Lucky 13 (Deadlines & Diamonds) (13 page)

Shayne stared at Little Miss Pit-Viper. “I fell.”

“No shit. But what were you doing?”

“I was following Ricky and I—”

“And
he
was following
me
.” She bent at the waist and got right in Shayne’s face. “Who’s following you?”

Shayne glanced back down the row of corn, wondering what she’d missed. Nobody was following her. Ah, but that was her point, wasn’t it?

Ricky had been following Teresa, not Shayne.

Although the situation wasn’t at all what Teresa tried to imply, the message rang out loud and clear. This woman wanted what Shayne had.

“Don’t have an answer, huh?” She
flash
ed her teeth in
an evil little smirk. “Remember, he was following me.”

A low, male clearing of a throat brought both of their attention to Ricky. He stood in the middle of the row, arms crossed over his chest, his tattoo seeming to dance. His narrowed eyes flickered like coal in a fire.

Teresa didn’t say another word, just headed off in the direction of her truck.

Ricky, on the other hand, dropped to his knees in front of Shayne. He took
hold of her elbow. She flinched. “Sorry. I’m just so—” He ground his teeth and
she watched him lock down his
anger. After a few inhale/
exhale sessions, he smiled at her.
Gentle hands wrapped gauze around her elbow.
“I am following you. Only you. Forever you. I love you, Shayne and I will follow you to the ends of the earth. Marry me?”

She’d never experienced a proposal before, and she’d always imagined when one came from a man she loved she’d throw herself into his arms, pepper his face with kisses and shout her, “Yes,” so loud it would set off an earthquake in California.

But all she could do was seethe. This man, this gorgeous, caring man didn’t listen to a damn word she
’d
said. His way or the highway. Well,
she’d been independent for too damn long to let a man make her decisions. Even a wonderful man like Enrique Santiago.

The happiness drained out of his face, along with all the color. Whatever he saw on her face, he read her like a book. He opened his mouth. She held up a hand and shook her head.

“Don’t say another word.” She did her best to stand up, only barely accomplishing it by herself. Independence. Hear her roar. With every part of her aching, she stumbled down the aisle of corn to where
Ricky’s SUV waited. Damn
, she wished she had the keys.

***

Well, if that wasn’t the biggest ass-slap of his life!

Ricky watched Shayne struggle down the row, the stalks bouncing as she bumped them. Every part of him itched to jump to her aid, scoop her up in his arms and carry her off into the sunset.

But he’d screwed up.

Big t
ime.

His heart throbbed with a dull pain that grew sharper with each
beat. The moment the heartfelt
words
c
ame out of his mouth, he knew he’d made a mistake.

He hadn’t meant to propose. Not that he hadn’t meant for Shayne Xavier to be his wife. That he wanted so badly he ached. But only two nights ago, she’d explained she needed time. Time he’d promised to give her. Until he opened his damned mouth and sent her scurrying for cover.

He stood and scrubbed his face with his hands. He’d known Teresa wanted her claws in his flesh. Now that she was a free woman, she wanted Ricky to take her off the market. Not gonna happen.

When he’d heard her insinuate there might be something between them and for Shayne to back off, he’d kinda lost his head. Obviously. He heard the door of his truck slam.

And now he’d lost his heart.

1
3

Shayne stomped through the front door, slamming it. She threw her purse onto the
end
table. It skittered to the floor, its contents scurrying to hide under the couch. She hadn’t said a single word to Ricky during the ride home. She couldn’t. Of course, he’d apologized. But that only pissed her off more.

How dare he propose?

Okay, so the proposal itself
ha
dn’t piss
ed
her off, but his audacity. Only two days earlier, she’d laid her heart on the line,
opened
her soul to him and asked for time. Obviously he hadn’t heard a damned word.

Pouring a glass of wine, she kicked off her shoes and sank down on the couch, feet tucked under her butt.
Every part of her hurt.
Her damn elbow ached like a bitch! She didn’t dare take off the bandage and look at it.
She only wanted to take a bubble bath and crawl into bed.

Her cell phone rang from somewhere in the dark re
cesses
under the couch, a quiet plea for mercy. She set the glass on the end table and reached under the couch, a little worried about what might greet her. Only one filthy sock. She smiled a bit. Matt
was
learning.

Ricky’s face smiled at her from the screen of her Android. She didn’t want to have it out with him while she still boiled, but… Her choice vanished, the phone going silent.

But not for long.

His face popped up again. Looked like he wasn’t going to give her a choice. Stupid man!

She accepted the call, but didn’t say anything.

“Shayne?”

She grunted.

“Can I come up?”

“No.”

