Heart of Steele (18 page)

“Steele.” Tracy’s voice cut through the dark
thoughts running through his mind. “Do you want to change before
you go?” She looked up at his hat.

He pulled it off and his manager took it and
put it in the box. “Leave everything. I’ll take care of it.” Jeff
patted Steele’s shoulder. “Your whole family has my prayers.” He
walked out of the room.

His whole family. Including Ryder? Steele was
the biggest jackass on the planet.

“I packed your bag.” She pointed to the
corner where it sat. “You can change on the plane if you want.”

“Yeah. I’ll do that.” He needed to move, but
he had to talk to Ryder first.

“Don’t worry about me.” Tracy picked up her
purse. “Sheri’s going to help me book a flight to LA.”

Tracy was leaving him? Now? “Come with me.
Please.” He needed her, needed her support and just her presence
next to him.

Her eyes opened wide. “I’m glad to go to
Texas with you if you want, but I’m okay flying home, too. I don’t
want to be in the way.”

Pulling her into his arms, he knew he wanted
to keep her close indefinitely. “I need you right now. Will you
come with me?”

“Of course I will.” She ran her hands up and
down his back, her touch comforting him, calming his thundering
heart.

The door opened. “Steele.” Sheri’s voice was
breathless.

It took all his energy to let go of Tracy.
“Ryder?”

“He’s gone. I’m sorry. He left before your
set.”

Damn. Should he call him? No. It was an hour
flight to Crockett. He’d see his dad.
Their
dad, then call
Ryder. Or have Val call him, if she hadn’t already.

“Thanks, Sheri.” He picked up his bag and set
his hand on the small of Tracy’s back. “Let’s go.”

What a great son he was. He was finally able
to carve time out of his busy fucking life to see his father.

Just before midnight, the car, arranged by
Sheri, pulled up at the front door of the hospital in Crockett,
Texas. Tracy opened her door but Steele was writing an address on a
slip of paper. “Deliver our luggage to the McLairn Ranch. Here’s
the directions and the phone number in case you get lost.” He
pulled a big bill from his pocket and handed it to the driver.
“Thanks.”

“Wait a second, driver.” By the time she got
out, Steele was coming around the back of the car.

“What’s wrong?”

“I don’t think I should stay at the ranch. I
can have him drop me at a hotel, or even—“

“You’re welcome at the ranch. We have lots of
unused bedrooms, if you’re worried about propriety.” He closed her
door and knocked twice on the roof, and the car took off. “If it’s
uncomfortable for you, we’ll find you a hotel, okay?”

She should have brought it up earlier. He was
fidgeting, anxious to see his father. “That’s fine. Let’s go
in.”

He set his hand on her back and guided her to
the front desk. “Angus McLairn’s room, please.”

“Mr. McLairn is in 2235.” She pointed. “Just
down the hall, take the elevators to 2nd floor and go left.”

“Thank you.” They moved at a brisk pace and
reached the elevators.

“Angus?” She hadn’t even known his father’s
name.

“Third generation Scottish-American.” He said
it with a slight brogue. “As stubborn and cantankerous as any
man...” He swallowed hard.

Wrapping her arm around his waist, she
supported him, physically and emotionally. “With all the prayers
being sent up for him, you’ve got to believe he’ll be fine.”

The elevator doors opened and they stepped
in.

“Running the ranch was too much for him. I
shouldn’t have left him there alone.” He’d made similar statements
during the flight, and she’d consoled him as best she could.

The doors opened and they walked down the
hall to the intensive care unit.

Tracy stopped at the waiting room door. “I’ll
be in here.”

“Thanks, Tracy.” His eyes scanned her face.
“I don’t know what I would have done if you hadn’t come with
me.”

She pushed up on tiptoes and kissed him. “I’m
glad I could be here for you.” She gave him a soft push. “Now go,
see your dad.”

He took off at a jog.

In the empty waiting room, she found a bottle
of water in a small refrigerator and tucked herself into a
corner.

In Tulsa, in his dressing room, she couldn’t
tell him she didn’t want to come to Texas with him. It wouldn’t
have been right pushing him away then. The flight was only an hour,
but it seemed endless. She’d changed out of her concert clothes
into jeans, a long-sleeved pink shirt, and running shoes. Steele
had paced and checked his phone every few minutes. When a text
would come in, he’d jump as if he’d received a shock.

