LITMIR.BIZ

       Chapter Four

      Colin paced in Bluff General’s waiting room after giving his statement to Deputy Garcia. The deputy had gone to speak to hospital staff, leaving Colin to wait alone for updates.

      Blue carpet, blue chairs and stark white walls couldn’t erase the bloody images scrolling through Colin’s mind. There was blood on his shirt, Tommy’s blood. Tommy had been shot by Melissa’s husband. Estranged husband, a little voice in his head clarified. Colin could hardly wrap his thoughts around what had happened even though he’d seen it with his own eyes.

      Tommy had been immediately taken into surgery, and Colin had called his brothers to deliver the news. His eldest brother, Dallas, was on his way to the hospital. The others would soon follow. Tommy needed all the family around him that he could get, and the O’Briens were a tight-knit bunch.

      Personally, Colin had seen the inside of the county hospital a few too many times recently. As far as desirable places to end up went, Bluff General bottomed his list. In the six months since his parents’ murders, several of his brothers had ended up in a room not unlike the one Tommy was in now. Many of his siblings had also found the loves of their lives in recent months, but that was a whole different subject. Colin had believed that he’d found his in Melissa.

      If that weren’t enough to make his head spin, Melissa had a baby. Colin didn’t want to acknowledge the anger burning through his chest, considering she’d been adamant about waiting to have children with him.

      He forced himself to stop pacing and take a seat.

      The thought of Melissa having Richard Rancic’s child hit Colin harder than a battering ram. It made her marriage to another man feel very real. Thinking back to the way she’d acted so cagey at the house and how quickly she’d ushered him out the door had him wondering if she’d wanted to hide her baby from him. Richard Rancic was a criminal and a jerk. For the life of Colin he couldn’t figure out why she’d marry the guy, let alone have his child. Colin stabbed his fingers through his dark hair. Speaking of Melissa, she should be there by now. He glanced around.

      Dallas should arrive any minute. Tommy was more like a brother than a friend and he was fighting for his life. Going over the scenario again and again was about to make Colin’s head explode.

      Caffeine. He needed a giant cup of black coffee about now.

      Colin pushed off the chair as Melissa rounded the corner. A pink blanket swathed a small bundle cradled in her arms. Melissa’s baby was somehow tinier than he’d expected. The child must be asleep because she didn’t move.

      “How’s Tommy?” Melissa’s eyes were wide and stress lines bracketed her mouth. She glanced down at her baby and another emotion flickered that he had trouble pinpointing. Guilt?

      “He’s in surgery,” Colin said, noticing how she kept one arm underneath the little bundle and her other hand on the baby’s back. How much did it blow his mind to think that Melissa had a daughter?

      Damn.

      “What happened back there? You told me that you were meeting your husband and then you looked scared to death when he showed. What aren’t you telling me?” Colin asked, taking note of the dark look that passed behind her eyes when he said the word husband.

      “It’s nothing. A misunderstanding,” Melissa said, and the corner of her mouth twitched in the way it did when she was scared.

      “That’s impossible. Tommy’s lying on a bed being cut open right now and that sure isn’t because of nothing,” Colin said, his voice raised in frustration.

      “I didn’t mean—” The little girl stirred and panic washed over Melissa’s features.

      He needed to take a minute to calm down.

      “I can’t talk about it right now,” she said quietly, motioning toward the baby.

      Colin rubbed his chin and turned to face the other direction. He couldn’t help but notice how natural Melissa looked holding her daughter and he shouldn’t want the child in her arms to be his. She wasn’t. That reality crashed around Colin like a rogue wave, unexpected and all-consuming. It caught him off guard, but he couldn’t afford to care right now. Not with Tommy down the hall in surgery and Melissa tight-lipping his questions about her husband.

      Part of his anger had to do with his pent-up emotions about Melissa. He’d have to figure out a way to make peace with the fact that she’d married someone else and was now a mother. The thought was going to take a minute to sink in. Seeing the little girl made good strides toward acceptance.

      “Have you been happy?” He surprised himself with the question.

      “About her?” she asked, and then answered before he could respond. “Absolutely.”

      There was so much conviction in her voice that he didn’t question her answer.

      “What was all that about back there, Melissa? I saw Richard. I know he shot Tommy,” he said. Her husband’s name sat bitterly on his tongue. “What’s he doing that you won’t talk about?”

      She turned away from him.

      “The man just shot a sheriff, Melissa,” Colin said, his anger on the rise again. He shouldn’t be frustrated at thinking about a time when there were no secrets between them. She’d betrayed him, he reminded himself, needing to gain his bearings again. Because his heart stirred while standing this close to her, and he didn’t want to care this much about anyone ever again. He told himself that his reaction had to do more with her safety than his own out-of-control emotions.

      Melissa bounced her little girl gently, continuing to ignore him while the baby slept. Curiosity was starting to get the best of him. He couldn’t see the baby’s face, which was just a distraction anyway, and he wasn’t sure he could handle seeing the product of Richard and Melissa together. More proof that Melissa had never belonged to him in the first place. Then again, maybe that’s exactly what he needed: a reality check.

      “I can’t talk about it with you,” she said.

      “Can’t or won’t?”

      “Does it matter? Either way I’m not talking, Colin.” Again, hearing his name on her tongue brought an onslaught of feelings he needed to ignore.

      “Why not, Melissa?” Did she hate him that much?

      “It’s complicated,” she said on a sigh, still bouncing as the nervous tick returned.

      On closer look, there was so much stress and worry in her eyes.

      “What’s going on between you and your husband?” Colin asked a little too loudly, causing the baby to stir again.

      “Shhh. You’ll wake her.” Melissa patted the little girl’s back and started humming.

      Colin didn’t want to disturb the baby. From what he knew about little ones, which wasn’t much until recently, once they were awake all grown-up discussion ceased.

      Maybe he needed a minute to clear his thoughts. His emotions were riding high after watching one of his best friends take a bullet. Seeing Melissa at the ranch earlier had sent him to a dark place to begin with, and watching her now wasn’t improving the situation.

      “I need coffee,” he said, stalking out the door, needing to walk away and gain some perspective. He didn’t want to notice how much she was trembling or how hard she was working to put on a brave front. Her eyes had always been her tell, and right now hers said that she was terrified. Of Colin? No way could she think he would hurt her. Her husband was another story and one Colin planned to hear in detail before he let her walk out that door again. And especially now that Richard had tried to kill a sheriff.

      The coffee was just how Colin liked it, strong and hot. He took a sip to clear his head. Took another when that didn’t work.

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