Courting Trouble (The Texas Two-Step Series, Book 3) (20 page)

They walked to the office in silence. No cab was in sight.

"It looks like it'll be a few minutes. Let's go in the diner and have a cup of coffee," suggested Meagan. "You look like you could use one."

Diedra nodded and allowed her sister to lead the way to a booth in the small restaurant. The waitress immediately brought them coffee.

Diedra glanced out the window, willing the cab to come before Alec woke up and realized she was gone. He had been so ill the night before, she wondered if he'd even remember their conversation.

"Diedra, tell me."

"Why not?" Diedra gave a sick laugh. "You're probably the only person in the world who'd understand."

The minutes trickled away as she told Meagan everything that had happened. "Even when he was trying to tell me he loved me, in the next breath he asked whether I would hurt someone."

"I'm so sorry." Meagan said, taking Diedra's hand. "I just wish there was something I could do."

"It helps to have someone understand and sympathize. I don't see what other choice I have, do you?"

"Your luck has got to change sometime." But Meagan's expression was hopeless.

It was the story of Diedra's life.

"What are your plans?"

"I'm not sure. I told Aunt Lilith I'd stay and help run the shop." She gnawed her lip. "I'm not certain that's such a good idea. Maybe I could go back into the Peace Corps when Aunt Lilith gets back from her vacation."

"Diedra, I don't care what you choose to do, but I would like you to take your time to make a decision. Gather all the facts." Meagan leaned forward over the table. "I learned one thing after this fiasco separation from Jeff. It's never wise to jump to conclusions. Promise me one thing."

"What's that?"

"You won't run away from your problems. You'll face them. You saw how running away almost ruined my marriage. Don't let it happen to you."

A horn honked. Diedra glanced out the window and saw her waiting cab. Turning back to her sister, she knew she couldn't make that promise. "I've got to go."

Rising from the table, she grabbed her bag and asked, "Call me?"

"You bet," replied Meagan. "As soon as we get settled in, I'm hoping you'll come back for a visit." She patted her stomach. "At times like these, a woman wants her family around."

"I wouldn't miss it for the world." They hugged and Diedra wordlessly left the restaurant.

She didn't look back. Didn't turn and look at the door to the room she'd shared with Alec. She willed herself not to think. Not to care.

As she climbed into the cab, she asked, "Did the manager tell you I need to get my car in Corpus Christi?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"Good. Then let's get out of here."

She wouldn't look back. She would not look back.

Chapter 20

Alec awoke with a sense of something wrong. He blinked a few times, wondering what it could be. Jeff and Meagan were safe. They were at the motel, not in a sinking boat. And he didn't smell smoke, did he?

Sitting up, he grimaced. The room didn't look any better in daylight. Turning his head, he saw Diedra had already risen. Was something wrong with her? "Diedra?"

No answer. As he got up, a slip of paper fluttered to the floor. He stooped and picked it up.

After reading it, he wished he'd never seen it. How could she be such an idiot? Didn't she know how much she meant to him? How could she go tearing off like this? He had to make her see reason. Had she gone back to Dallas? Or run off to join the Foreign Legion this time?

Someone banged on the door. Maybe it was Diedra. Maybe she'd reconsidered and come back where she belonged. With him. He ran for the door and threw it open.

Meagan laughed. "I hope you don't always answer the door in your underwear."

Alec grabbed a towel off the bed. "I hope you don't always wake people up at such an ungodly hour." He wrapped the towel around himself. "Where's Diedra?"

Meagan's arms were full, so she used her foot to swing the door shut. "I've brought you some clean clothes and Jeff's shaving kit. I think you could use it."

Leaning forward, he kissed her cheek. "You're an angel of mercy."

"Don't be too sure of that," she said dryly. "Get dressed. Then we'll talk." She handed him a stack of clothes and made a shooing motion.

"Do you know where Diedra disappeared to?" asked Alec.

"We'll talk after you get cleaned up." Opening a Styrofoam box, Meagan pulled out a slice of bacon. "I brought coffee and some breakfast, too."

She had to tell him where Diedra had gone. Even if he had to strangle it out of her. "What's going on?"

"Get dressed. In my condition, talking with nearly naked men can be over-stimulating." She took a seat on Diedra's bed and crammed the bacon into her mouth.

Clearly he was going to have to obey to get an answer out of her.

He showered and dressed in record time, worried she might disappear again. Coming back into the room, he saw she was still there and still eating. "Keep that up and your baby will weigh fifteen pounds."

"I should be so lucky. It'll take months to get this weight off. However, it's the best excuse I've ever had for eating as much as I want. I plan to take full advantage."

"Is that coffee for me?"

She handed him the cup. "I was planning to feed it to the gulls but they weren't interested. Must prefer tea."

He sat on the edge of his bed and took a gulp of the dark brew. "When are you going to stop chitchatting? She's gone, isn't she? Tell me where."

"Do you remember talking with her last night?"

"Vaguely. Something about her hocus pocus wearing off on me. You do know about that, right?"

"I grew up with her. How could I not?"

"So, do you think it's possible she transferred her jinx to me?"

