Page 14 of Bastain

The two of them talked about their ex-wives and were laughing over some of the tricks that they played. He had some horror stories about Debra that he kept to himself, but he thought that Mark had a few of his own that he was holding back on. Just as he was pulling into his driveway, they hung up. Bastain sat there in the driveway just thinking about his day.

His mom came out on the deck and asked him if he was all right. Going into the house, he told her who he’d been talking to and the conversation that they’d had. He grinned when his mom shivered when he talked about Debra.

“I know you never liked her, and I should have listened to you when you told me not to marry her. If I had to do over, I would have listened to everything you said about her and her ways.” She told him that she’d been off since she’d met her. “I know. You’re good at scoping out bad people.”

“I tell you who I really like, and that’s Trin.” He asked her why she’d bring her up now. “I don’t know. She’s been getting to know your brothers really well, and they all love her like a sister. It’s good for them to have someone in their lives who treats them as well as she does. You do as well.” Bastain asked if she was setting him up. “No. I’d never do that. But I will say you couldn’t do any better than to have her at your side. Even as banged up as she is, there is something about her that makes me want to take her under my wing.”

“I want nothing to do with her romantically.” He touched where his heart was. “I’ll help her out with this case, but that’s as far as I want to go in seeing her. Don’t be up to any of your tricks.” She asked him what he was talking about. “I know how you are. You want one of us married off so that you can have grandchildren. Talk to one of my brothers about that. I’m off the market.”

“Never say that. This perfect woman could be out there for you, and you will have your heart shut off from her before she can get to you.” He said that was just the way he wanted it. “Don’t be like that, Bastain. Just because Debra was a terrible first choice doesn’t mean that they’ll all be like that. Besides, you came out on top of it anyway. I’m glad you had her sign that prenup so that she didn’t take you to the cleaners.”

“I’m just glad that you reminded me to have one with her. There is no telling where I’d be without that.” She said he’d have nothing. “That’s about right. She thought that I should pay her support because she got used to living it up with me. I should have known something was off with her when I started hearing about the affairs that she was having.”

She had hurt him badly. But the only good thing that had come out of it was that he no longer had her in his life. Of course, the time that she was there, she had destroyed every part of his heart. He didn’t think he was ever going to come back from that. For some reason, he thought of Trinity again and how she could mend his heart. That thought was pushed away like every other time he thought about her.

“Aren’t you supposed to be at the hospital? If you’re not going, I can go. I so love talking to her about her mom. She was a good person, Doris was.” He said that he’d gotten a late start and would be leaving soon. “You don’t have to go there, Bastain. I know I sort of bullied you boys into staying with her, but you don’t have to do that.”

“I don’t mind. She’s not stupid, so I can have a conversation with her.” His mom smacked him on the arm. “Well, she’s not. I wonder if she knows how to play chess? I could really use a good person to get a few games in with. I’m going to take my set with me sometime and see if I can beat her. Knowing her, she’s more than likely an expert at it and will beat me hands down. Dad was like that. But he did let me win a few.”

“Your father loved chess.” Mom looked out the window over the kitchen sink. “It’s hard for me to believe that he’s been gone ten years. It just seems like yesterday he was there in the house with me, having a good laugh over something. I miss him every day.”

“I do as well.” He found his chess set and stuck it in his briefcase. He’d take it and leave it there if she was up for a game. He knew that she was getting around better and thought that if she wanted to sit in a chair, he’d help her. “I have to go, Mom. You behave yourself tonight, and I’ll see you later.”

“You behave and try not to be so stubborn about things.” He kissed her on the cheek and walked away. He really missed his dad, too, and would get all teary when he thought about him.

He called his brother about Mark’s house on his way to the hospital. He said that while he didn’t know much about it, he knew that it was big. There were six bedrooms in it as well as seven bathrooms. Other than that, he didn’t know a single thing. Dayton was glad to hear about it and was going to call him now. Just as he was pulling into the parking lot of the hospital, his service called him.

“Mrs. Shafer would like to speak to you. I’ve tried to get out of her what she wants, but she said that it’s private and that it’s none of my business.” He said then he didn’t want to talk to her either. “I thought you’d say that. I told her as well. If she calls back, and that might not be until next time she can use the phone, I’ll tell her what you said. Good night, sir.”

Going up to Trinity’s room, he thought about Tilly. He hoped that the results would come back with her having the mental capacity to stand trial. They should have been in yesterday, but there was some kind of delay put on them, and he’d had to wait a while more. Entering the room that Trinity had been staying in, he was surprised to find it empty. Asking at the front desk, he was told that she’d gone down to physical therapy. They were going to be working with her arms this week so that she would be strong enough to use crutches.

He was happy for that. Her arm had been broken before—by her aunt again, and he was glad that they were making progress on her healing. As soon as she could get around on crutches, he knew that she’d be feeling a good deal better by just being able to get up and around. He knew that he would if it were him.

~*~

Trin felt weak as a newborn kitten. The muscles in her arms were stretched out, and she was sure that at some point she’d lost her ability to move her fingers. But they said she’d done really well, and she was happy for that. As soon as she got into her room, she saw that Bastain was there.

“I thought that your mom was coming.” He said it was his turn. “Oh. Not that it matters. I’ll tell you the same thing I told your brothers. I want you to stop coming by here. I’m positive that you have more important things to do other than to babysit me.”

“We come because mom said it was a nice thing to do.” She snorted, and he had to hold back his laughter. She seemed to want to pick a fight, and since he was the only one in there, he knew he was going to be her target. “What has you in an uproar? Not because people are being nice to you, is it?”

“Go to hell.” He did laugh then and laughed harder when she glared at him. “It’s been a rough day if you must know. I can’t hold my own weight up on the bars because I’ve been beaten up. Why? Why would anyone think it was all right to knock someone around simply because you thought that they had money? You don’t see me knocking you around because you have it.”

“How did you figure out that we had money?” She just side-eyed him. “All right, I guess it wouldn’t be hard to figure out. But don’t get any bright ideas in your head about me marrying you. I don’t have time to be around another wife.”

“Another wife? I bet that didn’t last long. Did you have her sign a prenup? I hear that’s all the rage right now.” He asked her what she was talking about. “Nothing. I’m just sore and being prickly.”

“Has one of my brothers been talking to you about Debra? She’s none of your business.” She said that she’d never heard anything but people talking about how much money they had. “Whoever it is, it’s none of their business either. My private life is just that. Private.”

“Well, good for you.” She asked him if he was staying. “I don’t want to be around you if you’re going to be a bastard. I’m sore and cranky because I’m a weakling and hurting. I can’t even pull myself up and out of a chair right now.”

“You’ve been hurt. It’s to be expected. You should be counting your blessings that you’re not hurt worse. Or dead.” She glared at him again. “What? Would you rather I lied to you about how badly you were hurt? I can if that’s what you want.”

“I want to know why you still come here.” He asked her what she meant. “You obviously don’t care for me. You’re forever putting me in my place.”

“I have not.” He had to stop and think about what she was talking about. He had been keeping her away from him personally. He’d even told his brothers not to get too close to her because she was just a client. Of course, no one listened to him. “All right, I have. But that’s because you’re just a client and nothing more to me.”

“Have you warned your brothers off me, too?” He sat down, his guilt getting the better of him. “So you have. I wondered about that. They were standoffish when they first started coming here at your mom’s request, and now they’re actually nice to me. We have full conversations about nothing at all. You only talk about the case. I know more things about your brothers than I bet you do.”