“Please,
amor
.” Deep sigh. “I don’t want to leave things like this.”

“That’s the problem!”

“Come again?
” The frustrating man had the
cajones
to sound honestly confused.

“It seems to always be about what
you
want!”

“That’s not fair.”

She agreed. Her statement wasn’t fair. He’d bent over backward to ensure her happiness. But, right now, she felt like she’d been backed into a corner and, by damn, her teeth and claws were bared.

“I’m not sorry for asking you to marry me. I don’t take it back. I am, however, sorry for not giving you the time you needed. Consider it done. Take as much time as you need,
mujer bonita
. I won’t call you. You call me when you’re ready. Just don’t ever forget I love you.”

She could almost hear his heart breaking and the claws retreated, her lips covered her teeth. She opened her mouth to tell him to come up, to hold her, for them to ease the hurt away with the comfort of their bodies, but the line went dead.

There was no going back. She’d said she’d wanted time. Time, not space.
Her phone rang again. She answered and had it to her ear, voicing the, “I’m sorry,” without looking at the screen.

“Shayne?”

“Oh hi,
Megan
. I thought you were somebody else.”

“Obviously.” Her laugh sounded forced. “I’ve got some news.”

Shayne braced herself, knowing by the tone of her attorney
—and that it was the freakin’ weekend—w
hatever the news was it wasn’t good. “Okay.”

“The diner sold, everything inside auctioned off.”

The stinging tears she’d managed to hold off since Ricky’s proposal forced their way to the surface. She tried to keep the wobble out of her voice when she said, “Okay.”

“There’s a balance due.”

“Okay.” She couldn’t find any other words.

“I filed hardship paperwork. The IRS granted a stay of the levy.”

“Okay.” Her whole body shook. Her skin prickled with goosebumps. She wondered when her blood turned to ice water. She shivered and clamped her teeth shut to keep them from chattering.

Thankfully,
Megan
still had a brain in her head, answering the questions Shayne should have been asking. “That means as long as you’re not making any money, there’s nothing for them to take. When you get a job or sho
w some other form of income, the
balance will be taken from that income.”

“Okay.” She brushed at her cheeks, nearly poking herself in the eye, her hands shook so badly. “How much?”

“Just over seventeen thousand. Although, that amount will go up because you’re continuing to accrue interest.”

“How am I…w
here do they expect me to come up with that kind of money?”

“Don’t worry about it, honey.” Shayne pictured
Megan
’s older face, with its kind smile and tender wrinkles, and didn’t feel a single bit of comfort. “When you have a little bit of money to pay them, then we’ll worry about it then, okay?”

“Okay. Thank you.”

“We’ll talk soon.” The line went silent.

The phone slipped from her hand, bounced on the cushion before making a final
thud
on the floor. Tears fell in a steady stream, covering her neck, spilling down into her cleavage. She rubbed at her torso with the neckline of her t-shirt.

She stood, actually surprised her sore, shaky body held her up. She downed the contents of her wine glass and hobbled into the bathroom.

The woman staring back at her in the mirror looked miserable. Not only heartbroken, but completely devastated. A pretty good assessment. In a matter of a few hours, her entire life had gone to hell in a handbasket.

There was no way she could be with Ricky now. If she accepted his proposal, he’d be responsible for her debts. And that was totally unacceptable. She would figure out a way to
climb out of her financial hole
. Then, and only then, could she marry him.

The front door opened and Shayne closed the bathroom door.

“Mom?”

“In the bathroom,” she hollered back.
“Be out in a minute.”

Her son wasn’t stupid, but she’d still managed to keep the worst of their situation from him. At least she hoped she had. Thanks to her brother, she had a roof over her head and food in her cupboards. But X couldn’t solve this problem for her. She wouldn’t let him.

She splashed some water on her face and dabbed it dry with a towel. She still looked like a mess. Good thing she’d
fought with
Ricky today. That excuse would work with Matt.

She walked back out to the great room to find Matt already plopped down on the floor, game controller in hand. “Did you and the guys have fun?”

“Yeah.” He jerked to get his two-dimensional man to move on the screen. “Joey’s afraid he’s not going to make the team.”

“But he’s really fast.”

“And good. But he’s short.”

“So?”

“That’s what I told him.” Another jerk and a blast of a laser gun. “Hey, where’s Ricky?”

“He, ah—” Her voice broke. The tears started again.

The controller hit the floor and Matt jumped to his feet. He raced over to her. “Mom, what the hell happened?”

“We didn’t see eye-to-eye on some things.”

His eyes did an inventory, his mouth fell open. “So he beat the crap out of you? Tell me there’s another reason you look the way you do.”

