Twice the Trouble (18 page)

Alex ruffled the boy’s curly mop of hair for the last time. “Don’t worry, kid. The Westin brothers were the only ones to touch my curly locks until the Navy got hold of me. Now if you want to talk about bad haircuts, you should have seen me then. I’ll handle this.”

“I’m not going to have to wear hair gel, am I?” Jerrod was actually sweating.

“I wouldn’t recommend it. To be honest, it’s an itchy, sticky mess under a hat in the afternoon sun.” Alex opened the door and led Jerrod inside.

“As I live and breathe.” Carl Westin grinned. “It’s Alex Benson, all grown up. I’m not going to have to bribe you with a lollipop this time, am I?”

“That happened one time when I was three-years-old, Mr. Westin,” Alex reminded him. “I found out that lollipops and flying hair clippings don’t make a good mix. You can trim the sides and back close, but leave it a bit longer on top. About an inch and a half would be good. Use scissors, not clippers. I’d also like to get rid of this beard.” He turned to Lloyd Westin. “Give my buddy, Jerrod, the same, minus the shave.”

They each sat in chairs and had nylon capes snapped out and placed around their necks.

“You sure you don’t want me to buzz this boy bald, like some of them rap singers do?” Lloyd chuckled.

Jerrod had a look of shear panic in his eyes.

“Not unless you plan to clean up more than hair under that chair,” Alex told the barber.

Carl Westin leaned Alex’s chair back and placed a hot, damp towel over his face to soften his beard. After a few minutes, the bell over the door jingled.

“Hey there, Sport,” the newcomer said. “Are you going to be ready to be on my team this year?”

That scratchy voice seemed familiar.

“I’ve been practicing all year, Mr. Walker,” Jerrod said.

Alex peeked out from under a corner of the towel. An old high school buddy of his stood beside Jerrod. He pulled the towel off and hung it over the arm of the chair. “Nate Walker, how are you doing, man?” They shook hands. “I didn’t know Jerrod played sports. What do you coach?”

“Mr. Walker teaches calf roping for the junior rodeo,” Jerrod answered instead. “In December, I’ll be old enough for the advanced competition.”

“It’s hard to believe so much time has gone by since the year these kids were born,” Lloyd Westin recalled. “That was the worse Christmas the people in this town can remember. We thought we were going to lose them all. That Lacey Carlyle is one strong woman.”

Nate Walker cleared his throat loudly and gave Lloyd a stern look.

“No need to talk about such things in front of the boy,” Carl Westin whispered to his brother. He had Alex’s face smoothly shaved with a few swipes of his straight razor. “We just count our blessings and move on.”

“Well,” Nate said, “we’ll be starting practice next month. I know I should wait until Jerrod turns thirteen, but the competitions begin in January. Truth be told, he’s probably ready now, anyway.”

Alex leaned his head forward while Carl made short work with his scissors.

Nate must have made a mistake. Jared couldn’t be thirteen in December. That would place his birth only five months after he’d left for the Navy. He’d taken Lacey’s virginity the month before that…hadn’t he? He was only eighteen at the time. Could he have been that naïve?

He’d calculated the dates several times over the last month. If the twins were his they wouldn’t be thirteen until March or April of next year.

Was it possible that Lacey had already been pregnant their first time together? She would have told him, wouldn’t she? Could that be why she’d never tried to find him?

No, the kids were too small to be thirteen. But he didn’t really know much about kids. Jerrod had told him he was the smallest kid in his class, just like he’d been.

She hadn’t looked pregnant. She didn’t even have a boyfriend back then. Could something have happened to her? How could he just come out and ask her a thing like that? She might be hiding something she’s ashamed of, something too hard to talk about.

She’d told the kids that their father was her one true love. Had she lied to spare them an ugly truth?

It was time to get to the bottom of this, once and for all.

Carl Westin wiped the remnants of shaving cream off Alex’s ears and removed the cape. Lastly, he brushed the loose hair clippings from his neck.

“There you go, Jerrod.” Lloyd had gone through the same routine at the other chair. “How do you like it?”

“I like it fine,” Jerrod said. “What do you think, Alex?”

Alex nodded without really looking. “It’s fine. Grab your skateboard and I’ll take you home. I’ve got business to discuss with your mother.”

