Breathless Descent (14 page)

Shay grinned. “I had a feeling you’d like it.”

“How close are you to flying solo?”

“Five hours,” Shay said. “I can’t wait. Caleb wants to be my first passenger. And since he can fly, I figure if I screw up, he can save us.”

“You can always take along a chute,” Sabrina laughed.

Lori approached. She was tall and athletic, with striking dark brown eyes and silky raven hair that fell below her shoulders when it wasn’t tied back, as it was now.

“I take it you guessed she’s a little excited,” Lori said, indicating Sabrina with a nod and smiling at Shay.

“I had a tiny hint of a clue,” Shay agreed.

“You know what I think?” Sabrina said. “Lori should come to work at the Hotzone, and we could offer flight lessons.”

Lori held up her hands. “Oh, no. I’m happy right where I’m at.”

“We do Special Ops training,” Sabrina said. “A pilot would be a great addition.”

“I thought the Aces all knew how to fly?” Shay asked. “And they have pilots on staff.”

“Which makes a flight school a perfect addition,” Sabrina said. “I’m going to talk to Ryan.” She eyed Lori. “And be prepared to be propositioned.”

Lori snorted. “I was a woman in the Army,” she said. “A proposition is like a cup of coffee. A part of waking up.” She motioned to the building. “I have to go catch up with my next client.”

Shay and Sabrina fell into step behind her. “You want to grab some lunch?” Sabrina asked.

“I would, but Caleb and I have plans for lunch and a movie,” she said. “But maybe next weekend after our first lesson. You are coming back next weekend, right?”

“You bet,” Sabrina said. “Maybe we can arrange afternoon classes so Jennifer can come. We can make it a threesome.”

Shay’s stomach did a funny flutter. She loved Caleb. She liked Sabrina. She had no idea why she hesitated to embed herself in the “threesome” of Aces women, why she couldn’t feel like she belonged.

Shay eyed her cell phone. “I missed a call from Caleb.” She held up a finger and pushed the recall button, worried about Kent.
“Hey, sweetheart. Taking Kent to the airport. I don’t want to leave him alone before his flight. I’ll be back to the trailer about three-thirty, and I’ll be starving. For you and that Mexican food.”

Shay smiled and ended the voice mail, when her phone rang again instantly, and she frowned at the unknown number. “Sorry,” she whispered to Sabrina and motioned them onward to the building.

Shay hit Answer as they walked and before she could say hello, she heard, “Doc, it’s George. I’m getting married.”

“Married?” she blurted, stopping in her footsteps. “Where are you?”

“I’m still in Mexico,” he said. “On a boat. We’re saying ‘I do’ in about twenty minutes. No guests. Just me, Anabella and a preacher. Anabella has a big family, but she understands I don’t, so we are doing this alone. I’ve asked her to come to a session when we get back.”

“Oh,” Shay said, feeling a little relieved that this Anabella woman was willing to support George. “Of course. Call me when you’re ready.” She drew a breath. “George. This is very fast. Are you sure you shouldn’t wait?”

“When you’re in love,” George said, “you know it. You want to scream it from the rooftops. Why in the world would I wait?” He hung up. Shay stopped walking. She stood there, a few steps from the flight school doorway. and replayed the words.
When you’re in love, you know it. Why would you wait?

“Everything okay?” Sabrina asked.

Shay shook off the unsettled feeling in her stomach. She smiled at Sabrina. “Fine. One of my patients with happy news.”

“Oh,” Sabrina said. “It didn’t sound so happy.” She shrugged. “You have time for coffee in the snack bar?”

“Sure,” Shay said and followed Sabrina inside.

“Good,” Sabrina, her eyes lighting. “I want to hear about that sudden exit you and Caleb made last night. The steam coming off you two was downright scorching. Oh, and what happened with Kent when he caught you out at the Hotzone?” She snagged Shay’s arm. “Let’s talk.”

Shay cringed. She didn’t want to talk about last night any more than she wanted to think about George’s comment.

Nevertheless, she found herself sitting across from Sabrina and sipping an iced mocha a few minutes later. “I needed this,” Shay said. “Both the caffeine and the cold drink.”

Sabrina wiggled a dark brow. “Not much sleep last night?”

“Taking advantage of every minute until my parents get back from Italy,” Shay explained, and then wondered why the heck she had said it. What happened to not wanting to talk about this?

Sabrina studied her a moment. “And what happens when they come back?”

