End Zone: Texas Titans 2 (15 page)

Before Kristen could hedge her mother’s
question again, Philip made his way down the stairs, a wide smile lighting his
soft green eyes that were partially concealed by his silver-framed glasses. He
was everything her biological father wasn’t: steadfast, reliable, and honest.
As a college professor, he’d been a rock in his children’s lives, raising them
on his own after his wife left them to find herself.

“Hi, Phillip.” Kristen stepped forward when
he opened his arms. As soon as his strong arms enfolded her, Kristen felt a
fresh wave of tears burning the back of her throat.

Phillip was the kind of man she’d wanted as
a father, someone she could turn to when her life was falling apart, who would
always be there to hold her and tell her everything would be fine. She hadn’t
spoken to her father in years and questioned whether she ever would again. The
separation was so long, the hurt and resentment too deep to allow healing and
forgiveness to permeate. He had a new family, a new life, and he’d never given
Kristen any indication she had a place in it.

“What a wonderful surprise,” Phillip said
softly, stroking her back and offering the comfort and reassurance he was
famous for.

Kristen could only imagine the look of
confusion passing between her mother and stepfather. They must wonder what she
was doing there and what was so terrible that she needed to seek refuge in
their little corner of the world.

“I was just about to make breakfast,”
Nadine said. “How do blueberry pancakes sound?”

With an arm around her shoulders, Phillip
guided Kristen into the spacious kitchen adjoining the family room. “Sounds good
to me, sweetheart.”

Kristen smiled at the endearment. That was
what she had always wanted for her mother: peace, happiness, and a man who
loved her. “Your home is beautiful.”

She could see the entire main floor from
that vantage point. The home didn’t have a large footprint, but the rooms were
spacious with high ceilings and plenty of windows. The forest surrounding the
property meant they didn’t have to worry about window treatments. It had taken
them an entire year to find a suitable piece of land to build their dream home,
but it had clearly been worth the wait. She couldn’t imagine a more perfect
spot for people seeking peace, tranquility, and the opportunity to appreciate
the beauty of nature in their own backyard.

“Thank you, honey,” Nadine said, setting
out the ingredients for the pancakes.

“Pictures don’t do it justice.” Kristen
accepted the chair Phillip offered with a grateful smile. Nadine had emailed
her updates, complete with pictures, during the construction and decorating
phases. Nadine knew how much she loved decorating, which was ironic, since
Kristen’s home looked like a non-descript builder’s box. “I think you made the
right choice with the family room furniture, Mama. The plaid cushions are
perfect with the chenille.”

“Thanks, honey. Did I mention I’ve taken up
knitting?” Nadine poured a generous amount of fresh blueberries into the bowl.
“I made that throw on the couch.”

Kristen saw the brown and red blanket
tossed over the arm, inviting one to take a nap or curl up with a good book.
She wasn’t surprised her mother was learning a new skill. The second half of
her life had been all about squeezing every ounce of pleasure she could out of
every day. She claimed losing her only son and so much time to her addiction
had helped her to realize that every moment was a gift, and she was determined
to make the most of it.

“It’s lovely.”

“I learned by checking a few books out of
the library,” Nadine said, pouring several circles of batter into the hot
skillet. “Of course, that didn’t work so well. You know me, I’m more of a
visual learner. So I started watching YouTube videos, and that helped a lot.”

“Now she belongs to a knitter’s group in
town,” Phillip said, setting two mugs of freshly brewed coffee on the table.
“At first, the owner, Sandra, gave her a few lessons. Then she invited your
mother to join the group.”

“That’s nice.” Kristen had always admired
her mother’s ability to welcome people into her social circle. As much as
Kristen enjoyed interacting with people, she was always more cautious about
letting her guard down.

“We knit for charity,” Nadine said. “You
know, scarves and hats for the homeless. Preemie hats and blankets for babies,
that sort of thing.”

Kristen prepared her coffee. “Why didn’t
you mention anything about it on the phone?”

“I was more interested in what’s happening
in your life.”

That was so typical of her mother. “There’s
not much to tell, except for work.” Of course that wasn’t entirely true, but it
wasn’t time to talk about Matt. Her mother knew she was seeing someone new, but
she’d been reluctant to share too much about him in case it didn’t work out.
She didn’t want to get her mother’s hopes up.

