Texas Witness. Barb Han

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СКАЧАТЬ 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. There were too many residual feelings coloring his thoughts, not to mention the stress that came with not knowing how Tommy was doing yet. Colin had already checked three times in fifteen minutes before Melissa had arrived.

      “Any word on Tommy?” Dallas asked as he walked inside the break room.

      “All I know is that he’s in surgery.” Colin gave his brother a bear hug before shaking his head. He poured a fresh cup and then handed it to Dallas. “It could be a while before we hear anything.”

      “Well then, no news is probably good news.” Dallas took a sip, worry lines etched in his forehead as he gave Colin a once-over, his gaze fixed on the large red stain centered on Colin’s shirt.

      “It’s all his blood. I’m fine,” Colin reassured.

      “I might have an extra shirt in my truck if you want to put on something clean,” Dallas offered.

      Colin had washed his hands not long after arriving at the hospital when a nurse had tried to put him in a wheelchair and take him into the back for a check. He’d had to lift his shirt to show her there were no marks on his body to convince her.

      “I may take you up on that,” he said to Dallas.

      “You said Tommy was in the parking lot of Zahn Lawn Mower Supply. Any idea what he was doing out there so late?” Dallas asked. Colin had only given his brother essential information. Tommy had been shot and he was at Bluff General. Richard Rancic was armed and dangerous.

      “Good question.” There was another one that would follow.

      “What were you doing there?” Dallas didn’t wait long to hit him with that one. That was an even better question. Colin was still trying to figure that out. Dallas didn’t ask about Melissa, but the questions СКАЧАТЬ