Galloping Hearts (Contemporary Cowboy Romance) (Texas Heat series: Book 2, Mitchell and Moira's story) (6 page)

Mitch walked into the kitchen to find Miss Lee at the kitchen table. She was sipping on some of Grannie’s sweet tea. When she caught sight of him, her face was grim and her glass instantly went to the table.

She folded her hands. “Do you want to talk here or is there somewhere more… private?”

He looked around. There was only Grannie and Moira. Whatever the news was, he was certain they would find out sooner rather than later anyway.

He sat at the table, across from her, shaking his head. “No, whatever needs to be said can be said in front of them.”

She nodded as she glanced over to Moira as she sat next to him at the table. He saw Miss Lee’s eyes widen slightly when she saw Moira put her hand over his on the table.

With a nod, he asked Miss Lee. “What is it about Momma, ma’am?”

She cleared her throat. “Well, your momma didn’t show up for her appointment two days ago. It left me concerned. The only other times that’s happened was when she’d been hospitalized. Even then, I usually knew because the hospital would contact me.”

He looked into her eyes, afraid to hear what was coming. But he was more afraid to look at Moira. “And?”

“Well, Mitchell, I started calling around town for her. You know the usual places she’d end up.”

He nodded, waiting for her to continue.

“Your momma’s passed away.”

He felt his shoulders slag. Part of him was relieved her trials, and his, by proxy, were over. He then felt guilty for feeling relieved that his momma had died. He could only form one word.

“How?”

Miss Lee reached across the table to pat his other hand. “It was pneumonia, Mitchell. Take a breath. It was pneumonia.”

He released a breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding. He didn’t realize how much he’d feared her losing her life to something so much worse. With schizophrenia, it could be anything from suicide, police killing
her because they weren’t aware of her mental condition, to rape and murder at the hands of someone with no shame or morals. In this case, a simple illness from life on the streets had taken her.

He nodded. “Okay. Where is she?”

“County morgue right now, they let me identify her because I’m her social worker. They said they’d give me a couple days to contact you. I just wanted to tell you in person instead of over the phone.”

He nodded. “Thank you for that, Miss Lee. I have some things to square away with work but I’ll be there as soon as possible to plan the funeral.”

She nodded, moving from the table. “Okay, Mitch. Call me when you get back in town. Your momma was a favorite of mine.”

He smiled in some appreciation. “She always liked you too, ma’am. You know, you were her longest standing social worker. She always fired everyone else.”

Miss Lee chuckled and nodded her head. “I know, sweetie. You know why she stuck around with me?”

He shook his head. “No, she never did say. I just know you and I were the only two people she never lost trust in. Even during her episodes.”

She nodded. “During her first episode with me, she wanted to fire me. I told her she could if she went one place with me first. That was a fiasco but it worked after I handed her my cell phone and agreed to go to our destination on public transit so there’d be witnesses if I was trying to kidnap her.”

He chuckled. “Where’d you take her and why on earth were you so accommodating?”

He watched as Miss Lee’s eyes and smile took on a sad look. “I took her to the cemetery to see my identical twin sister’s grave. She’d taken her own life when we were in college, during her first schizophrenic break. I told her about my sister and what we’d been through together.”

“No kidding. No wonder you were so understanding and no wonder she liked you so much.”

She nodded. “I’d hoped that she’d been able to pull herself together for you. Unfortunately, she couldn’t as much as she wanted to. Your momma was so proud of you. She always had been. Her crowning moments were seeing you graduate high school and knowing you were almost done with college. She knew she was a burden and was so proud of what you’d accomplished in life.”

She paused to look at Moira and didn’t finish.He shook his head. “It’s okay to talk about me being raised in the system. At this point, she’d have found out before I headed back to Austin.”

She nodded, looking between the two of them. He was scared out of his mind at what Moira would have to say about everything but he would have to deal with that later.

Miss Lee continued. “It was hard for her knowing she could never keep herself together long enough to get you back. Still, she said part of her knew it was better for you too. She was quite torn.”

He felt his eyes mist for the first time. “I always wondered if she even wanted me back and if she did, why she couldn’t stay on her meds.”

As he started crying, Grannie came over and put her hand on his shoulder. The woman’s voice was quiet as she spoke, instead of Miss Lee.

“It sounds like you were her pride and joy. If there’d been a way for her to do it, it would have been for you, Mitchell.”

He shook his head as he moved from the table. He needed to be alone for a moment before he went to talk to Red.

“Miss Lee, thank you for coming but if you’ll excuse me, I need a moment alone before I tell Red I need to head back to the city.”

