All That Matters (2 page)

Buddy Lee was about as far from fancy as a man could get.
 
He was Boyd Walker’s son, a fact that made him mad as hell. It set his teeth on edge when folks in town called him “Boyd’s boy.” He hadn’t been anybody’s damn
boy
since his mama died when he was six.

The thought that Faith’s daddy might be headed over here looking for her grabbed his attention right then. Having a set-to with the likes of Lionel Morgan sure wasn’t on his list of things he wanted for Christmas. Not that he believed in Santa Claus. Definitely not with Morgan’s bank holding the mortgage on his struggling auto repair shop. No way. Santa never came to this side of the tracks.

“C’mon, Faith, tell me what’s wrong so I can help you,” he pleaded, anxious to get on with solving whatever was causing her grief.

All the wild escapades he’d rescued her from during their high school years flashed through his confused brain like a movie trailer. Lord only knew what she’d gotten into now. He’d taken the blame for her pranks more than once to save her from her daddy’s wrath. Easy enough to do when your own daddy was behind bars for robbery and a bungled shoot-out. Everyone in Liberty expected the worst from “that Walker kid.”

Now here she was asking for his help again. Well, shoot.
 
He’d always been a sucker for those soft green eyes and that “help-me-this-time-Buddy Lee-and-I-promise-I’ll-never-do-it-again” smile. But, they weren’t kids any longer. So why did he have the feeling he was about to do something stupid?

Then, without warning, she surprised the hell out of him by launching herself into his arms, and he didn’t know where to put them, except around her. A groan of pure pleasure rumbled up from somewhere deep inside his body. He closed his eyes in surrender, figuring he’d landed smack in the middle of Paradise.

In his wildest dreams, he hadn’t imagined how soft she would feel or how naturally she would fit into the curve of his arms. Couldn’t have imagined it in a hundred years. If death claimed him right now, just two weeks shy of his twenty-fifth birthday, he figured he’d die a happy man, sitting right there with Faith curled up against his chest. It was such a fine feeling, he screwed up enough courage to rest his chin on the top of her head and lose himself in the scent of her apple blossom shampoo.

But when her lips moved against the sensitive skin right there where his neck met his collarbone and her whispered words reached his ears, his world crumbled like a
clod
of dirt under a boot heel.

“Say you’ll marry me, Buddy Lee. We have to tell them the baby is yours.”

“We
what?”
His words struggled out at two octaves higher than normal, and his eyes crossed like he’d been smacked upside the head with a two-by-four. His ears started ringing louder than the bell down at the fire station. When his breath bunched up in his throat so thick he nearly choked on it, he
whooshed
it out, then dragged in fresh air until his lungs promised not to shut down on him. He couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “What baby, Faith? Whose baby? Tell who?”

He held her at arm’s length, searching her tear-streaked face for a sensible explanation to her very un-sensible announcement. When she flinched and looked away he realized he had a death grip on her arms and released them in such a hurry, she swayed back against the sofa. Shame stung him when he saw the faint red marks his fingers had left on her skin.

He mumbled an apology, still reeling from her words. Marry her? Maybe in his dreams. But, a baby? Never.

“Please, Buddy Lee, say you will. I promise this will be the last time I ask you for help. Honestly.”

“Now, wait a minute, Faith.” His mind was back-pedaling faster than he could keep up. “You’d better tell me about this baby first. And what about Royce? I thought your wedding was all set for Saturday.”

He’d been hearing about the coming event from everyone in town for the last two months. Cripes, didn’t those people have anything else to talk about?

She sat there hugging herself, looking at him in that heart-melting way she’d always had of making him feel like a jerk to even consider saying “no” to anything she asked.

“Oh, it is. Daddy’s got all the arrangements made.
 
Every single thing.” Faith fidgeted, glanced toward the front door, then back at him. Her eyes glistened with more tears ready to fall. “But...”