“Back to sneaking around to see Caleb,” Shay said.

“I take it Kent didn’t figure out what’s going on then?”

Shay shook her head. “No. We told him I was going to jump and then chickened out.”

Sabrina studied her another long moment. Shay shifted under the scrutiny.

“What?” Shay asked.

“Is that really a relief? Kent not finding out? I mean, wasn’t there a part of you that just wanted the romance to be out of the closet?”

“It’s complicated, Sabrina.”

“So you keep saying.”

“But it is.”

“No,” Sabrina said. “It’s not. Do you love Caleb?”

“Yes.”

“Okay then,” Sabrina said. “Complication dissolved. That’s all that matters.”

But she was wrong. So wrong. Most people didn’t fall in love with a man who called
her
family
his
family. What happened if… She swallowed hard, shoving aside the what-ifs and a deeper fear that gnawed at her and refused to take form. She didn’t want it to take form. She didn’t want to know what it was, because it didn’t matter. She
did
love Caleb. They would get through this, right after they dealt with Kent. When the time was right.

Not today. Today, she didn’t have to think about it. Today, she and Caleb were going to that dinner and movie, and then indulging in one of his hundred fantasies. Just the two of them—just the here and now.

Shay leaned against him, and shut her eyes. “I hate we have to tell them about Kent the minute they walk in the door.”

“I know,” he said. “But we can’t put this off. Not with Kent in this kind of trouble.”

Shay rotated in his arms. “Can’t we turn back the clock and live this past week all over again?” It had been one of the best weeks of her life. They’d managed to put aside the impending troubles with Kent and her parents, and enjoy each other.

They’d even started to get little routines: they knew what time she got home, what time he got home. And Tuesday and Wednesday had been dinner in the living room to watch
American Idol
. Chinese takeout, Tuesday; pizza, Wednesday. Caleb said
Idol
was a guilty pleasure so opposite to how he’d spent the last ten years of his life that he couldn’t deny himself. She loved that there were many sides to him. And then there was bedtime, and the countdown through the hundred to-do items.

“There’s always next week,” he promised. “And the next. We just need to get this behind us. Behind Kent.”

“I know,” she agreed. “But maybe we shouldn’t have Kent coming over just yet.” They’d told Kent they were having a welcome-home dinner for his parents, instead of the intervention they had planned. “Not until we know how Mom and Dad are going to react to what’s going on. What if they aren’t supportive of a treatment program?”

“Is it what’s best for Kent?”

“Well, yes, but—”

“Can you, as a professional, assure them it’s the right thing for Kent?”

“Yes, but—”

He kissed her to shut her up, a fast, full-mouth kiss. “Then they’ll trust you. I do.”

Shay wrapped her arms around his neck. “Thank you,” she said. “And thank you for what you’re doing for Kent.”

“If you want to thank me,” he said, running his hand over her hip and caressing one jean-clad butt cheek, “I’ll give you a reason to thank me tonight. But don’t thank me for taking care of Kent. He’d do the same for me if things were reversed.”

“I should have seen this,” she said. “I’m a trained professional. I mean the signs were there, Caleb. In grade school before you were even around, he’d bet his school lunch money on stupid stuff like what color of shirt a teacher would wear that day, or what grade someone would get on a test. And you know the way he was in high school. He held betting pools on who’d go to prom with who.”

“That betting pool became famous by the time he was a senior,” he said. “I even think a few teachers secretly participated. His senior pot was three grand. That’s big money for a high school kid. And he got two dollars for every bet placed. At that point, I was sure he was going to end up a millionaire. Instead he’s flat broke.”

“And now you’re almost flat broke,” she said, and frowned.

He shrugged off the comment in a way that made her curious. “Aren’t you?” she asked.

“Do you really want to know?”

She gaped. “Good grief, Caleb. How much money
did
you make on those investments?” She held out her hands. “Not that it matters but—well, how much?”

Tenderness slid into his voice, his expression softening. “Enough for at least one more romantic trip to Italy for two. For you and me, Shay.”

“What?” she whispered, her throat raspy, suddenly dry. Italy? It was a beautiful nightmare. One she’d never recover from if he pulled back again.

The front door opened. “Hello! Hello!”

Shay panicked and instinctively shoved out of Caleb’s arms. Their eyes locked and held, and she watched the affection in his expression bleed away. Shay’s heart stuttered, and she stepped toward him. “Caleb, I didn’t mean to seem… I want to tell them the right way, the right time.” She could see her words hadn’t changed his reaction. “Please. Please don’t be angry.”

