All Through the Night (Liar's Web) (25 page)

“
Well, s-she does,” he slurred. “Two days ago she threw my love right back in my face. Called me a killer. Said she never wanted to see me again. Never wanted to sleep with me again. Never wanted to talk to me again—”

“
Easy, big boy. I get the picture.”

“
She's done with me,” he said mournfully. “Threw me away like road kill on her tires.”

Damn. He'd never seen his friend like this. Big, bold, bad-ass Trueblood taken down by a woman. It was almost pathetic. Case watched his best friend's head slumped over his drink. His buddy was acting as if life as he knew it was over. Kaput. Finished. He knew his mouth must be hanging open like a slack-jawed rube, but for the life of him, he couldn't hide his shock.
Another one bites the dust.

“
Do you love her?”

Jake gazed deeply into his mug, as if all the answers lay inside the draft. “Yup. I love her.”

“
Damn!” Case said with a low whistle. “The bigger they are, the harder they fall.”

Jake turned his head to shoot him the death glare. “This is all your fault.”

“
What? You can't blame me for this!”

“
You brainwashed me with all your mushy talk about the joys of love. For over a year now, I've had to listen to you carrying on about Star. From the moment she waltzed back into town, you were trailing after her like a lovesick puppy dog.”

“
That's bullshit, Jake! In no way did I ever resemble a lovesick puppy dog.”

“
Hah! You did everything but bark!”

“
This is some serious revisionist history,” Case raised an eyebrow. “How many beers have you had?”

Jake shrugged. “Three. Four, maybe.”

“
Three pitchers, maybe,” Case mumbled.

“
You two had to go the whole nine yards and get hitched, didn't you? And now you're having a rug rat. You might as well put up a white picket fence and call yourselves the Cleavers.”

“
She's not a rug rat. She's one hundred percent princess!”

Jake's mouth opened in a wide O. “She? It's a girl?” he shouted, drawing a few stares from neighboring tables.

Case groaned and slapped his hand on the bar. “You keep your mouth shut about the baby's sex. Star swore me to secrecy.”

“
A girl,” Jake repeated in a voice filled with awe. “Pink ribbons and frilly nighties. I can't believe you're gonna be a little girl's daddy.”

“
I can hardly believe it myself,” Case said in a humble voice. He couldn't count the number of times he'd pinched himself in the last year over all his blessings. He had a hell of a lot to be thankful for. “Married to the woman of my dreams and expecting a baby girl… I don't know what I ever did to deserve all this.”

“
Ya wanna know a secret?” Jake continued in a slurred voice. “I'd love to have my own little girl someday.”

Case patted him on the back. “You will, Jake. Things can turn around in a heartbeat. If someone had told me a year ago that I'd be having a baby girl with Star, I would've thought they were crazy. I hadn't seen her in eight years, man. Never in a million years did I think I would end up back together with my first love.”

“
Issss different with me and Darcel,” Jake said, slurring his words again. “She'll never forgive me for putting Lenny in danger.”

“
It's not so different. You two just need to put an end to the bullshit and get down to business. Patch things up and go make your own baby girl.”

Jake frowned. “That might be kind of difficult to accomplish under the circumstances. It's near impossible to make a baby with someone who can't stand the sight of you.”

Case regarded his best friend with a shrewd eye. “If I remember correctly, you couldn't stand the sight of
he
r
 
a few weeks ago.”

“
Shut up! That's ancient history,” he growled. “She's the most beautiful thing I've ever laid eyes on.” Jake rested an elbow on the bar. “She's an angel.”

“
If you feel that way, go to her!” Case implored.

“
She doesn't want me.”“Does she know?”

“
Know what?” he asked through slitted eyes. Case took the opportunity to signal Charlie to stop serving Jake any more beers. Charlie gave him a fearful look and made a subtle gesture in Jake's direction. Clearly, he was afraid of getting an ass-whooping for cutting off the sheriff's alcohol supply.

“
That you love her, you ass!”Jake looked confused. “I've never used the L-word with her.”

“
What the hell are you waiting for? Now's the time to bring out the big guns.”

Jake squirmed in his seat and began to fidget like crazy. “I've never told a woman I loved her.”

“
Never?” Case asked in an incredulous tone. “Not even once?”

“
Never. I've never even felt it. Never knew I could feel it,” he said with a big shudder. “Until now. And it hurts like a mother. Screw those corny love songs. Love makes you feel like a damn fool. It makes you weak. I've never felt so powerless in my life.”

“
Damn! You got it bad, Sheriff. From where I'm sitting, you only have one option. Hunt Darcel down and beg her forgiveness on bended knee. Beg. Grovel. Plead. Profess your love. Hire a plane to fly one of those banners around in the sky. Buy one of those big-ass diamond rings and propose to her. Do something, brotha. Anything other than sit around a bar getting pissy drunk. This is not a good look for you. Man up, for God's sake.”

Jake picked up his glass and finished off the contents, his Adam's apple convulsing as he swallowed the last dregs of his ale. “If you weren't my best friend, I'd kick your ass for insulting my manhood.”

“
Your manhood is what got you into this mess,” Case said with a chuckle. He tried to contain himself and hold it in, but he ended up letting out a wild roar of laughter. He laughed so hard, tears were streaming out of his eyes and his ribs ached. “A few weeks ago you couldn't stand the sight of the woman and now you're so in love with her you can't see straight. Oh, man! Karma is a bitch, ain't it?”

Jake gave him the snake eyes. “Now I'm really gonna kick your ass!” he snarled as he attempted to get up from his barstool, but ended up sitting back down after wobbling back and forth. “Once the room stops spinning, I'm gonna kick your ass.”