His heart plummeted to his feet.
Uh-oh. That could only
mean one thing.
The thought of Faith and Royce doing
it
, even if they were engaged, caused a wallop of plain ol’ envy to butt heads with his good sense before he managed to speak.

“You’re not the first expectant bride to ever walk down the aisle, Faith. Is that your big problem?” He moved to curve his arm around her, drawing her closer. Tried to sound sympathetic when what he really wanted to do was let go with a flying fist into the wall.

“I’ll bet ol’ Royce is proud as a peacock about being a daddy,” he said, surprised he could even manage to talk with his jaws locked up like they were.

Something about the funny little noise she made in the back of her throat and the way she screwed up her face set off a warning bell in his head. “You did tell him, didn’t you?”

She shook her head, coppery curls swaying. “No,” she whispered. “I can’t let him find out. I don’t want to marry him.
 
I won’t.”

When she turned her face upwards so that her green eyes met his, there was no mistaking the flash of defiance burning brightly in their depths. Oh, boy, he’d seen that warning spark on more than one occasion, right before she did something wild and crazy just to break her daddy’s rules. That streak of rebelliousness coupled with her innocent charm had beguiled him then and held him spellbound now. There was no accounting for the way his heart worked.

“I can’t explain everything to you yet, Buddy Lee, but I will soon. Just trust me for now, please?”

A queasy feeling suddenly roiled through his stomach in giant waves. This was
not
looking good.

“Trust you?
 
Darlin
’, if I remember right, every time I trusted you I landed up to my ass in alligators.” He rubbed a hand over his face as old memories kicked in. “Keeping you out of trouble with your daddy when we were in high school was a full-time job. Those crazy pranks of yours nearly got me expelled more than once.

“I didn’t mind taking the blame back then, but this idea is
waaaay
too wild. Much as I’d like to, I can’t afford to fight those particular ‘gators anymore.”

He wasn’t about to give Lionel Morgan a reason to call in the bank note. He could just imagine the banker’s delight if that happened. But his resolve started slipping the minute Faith reached for his hand.
Awww
, hell.

“Maybe you’d better start at the beginning,” he said with a sigh, hoping there weren’t too many alligators lurking in this particular swamp.

Faith took a deep breath before she spoke, and he detected a slight tremor in her voice.

“About three weeks ago I came to town to bring some of my things to the new house,” she said. “Royce planned to meet me there. We had furniture being delivered and wanted to make sure everything was what we’d ordered.” She stopped to blow her nose.
 
“He’d gotten there early and put all the furniture in place.
 
He even had wine and flowers waiting. Soft music on the new sound system we’d had installed. It...it was perfect. You know, romantic?”

The little hitch in her voice was enough to melt him right down to his socks. If he’d been wearing any.

“It’s okay,
darlin
’, just take your time.” The endearment slipped out before he could stop it.

She sighed. “At first, I didn’t realize he’d been drinking.
 
We had some wine, danced a bit. Kissed a lot.” A pink flush stained her cheeks. “He kept insisting the wedding was only weeks away and...well...things just happened. I honestly believed I was in love with him, Buddy Lee. Thought he loved me, too.” Something between a laugh and a sob escaped her lips. “You probably think I’m making this up, don’t you? Twenty-three years old and not smart enough to insist on protected sex.” Her eyes filled and she blinked hard. “I’ve been such a fool. Royce isn’t the man I fell in love with. That man was a gentleman. He treated me special. Surprised me with gifts I should’ve known he couldn’t afford. Even Daddy was impressed with his financial background, but now I wonder how much of that was true. I think he’s in some kind of trouble, Buddy Lee. How can I marry a man
 
who lies to me? And his violent temper frightens me. I just don’t trust him.”

B
uddy Lee pulled her trembling body close so she could bury her face against the curve of his shoulder, willing himself not to think about her nearness, her softness.
Impossible.
This was Faith, right here in his arms. With her tremors vibrating through his own body, the heady sensation of their hearts thudding together so perfectly sent shafts of desire to places he’d already labeled off-limits.