“Have you seen Robert lately?” Nadine
frowned as she searched through a drawer, presumably for a spatula.

“It would be hard not to,” Kristen said,
sharing a smile with Phillip. “Since we share an office building and all.”

Nadine grunted as she flipped the pancakes.
“If he had any decency, he would find a new office space, preferably on the
other side of the country.”

“Gee, how do you really feel?” Kristen took
a tentative sip of coffee. It was strong, just the way she liked it.

“I’m sorry,” Nadine said, plating a short
stakes of pancakes as Phillip crossed the kitchen to gather plates and
utensils. “I know I should keep my opinions to myself, but I can’t help it.
Just thinking about what he did to you makes my blood boil.”

“Maybe it wasn’t all his fault.” Kristen
almost laughed when her mother gaped at her. She’d had a lot of time to think
about what had happened between her and Robert, and she realized Robert may not
have been entirely to blame.

“What are you saying?” Nadine’s face
twisted into a look of disgust. “Surely you’re not implying you drove him to
cheat on you?”

That was a sore spot for her mother. The
same questions had plagued Nadine when she learned of her husband’s infidelity,
and it ultimately drove her to seek refuge in alcohol.

“No, of course not.” While spreading maple
syrup on her pancakes, Kristen said, “I just think we’re both to blame for
things not working out.”

“There are usually two sides to every
story,” Phillip said, reclaiming his seat and spreading a napkin in his lap.
“And usually more than enough blame to go around.”

Kristen looked at him, hoping he would
continue. She valued his opinion, and given his experience with a broken
marriage, he would likely have insight that was of value to her. “It sounds
like you speak from experience?”

“A couple doesn’t divorce or separate
because one person is solely to blame, my dear. In my experience, people
change, they grow apart. Instead of acknowledging that, they often look to
others to ease their fears about the future.”

“Makes sense,” Kristen said, waiting until
her mother was seated before eating. “But I don’t know that Robert and I
changed all that much. I just don’t think we were all that compatible to begin
with.”

“I can’t argue with that,” Nadine muttered.
She frowned when her husband gave her a sharp look. “I’m sorry, but my daughter
knows I always speak my mind, especially where her welfare is concerned.”

“It’s okay, Mama.” Kristen popped a
delectable blueberry-infused triangle into her mouth. Her mother’s pancakes
were to-die-for, like so many of her staples. If Kristen could cook half as
well, she suspected she wouldn’t be able to work off all the calories she’d
consume. “I know how you feel about Robert.”

“Enough about him,” Nadine said, pouring orange
juice from the glass decanter her husband had set on the table. “I want to hear
about the new man in your life. Matt, isn’t it?”

Kristen must have grimaced because Phillip
raised an eyebrow. “Is he part of the reason for your impromptu visit?”

She’d hoped to have a little more time
before burdening them with her troubles. “I learned something about him last
night, something that troubled me.” Kristen assumed she would have that
conversation with only her mother, but it might be nice to hear a man’s viewpoint.

“What’s that?” Nadine asked.

Kristen was almost afraid to throw Matt
under the bus, which told her she hadn’t written him off entirely. “I found out
that he cheated on his wife.”

Nadine and Phillip shared a look before he
asked, “Did he tell you that?”

“No, she did. His ex-wife, I mean.” As
delicious as the pancakes were, Kristen pushed her plate away. She wouldn’t be
able to eat another bite as long as Matt was the topic of conversation.

“Did he tell you the circumstances?”
Phillip asked. “Was it an ongoing affair or a one-time thing? Was there just
one woman or more?”

“I don’t know.” Kristen couldn’t reconcile
her image of Matt with a man who would do the things her father had done. “I
didn’t stick around long enough to hear the details. It doesn’t really matter,
does it?”

“I don’t know. Does it matter to you?”
Phillip asked.

“What do you mean?” Kristen felt as though
he was talking in riddles. Her sleep deprived-brain was probably making it seem
that way.

“There’s a story there. It may not be the one
you want to hear,” Phillip said quietly. “You may not think it even matters,
but if you don’t find out, won’t you always wonder?”

“Honestly, I don’t know. I’m just so
confused. What do you think, Mom?” Her mother was surprisingly quiet. Kristen
had expected her to tear Matt down and tell her daughter she was better off
without someone like him in her life.