All he’d found out was the hospital was
running tests. They don’t know why his heart went into arrhythmia,
but he was stable.

She tipped her head back against the wall,
closed her eyes, and let out a huge sigh. When would be the time to
tell him she was leaving? Not just Texas, but him? What if... Her
mind fast-forwarded to a funeral. “God forbid.”

The sound of coffee sloshing into a paper cup
came from the other side of the room.

Was it right for her to stay, knowing he was
leaning on her, thinking they still had a chance at a future? Or
would it be better to cut it off clean tonight? She was no good at
this kind of thing. That’s why she kept her relationships casual.
And brief.

“Are you Tracy?” A familiar female voice came
from very near.

She looked up. A tall woman, nearly six feet
tall, with dark hair and light gray eyes stood in front of her.

“I am.” She stood. “You must be Val.”

The woman nodded and they shook hands. Her
eyes were red and she looked like she might fall over any
second.

“Sit, please.” She gestured to a short couch.
“Actually, if you’d like to lie down, I can ask someone for a
pillow and blanket for you.”

Val sat on the couch and eyed it as if she
relished the idea of passing out on it. “Thanks, but I’m fine.”

Tracy took a chair next to the couch. “How’s
he doing?”

“We don’t know.” Her voice cracked a few
times. “Tests are coming back negative, which is good, but I just
want them to find something so it can be fixed.”

Tracy squeezed her hand once, quickly. “I
know. I’m sure they will, but it might take time.”

“Patience, as you probably know, is not a
McLairn virtue.” She attempted a smile.

“Yes, I’ve seen a little of that first-hand.”
Steele, usually patient and even-tempered, could erupt and blow
sky-high at any moment.

“I bet you have.” Val sipped her coffee. “I’m
glad you were with him in Tulsa. Glad he wasn’t alone.”

Tracy nodded. “I hope I didn’t overstep by
answering your call. When Steele’s assistant came to get me, I
wasn’t sure what to do.”

“You did the right thing. I had my husband,
Travis, calling the arena and trying to find Steele’s manager’s
phone number or one of his assistants’ numbers.”

That brought some relief. “Reading a guy’s
texts is one thing, but answering a guy’s phone is cause for
immediate dismissal.”

Val laughed a couple short chuckles. “Oh
yeah, we’ve all learned that the hard way.” She stared off into
space for a minute, then her eyes filled with tears.

Tracy should get Val’s mind off the scary
path it was evidently on. “Where are your kids?”

Val blinked a few times. “They’re with
Travis’s mother. He just went to pick them up and take them home.
They don’t sleep well if they’re not in their own beds.” She sucked
her lips for a moment. “They were with me at the ranch when Dad
collapsed.”

A jolt of sorrow pulsed through Tracy. “Oh
no. Did they see?”

She shook her head. “They were in the
kitchen, and I had Dad’s housekeeper take them to my in-laws house
right away. I know CPR, so I monitored his pulse and breathing, but
didn’t have to perform any rescue breaths or chest
compressions.”

“That’s good. A good sign, I mean.” Tracy
needed to take CPR. If something like this ever happened to her
mother, she wanted to be as strong and competent as Val had
been.

“He was on the phone with Ryder when he
collapsed. Dad was getting very upset, pacing and punching his fist
in the air.”

“Ryder?” Why would Angus McLairn be talking
to Ryder Landry?

“Our brother, Ryder.” Val zoned out
again.

“Oh, I thought you meant Ryder Landry.” Why
hadn’t Steele mentioned a brother named Ryder?

She sipped her coffee. “Yes, Ryder Lan—” Her
eyes opened wide and her face lost all its color. “Oh holy hell on
a cracker. He didn’t tell you?”

It took Tracy a few seconds to assimilate it.
Ryder Landry was Steele’s brother? And he’d never mentioned it? Now
things started to make sense. Why Steele was so pissed that he had
to perform at a benefit concert with Ryder. Oh, God, that’s why
Steele used the word ‘bastard when he was fighting with his dad on
the phone back in LA at the video shoot.

At the arena; the fight she’d overheard
between the...brothers. Ryder must have called Angus, told him
about his argument with Steele. Something went wrong and their
father collapsed. Steele had to be feeling guilty about starting
the string of events that led to Angus ending up in the
hospital.

