The Texan's Return. Karen Whiddon

swallowed, trying not to let herself feel guilty. Every single year since Eli had been old enough, he’d begged to join Little League. Unfortunately, they barely had enough money to buy food to feed the family. They simply couldn’t afford it, so every year she’d had to tell him no. Undeterred, he’d ask the next year. As if things had changed. She guessed since he was so young, he didn’t understand.

      “I can drive him home after,” Mac added quietly. The afternoon sun lit up his dark hair with gold, shadowing his craggy face and reminding her how she’d used to find his raw masculinity beautiful. Despite the tingle in her veins every time she got near him, she needed to make sure all that stayed in the past.

      Tears stinging the back of her eyes, she shook her head, steeling herself at Eli’s disappointed look. “Not today. Come on, Eli, let’s get going. I’m sure you have homework you need to do.”

      Right about now, June would be staggering into the kitchen, rummaging around for something to eat. Their mother would go on a major binge if she found out about today. Of course, as her addiction to alcohol got steadily worse, June seized the slightest excuse to lose herself in drink.

      Eli hesitated, disappointment and resignation plain on his young, freckled face. But he finally got up and went to get his bike.

      “Let me help put that in your backseat,” Mac said.

      Refusing to look at him, she nodded. Once the bike had been secured and Eli buckled in, she started the car and drove off without even saying goodbye to the man standing on the porch, watching them go.

       Chapter 4

      What had he expected, a miracle? Mac knew better, but when his father had asked to talk to Hailey, hope had risen in him so fast he nearly drowned in it.

      But Hailey had emerged unchanged, at least as far as he could tell. She’d always been stubborn; in the old days he’d found it charming and amusing and often teased her about it.

      Bless Eli for giving them this opportunity. Mac had been wracking his brain trying to figure out a way to get Hailey over here to talk to his dad. Now, thanks to one headstrong eleven-year-old, the chance had fallen into his lap. And while he wasn’t sure what his father had said to Hailey, at least he’d gotten the opportunity to say it.

      He glanced at his watch. He might as well shower and call it a day. Too late to do much more. This morning he’d gotten started on repairing the roof. Luckily, in the ten years since graduating high school, he’d become a jack-of-all-trades. He’d gone to work for a local custom home builder in Huntsville and had learned a myriad of skills. Everything from carpentry to tile to roofing. In a pinch, he could also do basic electrical and plumbing, too, though he wasn’t licensed or certified. The skills would serve him well while he worked to fix up the old family house.

      Since right now, with the need to look after his father, he wasn’t able to work, he knew he’d have to be thrifty. Luckily, he’d been socking away most of his money in the hopes of starting his own construction company. While he still wanted to do this someday, for now it was good to have a backup in a pinch. Most important, he would be there for his father. No amount of money could ever make him regret that. He’d missed out on ten years while his dad was in prison. Damned if he’d miss out on this.

      While he took his second shower of the day, he replayed Eli’s words over and over in his mind. Hailey wasn’t happy. The family needed money.

      And Mac needed help with his father.

      It would be a win-win. He’d get to spend more time with Hailey, she’d get some financial assistance, and maybe she’d even come to accept the truth of his father’s innocence. Especially if he could help the police find the real killer.

      And if he was hoping for the moon and the sun and the stars, maybe Hailey could find her way back to loving Mac again.

      Feeling more positive than he had in days, he grabbed his phone and made the call. He couldn’t ask her on the phone—this was something he wanted to do in person. But he didn’t want to show up at her house unannounced either.

      * * *

      “I liked Mac. He was really nice,” Eli enthused on the way home from Mac’s. Either he didn’t understand he shouldn’t have done what he had, or his gushing was meant to hide it.

      She shot him a quelling look, but since he bounced up and down in his seat, she doubted he saw it. “Eli, you know you aren’t supposed to go anywhere after school without discussing it with me first.”

      His restless movements stilled. “I know,” he said quietly. Then he lifted his chin and met her gaze. “I had to, though. We talked about it, all three of us. I wanted to meet him.”

      “Why?”

      He looked down, then out the window, anywhere but directly at her. When he spoke again, he spoke in a voice so small she could barely hear him. “I wanted to see if he’d be your boyfriend again. We—Tom, Tara and me—decided that would be a good thing.”

      Dumbfounded, she couldn’t figure out their logic. “And why would that be?” she asked.

      His sigh sounded much too old for his eleven years. “Because we want you to be happy again. You know, like you were in those pictures from when you were young.”

      Any other time, his choice of phrase would have made her smile. She guessed at his age, twenty-seven must seem old. “I am happy,” she told him. “I don’t understand why you’d think I’m not.”

      He shrugged. “I dunno.” Which meant he was done trying to explain himself. Either way, she knew just how to fix this mess. She couldn’t have Eli going off to the other side of town and visiting with strangers.

      When they pulled into her long drive and parked in front of the garage, she took a deep breath. “Don’t go far,” she ordered, the instant they stopped. With his hand already on the door handle, Eli froze.

      “In fact, I want you to go and find your brother and sister. I need to see all three of you in the kitchen. It’s family meeting time.”

      Waiting in the kitchen, Hailey saw no sign of her mother. If June had already made her normal afternoon raid for snacks, she saw no sign of it. Usually June would leave open cookie or chip bags scattered around on the counter and table. Despite Hailey’s attempts to get her to eat healthy, they could barely afford junk food. Healthy food was, unfortunately, often way too expensive for their meager budget.

      As the kids shuffled in, she noticed them all looking around for signs of June. The relief she saw in their faces mirrored her own, which made her feel sad.

      “Sit,” she ordered, pointing at the kitchen table. “We need to talk.”

      Eli sat. A moment later the twins did the same.

      “Now tell me who thought it would be a good idea to send an eleven-year-old over to a stranger’s house. Especially with everything that’s been going on.”

      “I didn’t think he’d really do it,” Tara protested. “It was a dumb idea, and I thought we were all just talking.”

      “Uh-huh. But you, Tom.” She speared him with a glance. “You knew, right?”

      “No. Not really,” he protested. Then, as she continued to eye him, he swallowed and finally nodded. “As soon as he rode off on his bike, I knew it was the wrong thing to do. That’s why I told you.”

      Eli crossed his eyes and stuck his tongue out at his brother. “Tattletale.”

      “Enough of that.” Hailey kept her voice sharp, though she wanted to smile. Including Tara in a look, she pulled out a chair. “Now I want to know where you got the idea that I’m not happy.”

      Still silent, Tara began studying her hands, ignoring the way both her brothers looked in her direction.

      “Tara?”