She reached for her Kristen’s hand. “I
won’t lie, honey. I thought this man might be the one for you.”

“Why would you think that?” Kristen asked.
“I haven’t told you all that much about him.”

“It wasn’t what you said,” Nadine said,
smiling. “It was how you said it. You were glowing when you told me about him.
Even over the phone, I could tell.”

Kristen couldn’t help but laugh. Her heart
hurt when she thought of how she’d hoped Matt would be the man to restore her
faith. “You do have a vivid imagination.”

“Say what you will. A mother knows these
things.” Nadine returned to her breakfast.

“You didn’t answer my question,” Kristen
reminded her. “What do you think… about what I told you?”

“I think Phillip’s right.” She cast a
glance at her husband. “You should speak to your young man. Give him a chance
to tell you his side of the story.”

That was the last thing Kristen had
expected her mother to say. Maybe she had rushed to judgment. “Can I ask a
favor?”

“Anything,” they said at once.

“Would you mind if I hung out here for a
few days while I sort all this out?”

Nadine’s face lit up and reached for her
daughter’s hand. “You stay just as long as you need to, honey. We’re thrilled
to have you.”

Kristen returned her smile, feeling a lot
better than she had an hour earlier. Maybe Matt’s indiscretion wasn’t the end
of the world after all. “Thanks, guys. You’re the best.”

Giving Kristen her space was making
Matt crazy, which was why the boys had refused to let him out of their weekly
poker game. They claimed he needed it to take his mind off his troubles. Since
he couldn’t disagree, Matt relented.

Grayson was the only one in the private
room when Matt entered. “Hey, man, what’s up?”

“I was just about to ask you the same
thing,” Grayson said, tossing the cards aside so he could give Matt his full
attention. “Any word from Kristen yet?”

“No, her assistant said she was out of
town, but she wouldn’t tell me where she went. She must have her cell turned
off because it goes to voice mail every time I call.”

“I thought you were going to give her some
time.”

All of the guys had agreed that was the
best approach, but Matt had given in to his weakness and tried to reach her a
time or two. What else was he to do? He couldn’t concentrate on anything other
than the woman who’d left him.

“I’m tryin’, man, but it sure as hell isn’t
easy.” Matt sank into the chair across from his friend and picked up the deck
of cards. He shuffled them, trying to give his attention to something other
than his problems.

“I’ve never seen you this messed up over a
woman.” Grayson tilted his chair back on two legs and crossed his arms. “Not
even Robin got under your skin like this.”

“This is different.” Matt struggled to find
the words to make Grayson understand. His friend had never been in love, and
Matt knew until he was, he would be mystified when he saw a reasonably
intelligent man get bent out of shape over a woman who claimed to be through
with him. “Robin was…” But tearing his ex down wouldn’t make him feel better.
If anything, it would just remind him of what a fool he’d been to fall in love
with her in the first place.

“I can think of a few words to describe
her.”

Matt and Grayson shared a smile. “She
wasn’t like Kris. I don’t know what else to tell you.” Matt had never met
anyone like Kristen, and that was why it was so hard for him to fathom letting
her go. He questioned whether he would ever meet anyone like her again.

“Have you seen Robin since she showed up
here?” Grayson took a sip from his longneck.

“Hell no. If I never see that woman again,
it’ll be too soon.”

“You may be able to avoid her, but you
can’t avoid Paul forever.”

“I sure as hell can try.” He couldn’t
imagine forgiving Paul for his latest stunt, especially if it meant Kristen
never spoke to him again.

“Maybe having it out with him would make
you feel better.”

Matt pulled his cell out of his pocket as
soon as it buzzed. His hope died as quickly as it had come when he saw the
email was from a colleague. “He’s dead to me.” That wasn’t entirely true. Paul
would always be his kid brother. They shared the same DNA, and even though Paul
had taken a good run at destroying his life, Matt couldn’t forget he was alive.

“I don’t believe that,” Grayson said.
“Family means everything to you. Everyone who knows you knows that.”

“You guys are more like family to me than
he is.” He knew his partners would always have his back. He’d never been able
to say the same for his excuse for a brother. “Who the hell needs him?”

