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“The air force sent me to Lackland. This was home, anyway. Good place to raise the boys. My daddy was getting old. I retired from the air force after he died and took over the ranching business.”
“But you miss the flying, don’t you?”
“Yeah—hell, yeah,” he said with a self-deprecating laugh. “Old as I am, I still remember what it was like up there. No feeling in the world to rival it. Nothing like swapping beers and stories with the other fliers, either. A woman can’t understand what it’s like to have buddies like that.”
“Like Bryan?”
He nodded. “He was a good pilot. The best.” His smile faded. “But he got careless and paid the price with his life.” His vision cleared as he focused on Avery again. “Everybody pays for his mistakes, Carole. You might get away with them for a while, but not forever. Eventually, they’ll catch up with you.”
She looked away uncomfortably. “Is that what you think is happening with me and the abortion?”
“Don’t you?”
“I suppose so.”
He leaned forward and propped his forearms on his things. “You’ve already had to pay by bearing the shame of it. I’m just hoping that Tate doesn’t have to pay for your mistake by losing this election.”
“So do I.”
He studied her for a moment. “You know, Carole, I’ve jumped to your defense many times since you became part of this family. I’ve given you the benefit of the doubt on more occasions than one.”
“Your point?”
“Everyone’s noticed the changes in you since you came back after your accident.”
Avery’s heartbeat quickened. Had they been discussing these changes among themselves? “I have changed. For the better, I think.”
“I agree, but Zee doesn’t think the changes are real. She believes you’re putting on an act—that your interest in Mandy is phony and your sudden regard for Tate is merely a tactic to stay in his good graces so he’ll take you with him to Washington.”
“Not a very flattering commendation from a mother-in-law,” she mused aloud. “What do you think?”
“I think you’re a beautiful, smart young woman—too smart to lock horns with me.” He pointed a blunt finger at her. “You better be everything you’ve pretended to be.” For several moments, his expression remained foreboding. Then he broke into a wide grin. “But if you’re sincerely trying to make up for past mistakes, I commend you for it. To get elected, Tate needs his family, especially his wife, behind him one hundred percent.”
“I am behind his getting elected one hundred percent.”
“That’s no more than should be expected.” He rose from his chair. At the door he turned back. “Behave like a senator’s wife and you’ll get no trouble from me.”
Apparently he spoke to Zee, because at dinner that evening, Avery noticed a slight thawing in Zee’s attitude toward her. Her interest seemed genuine when she asked, “Did you enjoy your ride this afternoon, Carole?”
“Very much. Now that it’s cooler, I can stay out longer.”
“And you’re riding Ghostly. That’s odd, isn’t it? You’ve always despised that animal, and vice versa.”
“I think I was afraid of him before. We’ve learned to trust each other.”
Mona stepped into the dining room at that moment to call Nelson to the phone. “Who is it?”
“It’s Tate, Colonel Rutledge.”
Avery squelched a pang of regret that Tate hadn’t asked to speak to her, but just knowing that he was on the telephone in the next room made her insides flutter. Nelson was gone for several minutes. When he returned, he looked extremely pleased.
“Ladies,” he said, addressing not only his wife and Avery, but Dorothy Rae, Fancy, and Mandy, too. “Get your bags packed tonight. We’re leaving for Fort Worth tomorrow.”
Their reactions were varied.
Zee said, “All of us?”
Dorothy Rae said, “Not me. Me?”
