After the Rain (The Callahans) (16 page)

“If you have something to say to her, say it. Keep your distance and watch your mouth,” Trey warned.

Paul glanced at him. “I didn’t do anything to her, Sheriff. She’s lying if she said I did.”

Trey frowned now. “Is that what you came here to say?”

“Paul, just go home. I told you, it’s over. Go before this gets crazy.” Kylie peered around Trey and gave Paul a pleading glance.

“I bought you a ring. I talked to your dad. I’m sorry about everything. I want to marry you.” Paul’s voice sounded so pathetic it almost seemed sincere. Kylie felt her heart softening. She felt sorry for him. “Paul, you shouldn’t have done that—” she began.

“I love you,” he said again. “Tell her, Felice. Tell her I talked to her dad.”

Kylie’s mother had joined the scene, clearly uncomfortable at being singled out. “I told her earlier that you spoke with Cliff. I’m not sure that’s what the point is now.” Felice rubbed at her temples, intensely. “I think Kylie’s right. You should leave.”

“I spent a fortune on this ring,” Paul snapped, pulling the ring from his pocket and holding it up. “It’s a solitaire—just like you always talked about. At least try it on,” he pleaded, taking a step toward her.

Trey shook his head, ominously. Paul stopped immediately.

“You really called the cops on me?” Now Paul shook his head. “What a bitchy thing to do.”

“I didn’t call the cops on you, Paul. He’s a…..” her voice broke off. “He’s a friend,” she finally finished.

“A friend.” Paul stared from Trey’s stony gaze, to Kylie’s. Then suddenly a light went on and he apparently put two and two together. “Holy shit, you’re fucking him.”

Kylie winced at the words.

“Oh no,” she heard Faye mutter.

“I think you’ve said enough,” Trey said, stepping toward Paul. Paul stood his ground, obviously not as intimidated now that he had figured out Trey wasn’t there in an official capacity.

“Oh I think I have a thing or two more to say.” Paul shoved the ring back into his pocket. “I can’t believe I came all this way for you. You were a frigid bitch when I dated you. Now you’re nothing but a whore.” He turned to Trey and snorted. “Tell me, how did you manage to find your way into Ms. Pants of Steel here? God knows I tried for two years and got nowhere.”

And that was the end of that. Trey’s fist connected with Paul’s face and a moment later, he went down for a third time. Trey grabbed him by the collar and hauled him up, prepared to punch him again, but this time Paul fought back. He threw a jab that would have hit Trey squarely in the jaw, had he not ducked. Instead, it hit Kylie and plowed her over backward.

17

Kylie opened her eyes, slowly. Things were blurry at first and she blinked.

“She’s coming around,” a voice said. She thought it was Faye’s.

A groan left her mouth as she finally managed to focus. Her head was pounding and her lip hurt something fierce. She reached up to touch it but Faye stopped her.

“I wouldn’t do that. It’s swollen right now. But at least it’s not bleeding anymore.”

“What happened?”

“Paul hit you,” Dusty said, poking his head into her line of vision. “Well actually he was trying to hit my brother, but your head got in the way.”

“Because Trey ducked,” Joey said, also peering down at her.

“Will you shut up?” Trey’s voice said, from somewhere across the room.

“Yeah, he feels bad enough about it,” Dusty added. “How do you feel?”

“Like someone punched me,” she said, trying to sit up.

“I wouldn’t do that just yet,” Faye said, pushing her back down gently. “When you went down you smacked your head into the cement. You’ve got a good lump back there and it might make you woozy.”

“I think I should take her into the ER.”

She looked up and this time she saw Trey staring down at her worried.

“I think she’s okay. Her pupils aren’t dilated. She might have a mild concussion. Nothing too bad,” Dusty said, taking a look at her himself.

“I’m okay,” she said, quietly. “My head just hurts a little.”
A lot
, she decided as she sat up straight, holding onto Faye’s hand as she moved. “Where is Paul anyway?”

“At the ER right now,” Dusty finally said when no one else spoke. “And then he’ll be spending a nice evening at the county jail, courtesy of Sheriff Callahan here.”

Kylie looked at Trey and winced when the pounding in her head grew worse. He had an ice pack on his swollen knuckles, but other than that there wasn’t a scratch on him. He crouched down in front of her and offered her the ice pack. “I’m sorry, baby. I shouldn’t have ducked. I wasn’t thinking.”