“That’s your hurt and anger talking. No
one’s saying you don’t have a right to feel that way. I’m just saying you might
be able to let some of it go if you talked to him. Let him have it. Beat the
hell out of him if it’ll make you feel better.” Grayson chuckled when Matt blew
out a breath that rattled his lips. “But don’t keep all your anger bottled up.
It’s not healthy.”

Matt pushed his chair away from the table.
“You’re right. I think it’s time to pay my little brother a visit.”

“Call me if you need someone to bail you
out of jail,” Grayson called.

Matt laughed, but the idea wasn’t
implausible. A no-holds-barred showdown between him and Paulie had been a long
time coming, and the more he thought about it, the more he was looking forward
to it.

***

Matt pulled into the drive of his brother’s
overpriced house. It was on the golf course, way too big for one person, and
too ostentatious for Matt’s tastes, but it suited Paul perfectly. He recognized
the Maserati Robin had bought with her divorce settlement, not that he was
surprised to find her there. He had a hunch she’d be shacking up with Paul
since she had nowhere else to go. It wasn’t like she had friends, and her
family lived halfway around the world. He rang the doorbell. When no one
answered, he pressed it repeatedly. That would drive Paul and Robin crazy.

“What the hell—” Paul threw the door open.
The question died on his lips when he saw his brother. Paul was shirtless and
the top button of his jeans was undone, leaving little doubt as to what he and
Robin had been doing.

“We need to talk,” Matt said, pushing past
him.

Robin was curled up by the fireplace and
wearing one of Paul’s T-shirts, which was too short to be considered decent.
“Nice to see you, lover.” She batted her fake eyelashes at Matt. “I was
wondering when you’d get around to paying us a visit.”

“I’ve got nothing to say to you,” Matt
ground out. He should feel something about his ex-wife and brother sleeping
together—hurt, anger, confusion—but he couldn’t summon the energy to care.

“Come on now,” she said, pouting. “Don’t be
like that.”

“What do you want?” Paul balled his hands
into fists as he watched the exchange between his lover and brother.

“I want to know why you did it,” Matt said
to Paul, pretending that Robin was invisible. “I get why she did it.” He
inclined his head toward Robin’s. “She thought she could get more money out of
me—”

“I’m still in love with you,” Robin said,
raising her voice. “This had nothing to do with money.”

Paul narrowed his eyes at Robin. Clearly
she hadn’t shared her feelings for Matt with him. “You’re still in love with
him? Then what the hell are you doing here with me?”

Matt laughed. “Isn’t it obvious, little
brother? It’s not you she’s after. It’s all those zeroes on your bank statement
that gets her hot.”

“Who asked you?” Paul shouted. “This is
between me and Robin.”

“You two can sort your mess out later.”
Matt stepped forward. “All I care about is why you’re so hell bent on ruining
my life.”

“I don’t give a shit about you,” Paul said.
“I never have.”

Matt let his words settle in. Paul’s cold
expression told him they were true. Paul felt no remorse for what he’d done.
“So you think I deserved this?”

“After what you did to Robin? Hell yeah,
you deserved it.”

“What
I
did to Robin?” Matt tried to
maintain control, but it wasn’t easy when he thought about his brother siding
with the woman who’d used him to advance her own cause. “What about what she
did to me?”

Robin jumped up. “If you’d given me a
chance to explain instead of jumping into bed with the first pretty little
blonde who offered to stroke your—”

“You pretended to be pregnant with my
baby.” Matt closed his eyes and mentally counted to ten. “You knew damn well it
was your ex-boyfriend’s.”

“It could have been yours,” she said,
shifting her eyes to the ground.

“If I were a betting man, I sure as hell
wouldn’t take those odds.” Matt’s lip curled in disgust. He’d never put his
hands on a woman in anger and he never would, though Robin continued to push
him to his limit. “You slept with me once around the time you conceived that
baby. How many times were you with him? Ten? Twenty?”

“I don’t know. I—”

“It doesn’t matter,” he said, stepping
around her. “That’s not what I came here to talk about.”

“You never wanted to talk about the
miscarriage.” She put her hand on his wrist as she tried to coax him to face
her.

