Page 90 of His Brown-Eyed Girl

Her legs gave out and she sank onto the floor, shaking so hard, the only sound in the house was Aunt Flora’s television and the sound of enamel hitting enamel as she wrapped her arms around herself and squeezed her eyes shut.

She’d failed herself. She’d thought she could sense danger, but she hadn’t. Someone had been right there and she’d not known it.

Terror overwhelmed her, and she curled into a ball, tight as she could make herself as photographs did exactly as intended.

Robbie Guidry wasn’t out of prison yet, but he could still get to her.

The message was clear.

He would come.

Another Monday morning, but somehow this one didn’t seem as bad. After surviving the stomach flu with his nephews and niece and spending a very nice weekend flirting, laughing, and making love, Lucas felt as if the world was his oyster.

No, even better than an oyster.

And he wasn’t going to let that weird conversation he’d had with Addy right before the kids and Flora came home ruin it for him.

After he’d successfully dropped the kids at school, managing to navigate carpool like a seasoned pro, he stopped off for coffee and headed to the Bywater District armed with his cameras. The light was perfect for some morning shots. Would have been better as the sun rose, but he’d take what he could get.

Humming a ZZ Top classic, he found a parking place and had just started surveying decent vantage points when his phone rang.

Courtney.

“Hey, the kids are alive and well,” he said, not without a good deal of cheer.

“That’s the least of your problems” the voice said.

“Ben?”

“Who the hell do you think it is?” His brother’s voice was guarded… and angry.

“Actually since this is Courtney’s number, I thought it was her.”

“I don’t know what you think you’re doing, but it stops now. Mom and Dad are headed back, and we don’t need you there any longer.” More than anger. Suspicion.

Lucas slung a camera over his shoulder and walked back to his truck. Several people sitting on their porches had turned to stare at him, and he didn’t want to have the delicate conversation with an audience.

“I have no motives, Ben. Your wife called me, and I said I would help. It was time for me to know your children.”

A snort. “Yeah, past time. Well, we’ve gone this long without your presence, so….”

“Where’s Courtney?”

“None of your goddamned business,” Ben said, anger roaring into his voice, shaded by something uglier. “And you better keep your goddamn hands off her and my family. I don’t know what you think you’re doing, but you can forget about it. You are dead to me. You are dead to my family. You hear?”

In the background Lucas heard Courtney and then his father. Courtney yelled at Ben and the line clicked, losing the connection.

Lucas pressed the end button, feeling blindsided. What the hell? Ben should be grateful he’d come to help when Courtney called. His brother had been the one to screw up, and that he tried to paint Lucas as some kind of home wrecker, pissed him off. Lucas wasn’t after sloppy seconds.

So his brother could kiss his ass.

The phone rang again, interrupting his thoughts. “Yeah?”

“Sorry about that,” Courtney said, her voice steeped in aggravation. “I had to fill out paperwork and left my phone behind.”

Lucas didn’t respond.

“He’s just dealing with a lot of anger right now. We both owe you, and I’m sorry he acted like an asshole.”

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