“Shay! Caleb!” Her mother’s voice grew closer, until it was in the doorway of the living room. “Oh, my goodness, it’s coming down out there. Caleb, honey, can you help your father? He’s riding the bags up the driveway like boats.”

Caleb cut his gaze from Shay, and there was no mistaking his unhappiness, or the sudden icy chill in the air.

“Caleb—” she began, trying to make things right, but he cut her off, answering Sharon instead.

“On my way,” he called, leaving Shay without another glance. The instant Caleb was within Sharon’s reach, Sharon grabbed him and hugged him. “It was the best two weeks of my life. Thank you, Caleb.”

Shay watched Caleb’s face as he hugged her mother. His eyes were shut, but his jaw was tense, the handsomely rugged lines of his face strained. Because of her, she thought guiltily. But when he pulled back to look at Sharon, he smiled, and it transformed his features, as if the harshness of moments before had never existed. “I can’t wait to hear all about the trip,” he said.

A grumble followed by a rant of cursing came from the doorway. Shay’s father had made it to the house but not happily. Sharon grimaced. “You better help. He’s an old man, Caleb. He really might float away.”

Caleb chuckled and went to do as ordered. Shay rushed forward and hugged her mother, leaning back to ask, “So Italy was amazing?”

“A fairy tale,” she said. “I still can’t believe Caleb did that for us.” She waved at Shay, already walking. “Come to the kitchen and let me show you what I brought you.”

Fifteen minutes later, Shay’s mother was talking a million miles an hour, with wine and all kinds of cookbooks, and yummy treats for Shay, Caleb and Kent. And Shay wanted to hear it all, she wanted to be excited with her mother. A hard thing to do, between Caleb’s being upset with her and the dread over telling her parents about Kent. Shay’s stomach was churning, the memory of the IHOP brunch she and Caleb had indulged in earlier in the day ever present, and not nearly as pleasant now as it had been to eat.

In the next room, Shay could hear Bob telling Caleb about the trip, talking more than she thought she’d heard her father talk in years. All this happiness and excitement, and Shay and Caleb were about to twist them in knots. And soon. It had to be soon or Kent would arrive and they wouldn’t be ready for him.

As if he’d been reading her mind, Caleb appeared in the doorway of the kitchen. “Sharon,” he said, “Shay and I have something we need to sit down and discuss with you and Bob.” He paused, but his tone had been grave, his expression stark as he added, “Before Kent gets here.”

Sharon set down the package of pasta in her hand. “Oh, my. Is everything okay?”

Shay touched her mother’s back. “It’s fine,” she said, and offered a reassuring smile. “We just need to have a little family problem-solving powwow,” she said. “Something we didn’t want to hit you with the day you came home, but unfortunately, it’s necessary.”

Once they were all gathered around the coffee table—Shay and her mother on the couch, Caleb and her father in the leather chairs across from them—Shay glanced at Caleb, and he explained what had happened with Kent. Then, as planned, Shay showed her parents some brochures for a treatment facility she’d checked out for Kent, and explained what she felt, professionally, needed to be done. She’d consulted several peers, as this was personal, and she wanted to be sure she was objective.

Neither of her parents said much as Shay and Caleb talked. Shay sat back, hands on her legs, and said, “When he gets here, we’d like to talk to him. Use the power of a family intervention to insist he get help.”

Sharon covered her face with her hands and sobbed. Shay hugged her, her gaze seeking Caleb’s. “Sharon,” Caleb offered, “Kent is safe. We just want to keep him that way. And if he keeps gambling like this, there’s going to come a point where I can’t bail him out.”

“You’ll get every damn dime back,” Bob said, his voice crackling with emotion masked by out-of-character anger. “If I have to pay you myself.”

Caleb reached over and patted Bob’s shoulder. “I don’t want your money. I don’t give a damn about the money. I care about Kent. These men he’s involved with are not people you mess with.”

“When can he check into this place?” Sharon asked urgently. “I want him locked away someplace safe. Can he go tonight?”

Shay and Caleb exchanged a look. They had agreement on the treatment facility. That was a major step in the right direction. “He needs time to arrange things with his work and his insurance, and they can’t get him in for two weeks anyway. Not at this facility, which is not only close, in the Hill Country, but well-respected. We’ll just have to keep an eye on him the next two weeks and make sure he doesn’t go running up another debt.”