He shook off her hand, keeping his back to
her. “I went to the hospital as soon as I got the call. Imagine how shocked I
was to learn I wasn’t the only heartbroken father there to comfort you.” That
night would be forever etched in his memory. He’d already fallen in love with
the baby Robin was carrying. Like a fool, he believed they were starting the
family he’d always wanted.

“So you went out and got loaded with your
friends!” Robin shoved him hard. “Our baby died, and you went to your goddamn
bar and hooked up with the first woman you saw.”

Rebecca wasn’t a hook-up. She was a friend
he’d known for a long time, not that that made the morning-after conversation less
awkward. Becca had believed he finally saw her as more than a friend. He had to
tell her he was reeling from learning what his wife had done to him and she’d
just been a soft place to land. Matt wasn’t proud of what he did that night.
When he’d taken those wedding vows, he intended to honor them. But after
Robin’s betrayal, he needed an outlet. He was ashamed he’d found it in the arms
of another woman.

“I don’t owe you an explanation,” he told
Robin. “After what you did, I don’t owe you a goddamn thing.” The person he
wanted to explain to was Kristen, but with every minute that slipped by without
a word from her, he feared he may never get that chance.

“I was your wife!” She stepped in front of
him, blocking his view of Paul. “How can you say you don’t owe me anything?”

“You’re my ex-wife.” He wished she would
just disappear so he could do what he came to do: have it out with his brother.
“Our marriage was a mistake.” She looked wounded, but he knew better than to
let her play the guilt card. She’d done it too many times to have any impact.

“How can you say that?” She wrapped her
arms around her waist, drawing her T-shirt up even farther as she tucked her
arms under her breasts. “You loved me.”

Looking her in the eyes, Matt wondered if
that was true. He’d thought so. He built his life around her, imagined the
babies they would have and the home they would build… until her betrayal made
him realize he could never trust her again. Was that how Kristen felt about
him? Like there was no going back?

“I don’t know whether I did or not,” he
said honestly. He was losing the will to fight. It wouldn’t serve a purpose. He
needed to let go of his anger toward Robin. “It doesn’t matter now. The only
thing that matters is that it’s over. Hopefully we both came away a little
wiser because of it.” Matt knew he had. He would never allow another woman to
play him the way Robin had. Kristen probably felt the same way after her
experience with Robert. No wonder she wasn’t willing to give him the benefit of
the doubt.

“Isn’t there anything I can say to change
your mind?” she asked.

She’d asked him the same question the
morning of the party. He’d responded in anger, telling her would rather take a
bullet than be her lover again. That approach hadn’t worked, so he decided to
try another. “You and I are two different people. We grew up with different
morals, different values. You wanted to be rich and famous. All I ever wanted
was to be happy.”

“You’re already rich. You don’t know what
it’s like to grow up dirt poor, the way I did.”

Robin had never had the courage to share
her whole life story with him. She thought her vulnerability and imperfections
would make him love her less. In fact, they would have made him love her and
want to protect her more.

“You’re right. I don’t know what that was
like, but my life hasn’t been perfect either. I don’t know anyone whose has. A
lot of my friends have been through hell to get where they are, but they didn’t
become angry and bitter. They found a way to make it on their own, to learn to
trust people and rebuild their lives.”

She said quietly, “I thought you could help
me do that.”

“How? How did you expect me to help you
when you refused to let me in?”

“I tried,” she said, sniffling.

“No, you didn’t. Not really.” Matt hadn’t
realized how much he needed to have that conversation with his ex-wife so he
could forgive her and let go of the bitterness.

“I wanted to.” She looked up at him, her
heartbreak evident in her dark eyes. “You don’t know how much I wanted to.”

With a heavy sigh, Matt felt some cathartic
release. “I wanted it to work too, but it wasn’t meant to. We were passing
through each other’s lives for a reason, presumably to teach the other a
lesson.” He looked over her shoulder at his brother. “Maybe the lesson for you,
Robin, is to appreciate what you have. I don’t know the deal with you and my
brother, and I don’t want to know, but if he cares about you half as much as I
think he does, maybe you have a chance at building on that.”

Paul looked surprised but said nothing.

Robin turned to Paul, looking hesitant. “Is
it true? Do you care about me?”

“What do you think?” Paul asked, showing a
shade of vulnerability Matt had never seen in him.

Maybe his feelings for Robin ran deeper
than Matt suspected. Only time and patience would tell.