“No, no. I fell.” His skeptical look made her
chuckle
. “No really, I fell.” She explained the bags of manure, the rows of corn and the fall. She purposely left out
the proposal
.

“You’re sure?”

“Yes.”

He hesitantly reached out and took hold of her elbow, twisting it to see the bandage that now oozed a bright red. “Are you sure you don’t need stitches?”

“To be honest, I didn’t look at it.” So much had happened she didn’t even know how bad it was. For all she knew
,
it could be barely hanging on by a tendon.
Sure as hell felt like it.
“Ricky wrapped
i
t up for me.”

“Mom, what happened?
With him?”

“Ricky’s wonderful—” She choked back her blubber and swallowed. Hard. Twice. “He’s a great guy. We just need some time apart.”

“You’re on a break?”

All she could think of was that stupid
Friends
episode and prayed Ricky didn’t know any copy shop girls. “Yeah, I guess we’re on a break.”

Matt bit his lip and focused on his Vans. “Does that mean I’m on a break, too?”

“No, sweetheart.” She hugged him to her. His arms went around her waist and he patted her back. She kissed his temple, pulled back and ruffled his hair. “No, I don’t have any problem with you and Ricky hanging out. Like I said, he’s a great guy. I think the world of him.”

“Then why?”

She shook her head. “That’s between me and Ricky.”

“Okay.” He strode back around the couch, picking up his controller as he dropped back down on the floor, leaning against the couch. “I think it sucks though.”

***

Ricky wasn’t surprised his phone rang. He was, however, surprised when Matt’s number flashed on the
screen. “Hey big man, what’s up?”

“You tell me.” Seriously protective man-child sounded a lot like his uncle.

“I didn’t hurt your mom.”

“Then why’s she crying?”

Dammit
. He hated to think of her crying over him, but at the same time that had to be a good thing. At least she hadn’t already joined
eH
armony.

“We’re…we just
…”

“You’re on a break. I
get it. What I wanna know is wh
…” The kid cleared his throat. “Why? What happened, Ricky?”

So Shayne hadn’t told Matt the whole story. “Does your mom know you’re talking to me?”

“No. She’s in the bathroom, crying, but she wouldn’t care. She says you’re a great guy and that you’re on a break.”

“She said that, those words? T
hat we’re on a break?”

“Um…
I asked her, but yeah, she said yes.”

Just freakin’ perfect.

“When you guys dropped me off, you were fine.” Big frustrated sigh. “What the hell happened?”

“Language.”

“No! My mom’s crying, she looks like you beat the crap out of her and—”

“I didn’t—”

“I know you didn’t hit her. But
something
happened.”

Ricky went through the entire story, leaving out the worst moment of his life, finishing with, “So I promised to give her some time—and space.”

“That sucks.”

Ricky’s chuckle sounded bitter and brittle to his own ears. “I agree, kid. It totally sucks.”

“How do we fix it?”

“
We
don’t, buddy. This is your mom’
s deal. Our only option is to love her until she’s ready to love me.”

“I don’t like this.”

“Yeah, neither do I.”

“How’s her elbow? Does it need stitches?”

Her elbow!
With all the madness and devastation he couldn’t believe he’d forgotten about the gash. “You should probably have Frankie check it out.”

“I’m on it. And don’t worry, I got your back.”

“Thanks, my man.” Ricky’s throat got nice and tight. He swallowed and blinked, his lashes going hummingbird. Things just had to work out between him and Shayne because he couldn’t imagine not having Matt in his life.

***

A couple of days later, Shayne stood in the kitchen, stirring her newest culinary experiment, when the front door opened and met the wall. Another bang, a thud. Matt stomped into the room and slapped his hand against the granite counter.

“I hate that school!”

“What happened?” She could guess. She turned down the heat, resting the wooden spoon on the lip of the pan. “Didn’t Joey make the team?”

“No. Joey didn’t make the team.” He ground his teeth together. “I didn’t either.”

“What?”

“Nope.” He went over to the fridge, his steps propelled by the anger. “The boys who made it have played together since they were like five. There was only one spot for an outsider and that kid’s dad promised to buy new uniforms if he made the team. G
uess who’s getting new uniforms.
”

“I’m sorry.”

“Joey and me talked about it though. We’re gonna get a couple of the guys together and play county rec. We just have to find a couple of coaches. Do you think—”

“I think Ricky would be a great coach.” In the two days since their fight, she’d missed him like crazy, but every time she picked up her phone
,
she thought about the money she owed. The last thing Ricky needed was the IRS breathing down his neck because he was dumb enough to marry her.