She nodded. “Of course, Mitchell. I’m sure one of these wonderful ladies will show me out.”

******

Mitchell
spent long enough in the bathroom to stop the waterworks. Once he’d composed himself, he went to the office where Red would be getting things ready for the next cattle auction.

He knocked on the door.

A few seconds later, he heard Red’s voice. “Come on in.”

Opening the door, he went in quietly, stopping to stand in front of the door.

Red’s smile at seeing him quickly faded as he took him in. “Have a seat, son. Tell me what’s going on.”

He sat down. “Sir, I hate to do this at this busy time but I just got some bad news.”

“What is it?”

“I have to go back to Austin for a few days to plan my momma’s funeral. I know it is a busy time, and I’m sorry. It’s just, well, I’m her only son and I need to go handle that.”

Red looked crestfallen. “I didn’t know she was ill, son.”

He paused. “Her death was unexpected. I understand if you don’t want me coming back and all after this, sir.”

Red looked aghast as he sat back. “What on Earth would give you that idea? It’s your momma. You have to treat her right, even in death. Do what you need to, son. You’ll still have a job to come back to… even if that ends up not being until next summer.”

He stood up. “I hope to have a small funeral. I can be back within a week.”

Red nodded, leaning forward with his elbows on his desk. “You’re welcome back but don’t rush yourself. If you need longer to square her affairs, take it.”

He nodded, standing up. “Yes, sir. Would it be alright to go and get
my stuff packed now? I want to leave as soon as I can.”

Red shook his head. “You can go pack but that’s a drive. I want you to leave in the morning so you can be rested. If you want to ask Moira and Billy to go, feel free.”

He nodded. “Will do, sir. Thank you, again.”

As he closed the door, he heard Red sigh.

Moira watched as Mitchell walked to her father’s office. She was torn. Torn between feeling immense sadness at his loss of his mother, the life he’d led in the system, and the fact that he now had a funeral to plan and anger at the fact that he hadn’t told her any of this. He hadn’t told her that he’d been in the foster care system or of his mother’s illness. He had even went so far as to evade telling her about his childhood.

As she watched the office door close behind him and Grannie ushered the social worker out, her only though was,
What do I do now
?

While he was in the office, Billy had come in and sat at the table.

Looking between her and Grannie, he asked. “So, what happened?”

She found her voice shook as she answered. “His momma passed away. He has to go to Austin to plan the funeral.”

Billy looked at her. “You going with him?”

She stared at him for a moment. That thought hadn’t even crossed her mind.
Would she go
? She wondered to herself. After a moment, she had her answer.

“I don’t think so.”

Billy and Grannie both stared at her like she’d grown a third eye. “What? Why are you two looking at me that way?”

Grannie gasped. “Moira! You were raised better than this. He’s your man. You should be going with him to help him.”

She couldn’t help the rage that bubbled up through her system. “My
man
, Grannie? No!
My
man would’ve told me he’d been raised in foster care. He would’ve told me his momma was mentally ill. That’s what
my
man would’ve done!”

She threw her hands up as her Grannie put a hand over her heart and her jaw dropped. Billy was the one who answered.

“What do you mean, he was raised in the system?”

She turned on her brother. “Well, at least that makes me feel a little better, he didn’t tell you either. Yeah, his momma was schizophrenic and he was raised in the foster care system. He seemed to have forgotten to tell me
that
stuff when we were talking about growing up.”

Billy held his hands open, palms up on the table. “Moira, cut him a little slack on that one.”

She felt her jaw slacken. “What? It isn’t like he forgot to tell me his shoe size or that he got a D in trigonometry.”

Billy shrugged. “I’m just saying, he likes you… a lot. He was trying to impress you. There’s never a good time to tell your girl that your momma’s crazy. I mean, really, you guys just started dating.”

She wanted to lunge over the table at his throat. “You’re taking
his
side? What the hell, Billy?!”

His eyes nearly popped from his skull. “I’m not taking sides. I’m just saying give him the chance to explain once things calm down a little bit. He probably has a good reason for not telling you right away.”

She crossed her arms over her chest. “Now there’s a lot more than sorry or explanations needed.”

******

When Mitch came out of Red’s office, he heard Moira just short of yelling at her brother. Nothing was worse than hearing her anger over what she’d learned. It was every worst nightmare he had: She’d learned the truth and hated him for it. Just when he thought his life was turning around, and he could tell her when things were more serious, and now this. He rubbed his face as he headed into the kitchen. He stopped in the archway just as she finished railing into her brother.