Alex pulled a fifty-dollar bill from the wad of money in his pocket and handed it to Carl.

“You only owe us thirty bucks for both haircuts and the shave.”

“Split the change.” Alex was already through the door.

Jerrod did as he was told, wondering what he’d done this time. Alex was obviously bent out of shape about something.

Once they’d left town, Alex finally spoke. “You were born on Christmas?”

“Christmas Eve,” Jerrod answered.

“Exactly how old are you right now?”

“Well, I don’t have a calculator, but I’ll be thirteen in five months, give or take a few days, hours, and minutes.”

The rest of the ride was silent and tense.

Chapter Twenty-Three

Lacey was doing paperwork when the screen door slammed. She recognized the heavy, rapid footfalls going up the stairs. Jerrod was home and he was upset about something. His bedroom door slammed.

“Jerrod, is everything all right?” she called from the foot of the stairs.

When there was no answer she walked up a few steps. “Jerrod, come down here right now. I want to know what’s going on.”

“I do too, Mom,” Jerrod replied through his closed door. “But I’m not coming out of this room until the first snowfall.”

“For heaven’s sake, this is Florida. You’ve never seen snow.” Lacey climbed the rest of the way up the stairs. “How’d you get home from town? You were supposed to call when you were ready to be picked up. I didn’t hear a car pull in.”

“Alex’s BMW is a lot quieter than the old trucks around here.”

“Alex is here, now, why? What happened?” she was getting frustrated, hollering at a closed door.

“I don’t know,” Jerrod bellowed. “I’m just tired of the grown-ups around here acting so weird. Alex is mad about something and I didn’t do anything.”

“Well, what did he say?”

“Nothing, he just got all weird and asked me about my birthday and stuff.”

Lacey’s heart leapt into her throat. It was too late to break it to him gently. He’d found out on his own. No doubt, he was furious.

“I think I know what the problem is. I’ll take care of it. We’ll all sit down and talk about it in a little while. Just come out of there.”

“Nope, I’ve had enough.”

Lacey had had enough too. “Jerrod, if you don’t open this door, I swear I’ll take it off the hinges.”

The door swung open, revealing a red faced, short-haired Jerrod. “It’s not locked,” Jerrod shouted.

Lacey threw her hands up to cover her gasp. “What did you do?” Then she looked at him closer and smiled. “I like it, it looks nice.”

“Forget the hair. I want to know what I did wrong.”

“It’s nothing you did. I’m the one in trouble this time.” When Jerrod’s lips tightened and his eyes narrowed, she added, “Everything is going to be fine. Alex and I just need some time to talk about a few things.”

****

“What a wonderful surprise!” Cheryl Benson exclaimed through the receiver of Alex’s cell phone. “Your father is going to be so disappointed he wasn’t here to say hello. We’ve tried to call, but your home phones been disconnected and it seems your office has moved.”

“Yes, Mother, I know. I moved with it. You should have tried my cell phone.”

“Oh, I couldn’t do that.” She gasped. “Those things are so expensive. Where did you move to, darling? I hope it’s not too far away.”

“I moved back to Indian Lakes.”

“What in the world for? It’s such a tiny little town, no culture, no ambiance.”

“It was good enough when we were growing up,” Alex replied. “I have a great house in the middle of town and I’ve already run into a lot of old friends.”

“Oh, how nice, anyone I’d remember?”

“Maybe. Do you remember Lacey Carlyle?”

“Oh dear, I hope you’re not going to get involved with that girl again. She almost trapped you into marriage when you weren’t even out of your teens.”

“What do you mean, Mom?” Alex probed.

“Honey, a mother knows things. I knew when you started getting serious about that girl. You stopped hanging out with your friends. It only took a month for her to talk you into dropping your scholarship and joining the Navy. And then you were only gone ten weeks when she showed up asking about you. Her belly was so big with a baby and I knew it couldn’t be yours. I told her right then and there, that you deserved better than her. Thank goodness she never came back.”

What Lacey had told him was true. His mother had turned her away. He felt sick. When he glanced toward the house, he saw Lacey approaching.

“Something’s just come up. I have to go. Tell the family I said hello. I’ll see you soon.”

“I love you, Son.” Cheryl sounded desperate, as though she’d never hear from him again.

