Love Under Two Kendalls (3 page)

Ginny hadn’t even thought of that, didn’t in truth think Deke would be able to trace her to Wildwood Crest, New Jersey. But what Grandma Kate inferred was right. If something happened, she
would
rather have a car at her disposal.

“I’ll pay you back when I get home.”

Kate Benedict gave her a wide smile. “When you come home, we’ll negotiate.”

Ginny knew enough of the diminutive matriarch to know that was the best deal she was going to get. Conscious that her son was taking in the entire scene, she folded her arms in front of her, her hands joined and hanging down below her waist. She didn’t want to set a bad example for Benny. In the last few months she’d learned that sometimes, a person needed to accept help.

“Thank you, Grandma Kate. That was very kind of you.”

“You’re welcome, dear. Now, let’s get this show on the road!”

Ginny should have been surprised that it was actually Samantha Kendall who was doing the driving to the airport, but somehow, she wasn’t. In no time, Kate, Bernice, and Benny were secure in the back seat—Benny in a special child seat that she knew Samantha had installed specifically for him. She sat in front with the mother of the two men she cared for more than any men she’d ever met.

“Have you ever been to New Jersey?” Samantha asked.

“No, ma’am. Truth to tell, I’ve never been out of Texas before. But my aunt and I have been exchanging letters since before Benny was born. I reckon this visit is long past due. And she sounded excited when I called her first thing.”

Ginny had thought that Samantha would simply pull up to the curb and let her and Benny out, but of course, she really should have known better.

Samantha parked her Cadillac STS Coupe in the short-term parking area, and all three women accompanied her and Benny into the airport.

The place was enormous, all shiny and sleek and full of people. Ginny gave thanks she was with seasoned travelers. The women kept up a commentary that soon had her grounded well enough in these strange new surroundings. They stayed with her while she checked in and got her boarding passes—she shot a glance at all three when the airline attendant told her that by the luck of some last-minute cancellations she and Benny had been upgraded to first class. But of course, neither Benedict nor Kendall said a word, or even looked as if they had anything to hide.

Ginny hoped she would one day grow up to be just like them.

She appreciated their care and concern more than she had words to express. They walked with her to the furthest point possible, and then each hugged her in turn.

She looked at Samantha, unsurprised to see the sheen of tears in her eyes, and unable to hold back her own.

“Boy, howdy, Adam and Jake are gonna be madder than a couple of hornets, aren’t they? Tell them….tell them…” What would she have Samantha tell her sons? She didn’t even really know how she felt about them, or where she stood with them. She wasn’t even sure why she was leaving without speaking to either one of them first.

“Sweetheart, you leave my sons to me. And don’t you fret. You just go and have a nice little vacation with Benny. We’ll see you when you come home.”

“Yes, ma’am. I
will
see you when I come home.”

Ginny felt her heart well with gratitude for these women of strength who understood she wasn’t running away. She was simply doing what she had to do to keep her son safe, and to give herself some breathing room so she could get her emotions under control. Stepping away and allowing herself time to fully assess everything that had happened in the last more than half a year really was a gift she was giving herself as much as it was her duty.
Or so I am trying to convince myself
.

The PA system came to life, and pre-boarding was announced for her flight. A flurry of hugs and kisses and beaming smiles from the three women who’d come to be family to her bolstered her mood and firmed her resolve. She took Benny’s hand, waved good-bye, and led him toward the security area.

She hoped Benny didn’t notice her tears. She didn’t want to explain to him that the confidence with which she’d hatched this plan in the wee hours of the morning had begun to ebb with the light of day. He wouldn’t understand, and she wasn’t sure that she did, either.

Of course, Benny had a good excuse for being confused. He was only little.

Ginny didn’t have any excuses. She turned and saw Samantha, Bernice, and Kate standing where she’d left them. She returned their waves, and then smiled so they wouldn’t guess she was having second thoughts. The support of those women meant the world to her, and had given her the final dose of courage she’d needed to do what, for her, had been her only viable option. She took more courage from them now. If this wasn’t right, they’d have said so.

No, Ginny knew she couldn’t have just sat by, day after day, and waited for others to do, to see, and to act on her behalf.

She only hoped, as she guided her son toward their boarding gate, that her chosen course of action hadn’t burned her bridges with the two particular Kendalls who’d come to mean so very much to both Benny and her.

* * * *

Deke Walters was a simple man, and generally took pride in being just that, exactly. No one would find a pastel shirt in his closet, and he wouldn’t be caught dead toting one of those “man purses.” He believed the good Lord set an order to things, and that women ought to obey their men, and children should be seen and not heard.

He tended to see things just one way—his way—and he knew what he knew, and that was that.

What he knew right at this particular moment in time was that the source of all his grief had a name, and that name was Ginny Rose.

When he got his hands on that bitch, she’d see the error of her ways right soon enough.

“It’s just too bad you didn’t bring her to me as soon as the two of you hooked up,” Jerry Stone said. “We’d have gotten her trained properly.”

Deke sat in the front seat of Jerry’s car, a piss-yellow Toyota, and kept the ball cap Jer had given him the day before pulled down low so that it shaded his face.

“Women need to be trained so that they know their place. Once you’ve trained them well, you never have to worry. Take that bitch of mine. She’ll let me know when the cops come ’round. She’ll give them the story I gave her, and she’ll say it convincingly, too.” Jer spared him a glance. “I’ll order her to blow you when we get back, if you like. Nothing smoothes a man out like getting a good blow job.”