The sudden peal of a cell phone caused Case to grin as he heard the telltale beats of Star's ringtone. “Excuse me. My lady's on the phone. You can commence with kicking my ass once I finish this call.”

The sultry crooning of Keisha Cole singing
Remembe
r
 
cut off as he quickly picked up the call, anxious to hear his wife's voice. “Hey, baby. What's going on?” he said in a silky voice.

“
Case, you need to get to the hospital. This baby's coming.”

Panic fluttered through him as he heard Star's words. “How far apart are the contractions?

“
Last time we checked, it was five minutes. I thought they were just Braxton Hicks since the baby's not due for a couple weeks.” She let out a low moan, followed by a few unladylike curses. “She definitely wants out of captivity. Minnie and Jacey are gonna run me over to Trinity.”

“
Baby, just hold on till I get there. I love you.”

He heard heavy breathing on the line, followed by the words, “I love you too, babe.”

 
Case ended the call in a daze as a mixture of emotions flooded through him. Nine months of waiting for the baby to arrive, and now she was ready to make her appearance in the world. Judging by his wife's frantic tone and sense of urgency, he didn't have any time to waste. He looked over at his best friend, who, despite his buzz, had heard every word of the conversation.

“
The baby? She's coming?” Jake's face was filled with wonder and amazement. For the first time since Case had known him, Jake actually resembled a wide-eyed little kid.

“
Yeah, Star is in labor. She's on her way to the hospital. I gotta get over there right now.”

Case began striding toward the exit, his steps full of purpose and power. Halfway there, he turned back to Jake. Excitement filled him, along with a hint of anxiety at the magnitude of having his first child. “Aren't you coming? It's not every day you become an uncle.”

Gratitude was written all over Jake's face. “I wouldn't miss it for the world.” He jumped off his barstool, took a moment to steady himself, and then raced out of Tumbleweeds on Case's heels.

As they jumped into his midnight-colored truck, Case turned toward Jake. He was roaring to go now, determined to get to the hospital in record time. “For the next five minutes I'm going to ask you to forget that you're the town sheriff.”

Jake frowned, confusion evident on his face. “Why's that?”

“
Because I plan to break every speed record known to man so I don't miss the birth of my first child.”

Chapter Sixteen

Forty-eight hours after she arrived at the hospital, Darcel was finally able to breathe. Jason was the doctor who'd delivered the good news to her family that Lenny had turned a corner post-op and was expected to make a full recovery. Seventy-two hours after surgery, Lenny had almost been restored to his normal, sarcastic self. In addition to hitting on a slew of nurses, he was complaining about hospital food and threatening to order Chinese take-out. Darcel had sent her parents home to get some much-needed rest while she took a shift watching over her brother.

“
Sis, you look like hell,” Lenny said as she walked into his hospital room with an armful of magazines and video games. He gingerly sat down on the bed, scattering his loot on the night table before swinging his feet up and laying back against the pillows.

“
Thanks,” she replied dryly. “You don't look so hot yourself.”

“
But I was shot. What's your excuse?”

“
Gimme a break. I've been a little preoccupied the last few days,” she said pointedly. “It's not every day I have to worry about whether my brother is going to live or die. Believe it or not, it kind of stresses a girl out.”

“
Have you slept at all?”

“
Here and there.” She smiled weakly. “I can sleep to my heart's content when you're released from the hospital.” She leaned toward Lenny and plumped his pillows the way she'd seen her mother do a million times when they'd been sick. “Now if we could get some of Mom's chicken noodle soup up in here, you'd be on the mend in no time flat.”

Lenny grabbed her wrist and forced her to look straight into his eyes. “It's not his fault.”

“
Who's fault?” she said feebly.

Clearly, Lenny wasn't buying her act since he raised an eyebrow and gave her the who-do-you-think-you're-fooling look. “Jake Trueblood. It wasn't his fault I got shot. He didn't tell me to come to your house, D. I made that decision on my own.”

“
He should've stopped you!” she said fiercely, her cheeks darkening with emotion. “That's what law enforcement officers do. They prevent innocent people from getting killed. They make sure there's no collateral damage.”

“
But I wasn't killed. I'm fine,” he placated in a reassuring tone.

“
Fine? You were shot twice in the abdomen. You nearly bled to death! That is not fine! You're recovering from major surgery and you were in critical condition when the EMTs brought you here. The surgeon said if the bullet had been an inch to the right, you would've died.”

He threw his hands up in frustration. “I know all that. Ever since I came out of surgery Mama and Daddy have been reminding me that I need to get my life in order. And they're right. Everything was put in motion because I sent you down to the wharf that night to pay off my debt. I got myself into that situation on my own, and that's how I should've dealt with it. On my own.”

“
Sounds like you've thought a lot about this.”

“
Getting shot is a hell of a wakeup call.”

“
Don't underestimate your bravery. You rushed into a situation to keep me safe from harm. You saved my life!”

“
I wanted to help you. It's always been you helping me out, little sis. I was the one who got you into this mess in the first place.” Tears trickled down her brother's face, and his voice quivered with emotion. “I'm so ashamed about sending you to the wharf that night. For once in my life I wanted to feel good about myself when I laid my head down to sleep at night. So I headed to your house despite the fact that Trueblood told me to stay out of it.

“
He all but told me he was going to kick my ass if I left the sheriff's office. But I couldn't do it. I wasn't going to sit on the sidelines when this whole thing was my fault. I took the shortcut down Bayside so I was able to beat Trueblood to the house.” Stark pain was etched on his face, and for the first time she realized her brother was coming to terms with his own issues.