“Chivalry truly is dead,” Joey said, grinning wildly.

Trey shot him a lethal glare. “
Shut the hell up
.”

“Did you hurt him?” she finally forced herself to ask, almost afraid to hear the answer. The last thing she remembered was the look of fury in Trey’s eyes. It was a look she’d never witnessed on his face before.

“Will it make you feel better if I lie to you?” He took the ice bag and reached up to hold it gently against her swollen lip.

When she didn’t answer, he sighed. “Yeah, Montana, I hurt him.”

“He kicked his ass,” Joey said, this time with pride.

“He took him down,” Dusty corrected, elbowing Joey. “He did what any guy would do in his place. Some guy slugs my girl, they’re going down.”

“He didn’t mean to hit me,” she said, quietly.

“It doesn’t matter what he meant to do. He bloodied your lip and knocked you out. He’s lucky I didn’t kill him.” Trey felt around on the back of her head and grimaced when she winced. He’d found the good-sized knot forming.

“I think we should take her in to be safe.”

“I don’t want to go in. I want to go home.”

“It might be good if they check you out,” Felice said, suddenly making herself known. Her normally self-assured expression was full of worry.

“Are you all right, Mother? You look pale.”

“I just watched you get cold-cocked. I’m a little upset,” was all Felice said.

“She gave Paul a good kick,” Joey said, proudly.

Felice smiled at that. “He had it coming. The boy has a lot to learn about manners.”

Kylie felt a smile forming on her face. Apparently, Felice was finally on to Paul’s true personality.

“You’re pressing charges, aren’t you?” Trey asked, as he helped her up.

“He’ll press charges against you,” she countered, holding on to his arm as she steadied herself.

“He can try. It was all self-defense. Well except the first punch.”

“We all saw it,” Joey agreed. “Self-defense all the way.”

“I just want him to go home,” she said, quietly. “Just make him get on the plane and go home.”

She could see Trey wanted to argue with her, but he didn’t. He led her out to his truck and got her situated in the front seat. By the time they got home, she had fallen asleep.

“You keeping her with you?” Dusty asked as he and Faye climbed out of his truck, where they’d pulled in behind Trey.

“Yeah, I’ll keep an eye on her all night, just in case.”

“I can do it if you’re tired,” Faye offered.

“I’m not tired. You are the one who is pregnant. Go to bed.”

Faye headed up to the house.

“I hope you’re being careful here, bro.” Dusty watched as Trey opened the passenger door of his truck. “You’re moving real fast. Lightning speed for you.”

Trey met his brother’s gaze. “I don’t need a lecture from you on fast. You’re the one with the pregnant girlfriend.”

“Touché,” Dusty muttered, folding his arms over his chest. He gave Trey a knowing look. “You’re obviously into her. She’s cute. I get it. But she’s been through a lot.”

“I know that, Dustin.” Trey flexed the sore fingers on his left hand. “I’m not out to hurt her. I like her. She’s the one who’s planning on leaving.”

“And if she decided to stay?”

“What if?” was all Trey said. He didn’t really have an answer for that. Dusty was right; they had moved extremely fast.

“Just be careful. I saw the look in your eyes tonight when you were taking the ex-boyfriend down. I’ve only seen you like that one other time.”

One other time.
Trey knew what time Dusty was talking about. It was the night he’d found Shayna in bed with one of his friends. Dusty had been there to pull him off the guy before he’d killed him.

“I’m not just worried about her, dude.” Dusty turned and headed for the house.

Trey swore under his breath, before finally turning and reaching for the seatbelt stretched over Kylie’s tiny frame. She stirred and turned toward him.

“We’re home. Come on, baby.” He took hold of her chin and tilted her face toward him so he could see her eyes. They looked okay, he decided. No dilation.

“Does your hand hurt?” she asked him, as she let him lead her toward the guesthouse.

“It hurts a little. I’ll live.”

“I’m sorry he tried to punch you,” she said as she leaned against the doorjamb and waited for him to unlock the door.

“He’s sorry too,” he said, under his breath. He frowned as he noticed the door was ajar. There was a slight glow coming from the room inside. He took hold of Kylie’s arm and pulled her behind him, reaching for his Glock at the same time.

“Stay here,” he ordered.