“He didn’t tell me, Val, but I promise I’ll
keep it a secret. Even from Steele.”

Val sat back, her eyes wandering all over the
room. “You know, I would normally say that now that the truth has
come out, it’s better that Steele knows you know.” She frowned.
“But with Dad the way he is right now, at least until we find out
what’s going on with him...”

“It’s locked away good and tight, Val. And I
won’t ask you any more questions about it.”

“Ask questions about what?” Steele stood in
the doorway.

Tracy’s head jerked and her cheeks warmed.
She could never hide her guilt.

Val stood. “We were talking about
childbirth.” She walked to the composting station and dropped her
cup in.

Steele looked between the two of them. “I’ll
never understand how the female mind works.” He poured a cup of
coffee. “Doctor’s in with Dad now.”

“Did you talk?” Val stood next to him.

He nodded. “I know what happened.” He glanced
at Tracy then back at his sister. “I’m sorry, Val.”

Tracy got up and grabbed her purse. “I’ll be
back in a few minutes.” She got out of the room as fast as she
could.

Behind her, someone closed the waiting room
door.

****

“Don’t blame yourself, Steele.” Val squeezed
his elbow and gestured to a chair. “It may have been something
completely unrelated to what Ryder told Dad.”

Steele sat and rested his elbows on his legs,
his head in his hands. Angus McLairn had blasted him the moment Val
walked out of the room.

Angus had jabbed an angry finger at Steele.
“How can you be so cruel to that boy. He told me he was done
with our family. He was backing away because he saw the rift it
made between you and me.”

“Dad’s ready to disown me.”

Val sat next to him and leaned her shoulder
against his. “No, he’s not. He just thinks you’ve been acting like
a spoiled brat for a little too long.”

He turned his head and glared at her. “This
is my career we’re talking about. The money that helps keep the
ranch running.”

“That’s not all you’re angry about. You’re
mad that Dad cheated on Mom. Well guess what? It was twenty-eight
years ago, Angus was young, dumb, and full of cum, and Mom never
knew about it.”

Steele could see her point, the same thing
Chase tried to tell him earlier today. His anger was with his dad,
not with his half-brother. “Dad swears he didn’t know about Ryder.
Do you think that’s true?”

Val nodded. “Yes, I do.”

A big portion of his anger came from doubting
that Angus was unaware of Ryder until earlier this year. And the
coincidence that Ryder had become friends with Steele years ago,
not knowing they were related... “It’s just too unbelievable.”

“Do some research online about women who have
babies and don’t tell the father. Or better yet...” Val sat back.
“While he’s hooked up to all those monitors, let’s give Dad a
polygraph.”

Steele snorted. “Smartass.”

“What did Dad say to you?”

“Besides yelling at me for treating Ryder
like shit? He wants me to stick close to the ranch while he’s in
here so he won’t worry himself into an early grave.”

She waited a few moments. “You’re going to
stay, aren’t you? You’re not going back to LA.”

Shit, his sister even doubted his family
loyalty. “I’m not leaving, Val. I’ll stay as long as I’m
needed.”

“Guess what?”

He leaned back and looked at her.

“You’re needed here every day. We miss you.
You’re working yourself too hard out there. Take a break. Maybe
settle down.” She looked toward the door then back at him. “Tracy
seems like a sweetheart.”

“She is.” When Val said ‘settle down,’ the
first thing to flash in his brain was that image of Tracy in his
bed at Big Bear holding a baby. Probably because the women had been
talking about childbirth, which was the strangest thing he’d heard
all day. Unless Tracy was taking Val’s mind off their dad, which
would be just like his Tracy to do.

“I’d like to get more serious with her.” He
didn’t mean to blurt it out, but his sister was the one person he
trusted implicitly.

“But?”

“But she’s got life goals and ambitions and I
can’t remember what else. Dating—especially someone like me—falls
toward the bottom of her list.” He tried to smile, but it didn’t
work. “I can feel her pulling away, Val, and I don’t know what to
do.” Goddamn heart of his, latching on and making him sound like a
whiny baby.

She tipped her head and sighed. “Maybe she’ll
come around in time. How long have you been dating?” Val
yawned.