“I love you too, Mom.” The words caught in his throat. Alex had never been ashamed of his mother until now. She’d been no better than the other women in this town. She’d turned away the orphaned daughter of her best friend at a time when she needed help the most. He was afraid he would say something very ugly if he stayed on the line a moment longer.

****

With every step she took, Lacey’s nervousness grew until she felt like she’d be sick, but she refused to give in to it. It was past time to clear the air. She didn’t have a clue what to say, how to begin. But then she didn’t have to. Alex spoke first.

“I would have stayed. I would have found a way to make things right, if you had just told me.” His voice was so low she could barely hear him.

“I didn’t know,” she murmured.

“How could you not know, Lacey? You’re smarter than that.” Alex gripped her shoulders. “Were you afraid of what I’d think? I would have understood. We could have worked it out. Sure, I’d have been upset, but I would have helped you out.”

“Helped me out?” Lacey was confused. “You make it sound like it was all my doing.”

“I do know about the birds and the bees. I know you weren’t alone in this, but that wouldn’t have mattered.” Alex pulled her closer. “However it happened, whoever you’d been with, you could have come to me.”

“What are you saying?” Lacey didn’t get a chance to finish before hell broke loose once again.

A scream, hollering, running, and bellowing neighs, something had happened in the pens. A horse was in distress.

The scene, as she raced toward it, made her blood freeze in her veins and her heart clench painfully. Buttercup was in the barrel pen lying on her side. She kicked her powerful legs to gain purchase, trying to stand. Jenna was pinned under her heavy body. She wasn’t moving.

Jerrod pulled at Buttercup’s harness to lift her head. Darrell squatted by Jenna, pushing at the horse’s hindquarter. Ben knelt at Jenna’s head, holding each side of her face. He had blood on his hands. The horse finally rose to her feet, but Jenna still didn’t move or make a sound.

Alex grabbed two large blocks of wood from beside the gate and placed them at each side of Jenna’s head to relieve Ben from his position.

“Did you move her?” he asked.

“I know better than that,” Ben replied.

Alex pulled his cell phone from his pocket and dialed 911.

“You’d better see to Buttercup, Ben.” Lacey knelt by her daughter. “She may be injured as well.”

“I’ll see to Buttercup from the business end of a shotgun,” Jerrod snapped.

“This wasn’t her fault,” Ben insisted. “Jenna was taking those barrels like a bat out of hell.”

“Jenna was racing barrels?” Lacey cried. “She’s not trained for that. Buttercup isn’t even trained for the barrels. I told Jenna she had to wait until she was older.”

“It’s my fault,” Darrell admitted. “I was telling her earlier how cool it was when I watched you do it.”

“I may be to blame too,” Jerrod added. “I’ve been bragging about training for the junior rodeo. I knew she wanted to compete in the barrels.”

By the time Jenna was placed on the ambulance gurney, she’d regained consciousness. Alex watched the doors close her and Lacey inside and pull away, sirens screaming and lights flashing.

“Ben, I’d appreciate it if one of you boys stayed to watch the house and finish up around here until we get back.”

“No problem, Boss.”

Jerrod was already in the passenger seat of the BMW when Alex got in.

Chapter Twenty-Four

Her children had been sick and injured several times throughout their childhoods, but never had they been through the emergency room. They’d certainly never ridden in the back of an ambulance. Not since the day they were born.

Lacey had been left standing at the entrance. They’d said it was too crowded and hectic in the examination room. Wasn’t it just as bad for the people in charge of her daughter’s life? Why weren’t the rooms larger? Why wasn’t the medical team more efficient?

They’d said they might have to give Jenna tests that she couldn’t be present at. The radiation exposure would be dangerous. If it was too dangerous for Lacey to be near, how dangerous was it for her child?

Everything had happened in rapid-fire motion since she’d heard Jenna scream. But now, waiting from outside the treatment rooms, time stood still.

Lacey wrapped her arms around herself because she didn’t have anything stronger to hold on to. She paced the floor with no place to go, but if she stopped for a single moment, she’d scream, and she might not be able to stop.

She always knew that farming, cattle, and horses were dangerous, but that’s the life she’d raised her kids in. She’d put them at risk and this was the pay-off. Maybe her grandfather had been right all along.

The sliding doors swooshed open. Alex ran toward her with Jerrod by his side. The anxiety on their faces matched the aching in her heart.