“What’s wrong?” she asked, sleepily.

“Just stay.” He looked down at her and shook her slightly. “Do you hear me? Stay.”

“Is someone in there?” she asked, sobering instantly when she saw he had his gun drawn.

“I don’t know.” He turned away from her and pushed the door open.

“For God’s sake, don’t shoot!”

Trey cursed at the sound of Shayna’s voice. His ex-wife was walking across the floor from the kitchen, a sandwich in her hand. And to make matters worse she was wearing some kind of a skimpy little silk pajama set that barely covered her ass.

He instantly lowered his weapon, swearing a blue streak. “What the
hell
are you doing here?”

“I can’t stay there with them, Trey. They don’t want me there.”

She was lying. He’d been there that morning when she’d talked to her parents. They’d been forgiving enough and happy to have their grandchildren visit for a while. Hell, they hadn’t seen her or her kids in years.

“You can’t stay here,” he replied, picking up the remote and shutting the television off. “And where the hell are your clothes?”

“Just for a night or two. I don’t have anywhere else to go,” she whined, stepping toward him. “It will just be you and me. I left the kids on the reservation.”

Of course she had. He glowered at her. “You can’t stay here.”

She frowned, her eyes locking on something over his shoulder. That’s when he remembered Kylie was standing there.

He cursed and shut his eyes in frustration. This was turning out to be one hell of a bad night. When he opened them a moment later, Shayna didn’t look so friendly.

“
Who
is
she
?”

“Kylie,” Kylie said, stepping into the room. “Kylie Rhodes.”

“What’d you do, hit her?” Shayna asked, a nasty smile on her face as she noticed Kylie’s fat lip.

“Shut up,” Trey said, in no mood for her games. “You need to get dressed, get your shit and go. I don’t want you here.”

“I’m Shayna,” she said, ignoring him, and stepping around him to offer her hand to Kylie, who reluctantly took it. “I’m Trey’s wife.”

“
Ex
-
wife
,” Trey corrected, shooting daggers at the back of her head with his eyes. “And you’re leaving.”

Shayna turned back to him. “It’s late, Trey. I can’t go anywhere at this hour.”

“That’s your problem, not mine. You don’t have your kids with you tonight. I don’t give a shit where you go.”

She frowned at that. “So that’s the only reason you helped me out last night? Because of the kids?”

Frustrated, he swore again. “I told you last night and this morning that I don’t want anything to do with this. You are safe on the res. Go back there.”

“What if he shows up there?”

“You married him,” was all he said, and then turned to Kylie. She looked exhausted. “I don’t have time for this shit. She needs to lie down.”

“What happened to her?” Shayna asked, as he flipped another light on. He reached for Kylie’s hand.

“Never mind what happened to her. I’m getting her settled and I want you gone before I come back out.”

“So
she’s
the someone else you were with last night?” Shayna followed them down the hall to the bedroom.

Trey reeled on her. “Will you get the hell out of here? At least go wait in the living room for God’s sake! I’ll deal with you in a minute.”

She frowned but retreated.

Trey sighed and turned back to Kylie, who looked even worse now.

“Maybe I should go up to the house.”

He turned the sheets on the bed down and turned a lamp on before looking at her. “No. You are staying. She’s not.”

“Trey she’s right. It is the middle of the night. You can’t toss her out on the front porch.”

“Watch me,” he snapped, digging through a drawer until he found a T-shirt. He offered it to her. “You can sleep in this.”

She took the shirt from him, awkwardly. “What are you going to do with her?”

“I’m going to kick her ass out. And then I’m locking the door and shutting the freaking lights off, that’s what.”

He avoided her gaze, momentarily. Finally, he cursed again. “What do you want me to do, Kylie? I spent hours with her this morning, working things out with her parents. She’s playing games. That’s why she’s here.”

“So let her sleep on the couch tonight and kick her out tomorrow.”

He felt his patience thin a little further. “You really want me to let her stay here?”

“No, I don’t
want
her to stay here. But you can’t toss her out into the dark. Not when her maniac husband is out there looking for her.”

He swore again. “Just get into bed. I’ll be right back.”

When he got back into the living room, he found Shayna sitting on the couch, pouting. He tossed a blanket and pillow at her. “You’re out of here in the morning.”

She didn’t answer.

“Did you hear me?” He wanted to be sure he made himself clear this time.