was the most handsome guy in school. Tall and lanky with an attitude that bespoke confidence, he had a daredevil approach to life that had been exciting for a young girl.
Nothing was said for a few seconds. “You wanted to talk, so talk,” he said. “But before you start, I just want you to know I’m not loaning you any money.”
“Elias, I need help, and I’ll pay you back.”
“Do you have a job?”
She forced herself not to fidget. “No, not yet, but I will soon.”
“I’m not in the habit of loaning people money, especially if they don’t have a job. And for the record, Wyatt was right. Your kid needs to learn a lesson.”
“You don’t even know my kid.”
“I think I do. I’m the one who tackled him when he ran off.”
“You did what?”
“He ran, Maribel, from the law, and they will stick him good for that.”
She turned on the seat to face him, not caring how close she was. “You can’t let that happen. His whole future is ahead of him. He made a mistake because he’s upset about the move from Dallas. You see, he’s a good football player and he wants to play in the NFL. He thinks all his dreams have been ruined because he won’t be playing for a big school. Instead, he’ll be playing here in Horseshoe. He’s mad and that’s my fault. I shouldn’t have uprooted him.”
“So the stealing thing was his stupid attempt to get you to move back to Dallas?”
“Yes.”
He rested his forearms on his knees and clasped his hands. “I don’t understand why you’re telling me this or asking me for money. You have family here and I should be the last person you’d ask since you wouldn’t even speak to me earlier at Rowdy’s, just like in high school.”
“Things had to be that way in high school.”
He rubbed his hands together. “I know.”
“I can’t ask my family. None of them have tried to make contact since I’ve been home and I can’t ask Phoenix and Rosie. They have their own problems right now and I don’t want to cause them any extra worry.”
“But why me?”
She kept talking because she didn’t want to answer that question and with luck she wouldn’t have to. “I have an interview with Gladys at the diner and I feel sure she’s going to hire me.”
“For minimum wage?”
“Yes, but it’s a start.”
“What did you do in Dallas?”
“At first, waitress. Then after I got my high school diploma, I attended a junior college and took restaurant management courses. That enabled me to get a better job and I worked my way up the ladder to being a manager of an upscale restaurant. I can start over again and I can pay you so much each week.”
“I could be married, Maribel. Have you ever thought of that? My wife wouldn’t like me throwing my money away, and investing in your kid is like throwing money away.”
“You’re not married,” she stated with confidence.
“How do you know that?”
“Because no one would marry you.”
“Really? Is that the way you talk to a man you’re asking for money from?”
“You’re wild and crazy, Elias, and everyone knows it. There’s not a woman in this town who could tame you.”
“You got that right.”
“Remember that time you brought beer to school and Bubba and another boy got drunk and you tried to jump off the roof as a superhero? Someone told the principal and he came out and told you to get off the roof. You jumped and fell right on him.”
“My shirt wasn’t a very good cape.”
“See, young guys do crazy things and that’s what Chase is doing now. I just need your help to get him out of this so he won’t have a record. Please, Elias.” Begging was getting easier, especially when it concerned her son.
He rested against the back of the bench and stretched out his long legs. “Give me a good reason I should loan you money.”
“I’ll pay you back. Why do I have to give you a reason? Just call it—”
He wagged a finger in her face. “Don’t call it a friend thing because we were never friends.”
“Why do you have to be so...?”
“Crazy?”
“Yes. Why can’t you just help me? Do something good for a change.”
“Give me a reason, Maribel. A very good reason to part with my money.”
They were going around in circles and she was growing weary. He wanted a reason and she could give him a good one, but it would take a slice of her pride just like she’d known in the sheriff’s office. She would have to say the words out loud for the first time in her life. She would have to say them to Elias. There was no other way.
Her stomach cramped tight. “You want a reason? I’ll give you one.”
“Let’s hear it.”
The words stuck in her throat. She swallowed, trying to force them out. But they were trapped in the mind of that seventeen-year-old girl who had run instead of facing the gossip and the rumors and a man she barely knew. Life had come full circle and she had to say the words she should’ve said years ago.
“You’re...his father.”
Elias laughed so hard it startled the pigeons roosting on the top of the courthouse. “Wow, Maribel, you had to reach deep for that one.”
“It’s true.”
He shook his head. “No way am I that kid’s father. You’re not going to pull that on me.”
“Are you losing your memory, Elias?”
“No, my memory is fine, thank you.”
“Then you’ll remember that evening in February when I had a flat tire and you stopped to help me. It was drizzling rain and it started to sleet and you suggested we get in your truck until it let up. Remember that?”
Every day of my life since.
He shifted uncomfortably on the bench. “One time, Maribel, and we used a condom. So you can stop right now.”
“Condoms don’t work all the time.”
Elias remembered when his brother Phoenix had received the news that he was the father of a two-year-old boy. Phoenix had been surprised because he’d said they’d used a condom, but Jake was very much alive and Phoenix’s. No, no, no, she wasn’t going to pull this on him. No way was that kid his. He would know, wouldn’t he? The doubts circled like buzzards and they began to peck at his brain. He didn’t like that. He was happy with his life and he didn’t need all this drama. She was a McCray and she was yanking his chain. That had to be the explanation. She just wanted him to pay the fine.
“That was in early February and you didn’t leave town until late April. You obviously slept with someone else in the intervening time.”
“Have you really looked at Chase?”
“What?”
“Go look at him, Elias, and come back and tell me he’s not your son. And I won’t say another word.”
She was playing him like a pro but he wasn’t falling for it. “There’s