“Thanks, I’ll take you up on it. You don’t figure the cops will be watching your place?”

“No one saw us together, ’cause you ditched your guards and met me several blocks from the hospital. You didn’t tell that idiot Mayo it was me you was meeting, did ya?”

Deke chuckled. “Give me some credit, Moose. Of course I didn’t. That patsy was just that, a patsy who showed up at the hospital and helped me out for a couple C notes. I didn’t tell him jack shit.”

“Don’t get huffy. I didn’t think you would have. So…cops got no ‘reasonable grounds’ to set eyes on me. We’ll drive past the place on the way back tonight, just to be sure. In the meantime, you figure to cruise through that town where you ditched the kid?”

“Yeah. Can’t forget the name. Lusty, Texas. The sheriff that brought Ginny’s so-called deposition to the Rangers was from there, so I got to figure they’ve got her there somewhere. That public defender the courts assigned to me said no charges for desertion had been laid against her—you know, for dumping her kid. But maybe they kept it off the books, had her holed up there for a time, I don’t know, working off her debt to society.” Deke smirked. “Likely flat on her back with her legs spread. All women are whores under it all.”

“Okay, then. We’ll drive through the place, get a feel for it. Who knows, maybe we’ll get lucky and spot her straight off.”

“Yeah. All I got to do is get her alone for ten minutes. I can persuade her to drop those charges. Then I’ll be a free man.” Of course Ginny wouldn’t be free. He’d follow Moose’s advice and get her trained good and proper this time. As for the kid, he was small enough. Rarely spoke, so Deke wouldn’t be surprised if there was something weird wrong with him. Anyway, he knew a guy who’d be willing to pay top dollar for a young boy, all soft and fresh like that Benny.

Yeah, that’s what he’d do. First he’d grab them, then he’d deal with them.

“Here’s the road the computer said to turn onto.”

Deke brought his attention back to his surroundings. He had to admit that he’d not paid a lot of attention back when they’d ditched the kid. Ginny had picked the place to leave him at a restaurant here in Lusty, and he hadn’t cared at the time. One place would be as good as any other.

Only things he remembered about the place were the food was decent and a couple of the waitresses had nice jugs.

Moose slowed the car, and Deke saw two signs. One, the typical kind, announcing Lusty city limits. The next was a carved wooden one, proclaiming that all were welcome.

“Barely a dot on the map, and I can see why,” Jerry said.

Deke tried not to be obvious as he looked left and right. The stoplight turned red, and that afforded him a moment to scope out both sides of the street. He saw the Sheriff’s office straight off, and made a note to himself to remember
exactly
where it was.

The light changed, and Moose eased the car forward. There were folks out and about, and they all turned, one at a time, and stared at the car as it drove past.

“We ain’t stopping,” Jerry said quietly.

“No, we’re not.” Deke had known his friend had pretty good instincts, and that call just proved it. The combination of small town, strange car, and very attentive residents spelled disaster for anyone thinking to pull anything. If he and Jerry just drove through one time, and then left town again, that would be the end of things.

If they stayed around, or drove back, that would probably spell a shitload of trouble for them both.

Deke wasn’t afraid of a little trouble, but he figured he’d meet it on his own terms, when he was good and ready for it.

“I got me a buddy in Gatesville. He owes me a few, so he’ll swap cars with me. We’ll go see him tomorrow or the next day. Then maybe I’ll get me a room over at that no-tell motel we passed just off the interstate. You stay there while I take another drive through, maybe stop at that restaurant where you and your bitch left her kid.”

“Yeah.” Deke would rather have seen Ginny on his pass through town. Hell, he’d have had Moose slow just enough he could have grabbed the bitch right there and then if he had.

Even if she was staying there, likely the locals didn’t give a flying fuck about her. After all, she’d abandoned her kid there. She really wasn’t much more than a whore.

All women were.

But Ginny hadn’t shown her sweet ass on the streets of Lusty, so Jer’s plan was the next best thing.

That sheriff had been the one to force Ginny into signing that complaint. Sure as hell that asshole’s balls would be all twisted that Deke had escaped. That meant Deke being seen in his town was probably not a good idea.

“What do you say? We’ll head back to my place, now that we’ve been here. I’ll get Nancy to give you some primo head. Then she can make us a good meal, and we’ll grab a good night’s sleep. Start fresh in the morning.”

“What do I say? I say it sounds like a plan. I appreciate you being there for me, Moose. I really do.”

“Fuck, man, we’re buds. There’s just one thing, though.”

“Name it, man.”

“Stop calling me
Moose
. Always hated that nickname.”

Deke chuckled. “You got it, Moo…um, Jer.”

Jerry smiled. Then his smile sobered. “We’ve been friends for a lot of years. The way I see it, we’ve got to stick together. Besides, I can’t in good conscience let you go down for doing what God gave you the right to do to your woman. It’s just not right.”

No, it hadn’t been right. But Deke knew that soon—very soon—it was going to be made right.

His hand stroked the leather of his belt and he smiled. He was looking forward to having Ginny on her knees before him, begging him for mercy like she used to do.

Chapter 3

For the second time in her life, Ginny Rose was received by a total stranger with open arms. It made her realize how narrow her world had been before that one day more than six months before.

Though a virtual stranger, she’d known Margaret Morrison—Maggie—as soon as that woman had opened the door to her.