He was angry and didn’t understand why. He had no right.
 
Faith and Royce were getting married. It wasn’t his business whether they had sex before or after their wedding. Hell,
after
would probably be unique in this day and age.

“I guess I don’t see what this has to do with me, Faith.”
 
He cupped her chin to turn her face toward his and looked deep in her eyes. Wanted to disappear in their emerald depths.
Hold on, Walker. Don’t go getting any ideas.
He rearranged his thoughts. “Look, you’re gonn
a
have a baby, and Royce is the father. You’re getting married Saturday. One and one makes three. Simple math.”
Simple, hell
. Every word left a bitter taste in his mouth.

“There’s more,” Faith said, her voice soft and full of emotion. “More than you can imagine. The reason I can’t marry him.”

He swallowed hard, wondering how the hell a football had gotten stuck in his throat. “Tell me, then.”

“You know those home-pregnancy tests? Well, I took one earlier in the week. I was nervous about telling Royce the results, because I wasn’t sure how he felt about having a family so soon. Then I realized there were a lot of things I didn’t know about him and started having second thoughts about the wedding.” She looked at him expectantly.

Well, shoot. Did she think he had an answer? So far, he was still in a fog as to his part in the scheme Faith was cooking up. Nothing seemed too irregular except the fact that she was upset about having a baby.

“Okay, so you’re pregnant by a few weeks. Your wedding dress will still fit, won’t it?”

Faith punched his arm. “You’re not listening, Buddy Lee Walker.”

“I am, too. Honest.” Lord, save him from teary-eyed, pregnant women. He was convinced Faith’s emotional upheaval was just the result of her condition. He wasn’t convinced if
he
was happy with that conclusion or not. He was afraid there was more.
 
Sure enough, there was.

“Tonight I was in the bedroom unpacking and didn’t hear Royce drive up.” She sniffled, then continued. “When I opened one of the dresser drawers, there was a gun. A real gun, Buddy Lee, sticking out from under some of Royce’s socks. And a big bundle of money. Lots of it.” Fear widened her eyes. “There were some papers, too, but I didn’t get a chance to look at them.”

He couldn’t stand to see her so afraid. This wasn’t a joke, after all. Something was definitely wrong here. Talk about a swamp full of ‘gators.
 
“What the hell was a gun and money doing in a sock drawer?
 
What did Royce say?”

“When he came in the room, I was holding the money. I didn’t want to touch the gun, but he knew I’d seen it. He wouldn’t tell me where the money came from or why he had a gun.
 
I mean, I know it’s perfectly normal to have permits for guns, but I just didn’t want any in our home. Not with children around. I tried to reason with him, but he grabbed the money out of my hand, slammed the drawer shut and shoved me out of the room.” She shuddered, took a deep breath.

“I’ve never seen him so angry, Buddy Lee. There was no reason for him to scare me like that. So when he refused to explain about the money and acted so strange when I asked about the papers, I told him I wanted to postpone the wedding. I had the craziest premonition that there was something really wrong about the whole situation.”

A flash of fury whipped through him. Something bad was going on, no doubt about it. “What do you mean? What kind of premonition?”

“I wasn’t really accusing him of anything,” she said, “but I know what his salary is at the bank. There was a lot more money in that drawer than he could’ve ever saved on what he makes. Big bills, too. And besides, he’d borrowed money from me in the past when he was between paychecks. We talked about how his upcoming promotion would help us financially. He had big plans for becoming an investment advisor.” Her deep breath turned into a shudder, and she had to wait a minute before continuing.

“His anger was so unexpected. So frightening.
 
He flew into a rage and then I yelled back.” She made a weak gesture with her shoulders. “You know how I get sometimes.
 
Well, one word led to another. The next thing I knew, we were having a shouting match. That’s when he slapped me. Said I’d be sorry if I didn’t keep my mouth shut. He even threatened to shut me up permanently.”