“We have to start by getting his agreement to check himself into the treatment facility,” Caleb reminded everyone.

“He’ll go,” Bob said. “If I have to drag him there kicking and screaming, he’ll go.”

“He will have to stay with you until he checks in, Caleb,” Sharon said. “Then he’ll be safe. You and your Army friends can keep him in line, if anyone can. Please, Caleb. He has to stay with you. I won’t rest if he’s not with you, protected.”

Caleb’s expression didn’t change, but Shay saw the barely perceivable flex of his jaw, the tension climbing down his spine as he stiffened slightly. “Let’s see how it goes with Kent, and we’ll do what we have to. Why don’t we give you guys a few minutes to talk alone? This is a lot to absorb.” Slowly, his attention shifted to Shay. “Let’s get some air.”

Shay gave a jerky nod, made sure her mother was okay and then followed Caleb to the back patio. The minute they were outside, he grabbed her hand and pulled her around the corner, out of sight and out of their hearing.

“We have to tell your parents about us if Kent’s going to stay with me,” he said. “There’s no way we can keep us a secret under those circumstances. Not without completely staying away from each other.”

“We’ll be careful,” she said. “We’ll make it work. It’s only two weeks.”

His hands settled on his hips, frustration etching his brow. “Make it work,” he repeated. “That’s your answer?”

Shay’s heart thundered in her chest. “We can’t spring our relationship on my parents right now. Can’t you see how upset they are?”

“Funny,” he said. “I’m not so sure they’ll be upset we’re together. But you, on the other hand, are convinced they will be. You know what I think? I think this isn’t about your parents at all. I think it’s about something else, and you’re using them as an excuse.”

“No,” Shay said instantly. “You’re wrong. That’s crazy, Caleb. There isn’t something else. There isn’t.”

“There is,” he said with certainty. “I saw it in your face when I brought up Italy, and every time I bring up telling Bob and Sharon that we’re a couple.”

“Kent’s here,” Bob called from the doorway.

“You know, Shay,” he said, “maybe these two weeks are what we need. What you need to figure out what I am to you. Because I know what you are to me. The woman I love. The only woman I’ve ever said that to. You need to figure out what I am to you. The man you love or that forbidden fantasy you talked about.” He gave the door a nod. “Let’s go give Kent the attention he needs to get well.”

He stepped around her and headed to the house, leaving Shay to stare after him. Leaving her alone. She struggled with the coldness of the feeling, the desire to go after him and make things right somehow, make him understand that she was protecting him. She was making sure bad timing didn’t induce a negative reaction from her family about their relationship—about him. There
wasn’t
another reason behind her silence.

Shay forced herself into a jog to catch up with Caleb and entered the living room just behind him to find Kent standing with her parents.

“Why do I get the feeling this isn’t a homecoming party?” Kent asked.

Probably because her parents sat side by side on the couch, silent and tense, with pinched looks on their faces.

“Because it’s not,” Caleb said, his tone no-nonsense, as if he were talking to a young soldier about to face his first enemy-combat situation. “Why don’t you grab a seat and let’s chat.”

“You told them,” Kent said.

“Absolutely, I told them,” Caleb agreed, owning his actions in a way that only made Shay respect him more.

Kent’s gaze locked with Caleb’s and stiff seconds ticked by, a male standoff of some sort Shay didn’t try to understand. Finally, Kent slumped slightly, conceding the control to Caleb, and skulked to a chair to sit.

“You have a gambling problem, Kent,” Caleb said, “and don’t tell us you’re going to stop and you have it under control. Because you won’t and you don’t.” Authority oozed out of Caleb. He was strong and forceful, without being disrespectful. “So here’s what’s going to happen. We’re going to pay off your debt tonight, and then you’ll stay with me to detour any further temptation until you can check in to a rehab facility. Shay’s done preliminary research to find the right place, one she believes your insurance will cover.” He paused and added, “That’s it. This is nonnegotiable.”

Shay held her breath, waiting for Kent’s response, and she could see her parents were doing the same. Several seconds ticked by, before Kent asked, “Where exactly is this facility?”

The tension in the room eased instantly, as if everyone let out that held breath all at once, and Shay glanced at Caleb’s profile in admiration. His strength, and his absolute resolve that Kent get help, had made this happen. Kent was going to get better, and she wasn’t sure it would have happened so easily if Caleb hadn’t been home.