Texas Cowboy's Protection, - [books you need to read .TXT] 📗

“Based on the report, Brittany must’ve known the person who did this to her. Right?”

Gina thought she might be sick. Her mouth felt like she’d licked a glue stick. She swallowed to try to ease the dryness in her throat. Ever since she’d heard the news about Brittany, she battled against losing it. And Brittany had died in such a brutal manner.

“That’s usually the case in a crime of this nature.” Griff’s normally calm demeanor was replaced by deep grooves in his forehead.

“How can that be? We were supposed to have lunch tomorrow.” A life cut short so young…Gina couldn’t go there in her mind. There was something about someone suddenly passing that hit her in a dark place. Yes, she’d lost Des way too young. They’d grown up on the same street and had known each other for most of their lives. They’d been close when they were younger, but he changed over the years and became more distant. It became harder to break through his walls and get him to talk about anything real.

“When did the two of you make plans for lunch?” Griff asked.

“About a week ago. The past few weeks of getting ready to move have been hectic. The baby is teething and learning to walk. So, I don’t ever get to sit down. Forget about a warm meal.” She wouldn’t trade any of that for Everly, don’t get her wrong. But sleep and a hot meal would be a nice change of pace. None of which mattered after hearing the news about Brittany. First Des and now Brittany. Gina was reminded even more how precious life was.

In that moment, her mind snapped to her daughter. Her arms ached to hold her precious little girl.

She glanced at her watch and realized it was already past eleven. Everly would go down for a nap soon and she wanted to be the one to put her daughter to bed.

“I’ll be in touch. Let me know if you remember anything else, okay?” Griff asked.

“I will.” Isaac helped her to his truck.

“Thank you for everything you’ve done today, Isaac. I can’t even think what would’ve happened if you hadn’t come along when you did.”

“Don’t mention it.” He waved his hand like it was nothing but it was everything. She wouldn’t be going home to her daughter right now without him.

“I didn’t know you were visiting Gunner. When did you get here?” Gina pinched the bridge of her nose to stem off a headache as she asked the question. She’d had a few humdingers lately and they nearly knocked her out when they came. It was all she could do to take care of Everly when a headache struck. Specialists couldn’t find the cause. After running more tests than she could afford, the consensus was the same. The pain was stress-related. Turned out, losing her husband and being suddenly faced with bringing up a child on her own was bad for her health.

Isaac glanced at the clock on the dashboard and smiled. “Now.”

“Today? Or like, right this minute?”

“I was on my way home when I saw you, so I’m here now.”

“Oh, no. Your family must be worried sick. When was the last time you saw them?”

“It’s been a hot minute.” She saw the duffel covering the backseat of the king cab truck for the first time since getting inside the vehicle.

“This is awful.” Tears welled and she had to fight them back. “I’m keeping you from—”

“No, you’re not. I didn’t even realize it was you at first. Your face was blocked and you’re the last person I expected to see in Gunner.”

“I could say the same thing about you. Wasn’t it you who said hell would freeze over before you’d live here again? I’m guessing that’s your plan. Right?” The unexpected hit to Gina’s solar plexus struck out of nowhere. This whole morning had her off balance and seeing Isaac out of what felt like nowhere had tipped her world on its axis. Not that she’d had her footing yet anyway. She was pretty certain she was still in shock and all she wanted to do was hold her baby in her arms, make sure her little girl was okay.

“I haven’t decided my next move.” Isaac white-knuckled the steering wheel. “Sorry about Des. I meant to call.”

“Why didn’t you?” She surprised herself with the question.

“For one, I was overseas and didn’t always have access to a phone.” Of course.

Gina leaned her head back against the headrest. “I didn’t expect to hear from you. Honestly, we were friends a long time ago.” Friends was a light word for what she’d felt back then. High school. Everything had felt more dramatic back then.

“How often did you talk to Brittany?” The change in subject was a welcome break in the sudden tension filling in the cab. Was it from guilt? Des and Isaac had been friends once. Their friendship had ended in a heartbeat and then Isaac had joined the military. Des had refused to talk about it. Based on Des’s reaction when she’d mentioned Isaac’s name, she figured the two had had a fight.

“Never. She reached out to me after my mother told her I was moving back.”

“Did she seem upset or under any kind of pressure?”

“We spoke through texts. Said we’d catch up at lunch. Her texts didn’t seem anything out of the ordinary; it was just like, hey, your mom said you were moving back. We should reconnect.”

“Were you two friends after high school?” He seemed just as confused as she’d been when Brittany had first reached out.

“Not then and not now. I just figured we’re all adults now. People change. Did you know she had a baby?”

“No. I didn’t. I’m the last one to have news from home.” The statement shocked Gina.

“You don’t talk to your brothers? Or your cousins?” She didn’t hide the surprise in her voice.

“Not much. We’re all busy—”

“Not even Liam?” Isaac and his twin had to have kept in touch. Of anyone in the family, Isaac had always been closest to his twin brother.

“We keep in touch. I hate to break the news to you, but men don’t talk about other people. We tease each other about our favorite sports teams, send the occasional text about ranch or family business. That’s the extent of our conversations. And I haven’t spoken to him in a while. Figure we’ll catch up at some point now that I’m state-side.”

His answer was brief, but she knew there was no question any Quinn would be there for another, be it brother or cousin, in a heartbeat. No questions asked seemed to be the family motto when it came to backing each other up. She’d witnessed it firsthand for most of her life, before Des decided the two of them needed a fresh start and relocated them to Dallas.

Looking back, she wasn’t sure why she’d let Des make that call for them both. As with most of his decisions, she’d gone along with it. His argument of following his job had made sense at the time. And then, it had seemed easier not to make waves. Des’s career had always come first. She’d reasoned that eventually she’d come back to Gunner and run the restaurant. She could work any job in the meantime, whereas he’d always wanted to work law enforcement in a major city.

Even though Houston and San Antonio were closer, his heart had been set on Dallas.

Now, as a thirty-two-year-old single mother and head of household, Gina couldn’t fathom making those same decisions. Then again, Des had always wanted to be the bread winner of the family. A piece of Gina wondered why she’d ever agreed to those terms. Or had she? His vision for their life had been so strong. She’d often joked he was in the driver’s seat and she was along for the ride.

Not finishing college seemed like a bigger mistake now. Not standing up for herself when she’d hesitated to start a family while she lived so far away, seemed like too much of a compromise now. Not putting her foot down seemed like living by default to her now.