parking spot next to Vickie’s small vehicle, Jake put the Explorer in park in front of the sixty-year-old county building. The windows of the wood exhibit hall shimmered with pink and red metallic ribbons.

      A couple of faces appeared through the streamers followed quickly by three girls rushing outside. “Ashley! Where have you been? You volunteered to decorate.”

      The oldest one, Rachel Levi, the pastor’s daughter, stopped at the edge of the concrete slab and looked at Vickie instead of the younger girls. “Mrs. Lawson, is Seth with you?”

      “No, sweetheart, he’s with his grandfather.” Vickie reached over and pulled the cupcakes out.

      Ashley stood with her box of cards. “He’s grounded. But he made a card for you.”

      “Really?” A smile lit up her face. The preteen turned to Vickie. “He’s still grounded because we snuck out?”

      “No, Rachel, he has a whole new set of reasons.”

      Her lips drawn, the girl looked uncomfortable. She had been with Seth the night he ran away and had pulled his unconscious body out of the river.

      “Is your father here tonight?” Vickie asked.

      Rachel nodded. “Daddy still doesn’t allow me anywhere without him.”

      Jake looked at his watch. If Vickie was going to get her fines paid today, she needed to make those calls before the office closed.

      He moved forward to take the cupcakes from her. “Come on, girls, let’s get these inside. Ms. Lawson has some calls to make before the party starts.”

      Ashley and Celeste, Rachel’s little sister, skipped to his side, holding hands. “Celeste, my mom made penguin cupcakes,” Ashley said.

      Rachel went in, shoulders slumped, but the other girls hopped around him.

      “Oh, Ashley, these are the cutest cupcakes ever.” Mia De La Cruz, one of Ashley’s friends, held the door open for them.

      At the far end of the room, women were setting the tables with food and drinks. He knew everyone. To his left Pastor John and Adrian De La Cruz kicked balloons out of their way as they walked toward him.

      Adrian, a carpenter and roper Jake hung out with, slapped him on the back. “So you giving Ms. Lawson and her cupcakes a police escort?”

      He smiled. “Looks that way, doesn’t it? So where do these guys go?”

      “I’ll take them, Officer Torres.” Rachel took the box from him and headed across the open floor.

      Tables covered in more pink and red lined the walls. They left the center open for games and dancing. He spent many nights in his youth at the 4-H meetings and parties with Adrian and Vickie. “So now you’re one of the 4-H parents?”

      Adrian laughed. “That’s me, dad of the Valentine’s party. Happens a lot faster than you realize. Are you staying to help?”

      “No, I just followed Vickie. I’m heading out, still on duty.”

      “Daddy!” Mia, Adrian’s ten-year-old daughter, ran toward them. “Ms. Ortega is looking for the oranges and Hula-Hoops. Did you bring them in?”

      “Yeah, I’ve got ’em.” With another slap on Jake’s back, Adrian followed his daughter to the group of mothers.

      John gave him a quick goodbye and headed to his daughters.

      Jake used to wonder what it would be like to have his own family. One part of him loved the thought of being the dad that helped at the 4-H events and rodeos, watching his own kids participate and compete. The other part knew he had no business being anyone’s father or husband. The knowledge didn’t seem to stop him from dreaming, though.

      Vickie peeked around the door, scanning the area until she spotted him. She waved him over then disappeared outside.

      For some insane reason, he smiled as he followed her through the door. Tomorrow she’d go back to ignoring him, but for now he had her full attention.

Chapter Two

      Vickie stood at her backyard fire pit alone, watching the dancing flames, the day finally over. She’d paid her ticket and left the party as soon as she could. Tomorrow would have been her thirteenth wedding anniversary. With the ugly emotions surfacing, it was a good thing Ashley went home with Mia, and Seth had stayed the night at her parents’ house.

      She had not had a second to herself in two months and tonight she needed some alone time. A fitting end to her worst Valentine’s Day ever.

      Well, maybe not the worst. Three years ago today, she found out her husband had been involved with his campaign manager, a woman she trusted. A woman that had sat at her dinner table and played with her kids. An anniversary gift she’d never forget.

      She had worked so hard at being the good wife to a man that didn’t care about being a good husband or father. It was all about image for Tommy.

      Dousing the fire pit with diesel, Vickie watched the flames dance high into the Texas night sky. Hands on her hips, she looked up, following the tongues of orange as they curled and danced toward the stars.

      For a moment, she focused on the silhouetted hills surrounding her father’s ranch. She grew up counting the trees along the riverbank. Their smell always gave her comfort, but not tonight.

      Tonight she needed to do something to purge the remaining traces of bitterness and feeling of helplessness. Maybe a good cry. She snorted. Her mother would disapprove.

      Crying didn’t solve anything, just made a person look weak. Opening the elaborate cover of her wedding album, she looked at the engagement picture. That girl looked like a stranger to her now. She was made up in the image of her mother.

      Tommy smiled at the camera, one arm wrapped around her waist. Her hand flat against his shirt, showing off the large diamond. She tossed the grinning groom into the blaze and stared as his face distorted before vanishing into ashes.

      She couldn’t think of one single day in the last two years she had even missed Tommy and his hypercritical demands. Finding out about the other woman was her breaking point. He blamed her, telling her he couldn’t love her.

      Being a wife and mother was all she ever wanted. She didn’t seem to be winning in that department, either. She rolled her head back and closed her tired eyes.

      A grown woman with an eleven-year-old son and seven-year-old daughter to raise and not a marketable skill in sight.

      Her mother lectured her for the past twelve years about being the good wife, even after the divorce. People in her family did not get divorced.

      Against all evidence, Elizabeth Lawson hung on to the dream that Tommy would come back and beg her forgiveness, becoming the model family man. Vickie knew it was beyond over. She failed at marriage and had messed up the perfect family history. Her mother would have to find a way to deal.

      The one thing she would not be, could not be, was a failure at being a mom. Her kids needed her more than ever since Tommy’s disappearing act.

      She tore out another photo, her mother fussing over the intricate pile of hair the hairdresser had created around the bridal veil. Miles of perfectly preserved white lace and tiny beaded pearls surrounded Vickie along with all her mother’s plans and expectations.