"No."

"I think I told her I loved her." Alec coughed to clear the lump forming in his throat. It didn't work. "I told her I love her. So she ran away."

"Ah, honey, I don't think she meant it like that." Meagan gave him a peculiar look, as though she was making up her mind about him.

His jaw clenched tight. "If you're wondering whether or not I'm serious about her, I am."

"Good. Dealing with in-laws is hard enough at the best of times. Somehow, I don't think Jeff would understand if I fed you arsenic. Diedra left about half an hour ago. A cab is taking her to her car."

He bolted to his feet. "Where's Jeff? I want to borrow his car."

"My car." Meagan grinned. "Just remember, though, arsenic is still an option if you hurt her. I have ways of making Jeff see things my way." Rummaging in her purse, she pulled out a set of car keys. "It's parked just outside."

"What if I can't find her?"

"You will."

"What if something happens to her?" Oh, Lord. Diedra needed him to keep her out of trouble. Anything could happen. He'd never forgive himself if something went wrong and he wasn't there to keep her safe.

"I'm sure she'll be fine," Meagan said calmly.

How could she be so composed in a situation like this?

"Annoyed with you, maybe, but perfectly safe," she added.

"Lord knows what will happen if she sets off bells and whistles and I'm not there to fix it." He grabbed Meagan's keys. "If anything happens to her before I have a chance to tell her how much I love her, I'll kill her."

He ran out the door.

* * *

Pulling into the parking lot at the marina just outside Corpus, he breathed a sigh of relief. First, because he'd made it safely without glasses. And second, because Diedra's car was still there.

He sighed with relief because she was safe. Unfortunately, she was also just climbing into her vehicle. Parking Meagan's car in an adjacent space, he jumped out.

"Wait, Diedra!"

She ignored him and started the engine. He stuck his head through her open window. "You said we could talk this morning. And then you left. What gives?"

"I didn't say that. I said I wouldn't leave until morning. I kept my word."

"So why are you afraid of talking to me?"

"I'm not afraid." Diedra refused to meet his eyes again. Good, that meant he was hitting close to home.

"Now, if you don't mind stepping back, I have things to do."

"How could anything be more important than us? I love you."

She slumped her head against the steering wheel.

He was getting to her.

"We belong together. No matter what goes wrong, we can work it out." He touched her curls with his fingertips. "Hell, Diedra, don't you know that?"

"Some things just can't be gotten over, Alec. Every time anything goes wrong, you blame me. I can't go through life like that. Somehow, deep inside, you have to know I'm right on this. Trust me, Alec. It's better this way."

"Diedra, I'm feeling very emotional. Don't make me do something I'll regret." Energy built up inside him. He tried to direct the energy, striving for control.

"Yeah, right." She threw the car into gear, looking as though she would start crying at any moment. "Bye."

He concentrated harder. He said a silent prayer. He willed the energy to do his bidding and tossed every mental control he'd ever had into it.

Diedra's car stalled.

He grinned at her stunned face and gave himself a mental high five. "I warned you."

"You did that? No way." She tried to start the engine, but it wouldn't even crank. She looked at him suspiciously. "How did you do it?"

"So, now you're ready to talk?"

She glared at him. "Get in."

He climbed into the passenger seat and racked his brain over where to start and how he could convince her they belonged together.

"Talk. You have five minutes. Then I'm walking home."

She probably would, too.

"When I was a kid—" he began.

She cut him off. "I don't want to hear about your sad childhood. How did you make the car die?"

How did she manage to look so prim and so sexy at the same time? "I'm getting there. Now where was I?"

"Your misbegotten childhood."

"Oh, yeah. When I was a kid my dad left home. Mom was pretty torn up over it. Being an only child and the responsible type, I felt I had to take Dad's place. In retrospect, I realize I made lots of mistakes, but the biggest is that I let Mom become dependent on me rather than allowing her to learn to stand on her own."

Diedra nodded in understanding.

"I took responsibility too far. I even did it to my cousin, too. Did you know Jeff never wanted to be an attorney?"

She shook her head.

"I encouraged him to go to law school. I just about forced him to do what I thought was right for him rather than letting him make his own choice. Buying that marina was the smartest decision he ever made and one he might have made years ago if I hadn't interfered."

"Don't be too hard on yourself."

"Anyway, back when I was a kid, I was pretty angry at my dad. Furious, in fact." He turned and gazed sightlessly out the window. "You know how when you get emotional, things happen? When I was fourteen, it happened to me, too."

"What?"

He turned and met her gaze. "I went completely out of control. Lost it. That's when I learned to shut off. If I didn't become upset to start with, then it wouldn't happen again."

"I can't believe you didn't tell me this before."

"I blanked it out of my mind. It wasn't until last night, after you told me I was the one causing it now, that I admitted to myself it really had happened all those years ago. It was a lot easier to think it was a figment of an over-emotional adolescent imagination than to believe it really happened."

"It's true then. You are electromagnetic, too." Her words came out in a soft whisper and a tiny smile played about her lips. Lips so kissable, it was all he could do to remain on his side of the car.