Grannie and Billy looked to him but the only one who mattered to him refused to turn around. He spoke to Billy instead.

“I’m heading to Austin tomorrow. I was wondering if you and Moira would be willing to come along.”

Billy nodded. “Of course I’ll go. Anything to help, friend.”

He looked to Moira. “How about you, Beautiful?”

She finally turned to look at him. The rage in her eyes left his fearful.

“I think I have too much to do here on the ranch to go with you. Sorry to hear about your momma.”

He looked down. What else could he expect? He couldn’t much blame her. He wouldn’t date someone with his history. He spoke quietly as he looked at the floor.

“Of course. I understand.”

Looking to Grannie, he continued. “Grannie, I'm so sorry you had to bear witness to this. I thank you for your hospitality this summer. I’ll be back with Billy in a couple days to finish out the time I was hired for.”

She stood from the table, coming to give him a hug. Her voice was strong and sure as she answered him.

“No, we’re sorry you have to go through this. I can tell you, we’ve raised Moira better than this. We’ve raised her to be there for friends and strangers alike when they need someone. You come on back when you’re finished. Your spot at the table will still be there.”

He hugged her back. He’d never had a grandmother to give him a hug. Even his mother’s hugs had been more forced and jerky because of her illness. He almost wanted to stay there until it was over because it made him feel safe. Instead, he pulled back. He didn’t want to burden Moira with having to look at him as she was so mad with him.

“I’m going back to my quarters. Billy, we’ll be leaving around six tomorrow morning.”

Grannie shook her head. “No, sir! You will have a good breakfast first.
Then
you two can go. You have a long drive. I won’t have you hungry on top of everything else.”

Billy and
Mitchell both nodded their approval. He went back to spend the rest of the day packing and doing what he needed to do before leaving in the morning.

******

Moira watched Mitchell as he left the house. She was shaking with rage at the thought that he expected her to go with him for this. After all she just learned? After all she needed to have heard earlier in the summer? His request was too much to handle.

When Billy excused himself from the table, she was left with her grandmother, who was puttering by the coffee pot. A few moments later, she saw a mug come into her blurry line of vision on the table. She wanted to cry but was working so hard not to. She wanted to cry for the lost boy she’d fallen in love with and for the shattered images she’d had of him all this time. All through the school year and summer, she’d thought he was perfect. How wrong she’d been. He was nothing but a liar and she was left having given herself to someone who couldn’t even be honest with her. How much of what he’d told her had been a lie? Had she been
his
first? Did he even love her?

Another minute passed and she saw a biscuit with some peach preserves on a plate in front of her. That loosened the tears from her eyes. Before she knew it, her whole body was shaking with sobs until she felt her Grannie’s arms come around her for a hug. When she finally had herself calmed down to sniffles, her grandmother handed her a tissue and took her seat by her. She gave her a few more moments to finish composing herself.

When she looked up, Grannie put her hand over hers, speaking quietly. “What upset you more? That his Momma died or that he wasn’t forthright with you in the beginning?”

She shook her head. “I really don’t know, Grannie. Maybe both?  I love him and it scares me. I love him and I don’t even really know him.”

Grannie chuckled. “You know him, all right. You just don’t know all the details. You know how he treats you and the rest of the family. You know how he works and what he wants to do for the ranch when he graduates. He’s a good man, who just happened to not give you all the details yet.”

She shook her head. “
There important details, though, Grannie.”

“What? That he had a sick momma? Would it have made a difference if she’d died when he was young or from something else?”

“He didn’t tell me.”

“True, but he didn’t really lie. He withheld something he was embarrassed about. With the way people talk, I can’t much blame him.”Moira felt another tear start down her face. “Grannie, I just don’t know. I mean, this is some big stuff here. I feel so mad that he didn’t tell me.”

She shrugged. “You have to come to terms with that yourself. I say, you need to be there with him for this. Even if it’s just for someone you’ve spent the summer knowing. If you weren’t dating, would you be as upset that he hadn’t told you? Would you have considered going?”

She grunted. “That’s the paradox. If we weren’t dating, I wouldn’t care because we weren’t involved. Then Mitchell wouldn’t have the same obligation to tell me this stuff. I would’ve gone to support one of our employees. Not my boyfriend.”

Grannie refilled her cup as she answered. “Then, I say you spend some time in the Good Book tonight and pray on it, Baby Girl. Cause the anger won’t help you and it won’t help him neither.”

She nodded, pushing from the table. “I think I’m gonna take your advice, Grannie. If Daddy asks where I am, can you tell him I’m upstairs?”

Her eyes were sad as she answered. “Of course.”