Kele Moon - Crossing the line

“You shouldn’t have stopped.” She sighed. “It wasn’t necessary. I was just having a moment, and I know I don’t deserve—”

“I’m your husband,” Wyatt interrupted, his low voice filled with pain. “Taking care of you was supposed to be my job.”

There was a quiet moment between them because Wyatt said out loud what neither of them had forgotten. Despite the long separation, they were still married, and not a single paper had been filed by either of them to change that fact.

Quite the opposite—Tabitha had gone out of her way to make sure everything had Wyatt’s name firmly in place. If something happened to her, Wyatt would get every dime, and there wasn’t a damn thing anyone in her family could do about it.

There had been papers and letters from Wyatt’s side of things over the years too, all business related. It’d been obvious early on that Wyatt knew exactly where she was and what she was doing. When his father had died, she’d gotten letters from Wyatt’s attorney listing her as his sole beneficiary. He never made a secret of tracking her from Garnet, to New York, then Portland and finally to Key West. In every new city, she could count on getting mail from Wyatt’s mutual funds and a sea of other investments that listed her as his wife.

It’d been odd, a way for them to reach across the country and touch each other. For her part, leaving everything to Wyatt was a no-brainer. His reasons were more of a mystery, considering he had a sister he actually liked and a best friend who was more a brother to him than anything. Why would he leave everything to the woman who left him?

Tabitha found herself lost in thought as Wyatt resumed his trek back to his car, which was actually a big white SUV with the words Sheriff, Garnet County written across the side of it. It was a very nice vehicle, certainly much better than the old jeep Big Fred, Wyatt’s father, used to patrol in.

“I guess Garnet is moving up in the world,” she observed. “Nice car.”

“We’re doing all right.” Wyatt bent his knees as if Tabitha weighed nothing. “Open the door.”

Tabitha reached out and opened the passenger side door. She made an effort to look like she was crawling out of Wyatt’s arms and into the car herself in an attempt to preserve some dignity. She pulled the blanket tighter around her, finding it a nice shield from reality as Wyatt closed the door and turned to walk back to her car.

She saw him stop and pick up the water bottle she’d dropped, which was predictable enough to make her smile. Then he leaned into her car, retrieved her purse and keys. He looked to the backseat, obviously searching for luggage.

Tabitha’s heart was beating the hell out of her chest. If she hadn’t already done the puking thing, her stomach would be churning. She couldn’t believe she was sitting in Wyatt’s car. Her life was too surreal to deal with, and she looked around the vehicle that had the scary police glass separating the backseat from the front. It was tricked out with all the latest police tools, which was also different and sort of impressive when she considered the backwoods town she’d left behind.

Garnet really was moving up in the world. They had a new, fancy sheriff’s department and a new, handsome sheriff to match.

She glanced to the floorboard, and her heart dropped for a different reason. A hardback book peeked out from underneath the seat, and she reached down and picked it up, staring at the familiar cover.

The Vigilante, A Heroes of Sapphire County Novel by T.C. Rennoc

She opened the book that was heavily earmarked and well read to the point that the binding was weak. She flipped to the dedication page, and the first real tears of the day rolled down her cheeks because she was simply too overwhelmed to fight them. The dedication was deliberately cryptic. All of them were, and more than a few fans and reporters had attempted to decipher them.

Between pain and regret, the sweetness still lingers, and in that ray of light I cry out to you—Why.

The car door opened, and Tabitha looked up guiltily. Wyatt paused for a moment, staring at the book on her lap before he climbed into the car and handed over her purse. “I didn’t find any luggage.”

“I dropped it off already. Terry’s renting me that cabin of his on Winding Ridge.”

Wyatt stared at her, his gaze intense. “I heard.”

“Oh.”

Tabitha felt her cheeks heat as she absorbed that information, having the brief thought to kick Terry very hard in an uncomfortable place for meddling. Was it built into the genetic makeup of every Garnet resident to stick their nose in everyone else’s business?

“That one’s my favorite.”

Tabitha looked up at him curiously. “What?”

“That book.” Wyatt pointed to the book still in her lap, open to the dedication page that was as well-worn as every other page in the book. “It’s my favorite of the series.”

Tabitha set her purse next to her and then closed the book self-consciously. Her hands were less than clean, and she was worried she’d gotten it dirty, which was bizarre for her. Coveting something she had boxes and boxes of back home.

“I think it’s my favorite too,” she agreed, giving him a wan smile as she leaned down and tucked his book back where she’d found it. “It has, uh…a special place in my heart. I hope I didn’t get it dirty.”

Wyatt shrugged. “If you did, you could probably replace it.”

“I could,” she said quickly. “I will if you want me to. Replace it, I mean. Get you a better copy. An autographed copy.”

Tabitha winced at that last part, knowing it probably sounded uppity and presumptuous.

“I sort of like my old copy.” Wyatt pulled the car door closed and sat there with his hands on the steering wheel, staring ahead as rain splashed against the windshield. The silence was deafening, the tension pulsing off him nearly choking the air out of the car before he finally asked, “Why’d you come back?”

Tabitha wished she had a different answer for him, one he wanted to hear. Instead she just admitted, “My mom has a blockage in her heart. She needs surgery, and you know Brett’s not gonna take care of it. She’s got diabetes too, and a whole host of other medical problems that have to be handled.”

Wyatt flinched. The pain showed on his face for one brief moment before he turned his head to look out the side window and take a long, cooling breath. “I’m sorry ’bout your mom.”

Tabitha nodded and considered him. He was so big in person, so overwhelmingly broad and muscular. His wide shoulders were tight, the tension was still bleeding off him to the point that she wanted to reach out and comfort him somehow, but there was nothing to be done. She finally whispered, “I’m sorry too…for everything.”

Wyatt didn’t respond. He just sat there quietly for a few moments and then started the car as if there was nothing else to say. Tabitha hadn’t really expected him to say it was fine that she’d walked out on him less than a week after they’d gotten married, but the deafening silence wasn’t any easier to bear for being predictable.

Tabitha stared out the window as they drove. She tried to worry about her mother, her abandoned car, or even her fear and resentment over being forced back to Garnet. Even the hatred for Brett seemed better to focus on than the pulsing sorrow that was welling up inside her chest and making the rural scenery grow blurry in a way that had nothing to do with the rain.

When he turned down the long driveway that led to the lake house, Tabitha was ready to leap out of the car and run away from the heartache. Wyatt must have sensed her urge to flee and grabbed her wrist gently. He gave her a look that said he expected her to stay put.

Tabitha shook her head in denial, because being with him was ripping her apart on a soul-deep level. She’d rather be back home with Brett than alone in that lake house with Wyatt. “I’m fine. Really, Wy, you don’t have to fuss over me.”

Wyatt opened the car door and stepped out as if he hadn’t heard a word of her argument against it. “Just lemme get the first-aid kit out of the back.”

Tabitha huffed in defeat, knowing how stubborn Wyatt got when he had his mind set on something. She had a ring that proved that. Only now realizing it, she looked to her left hand, seeing the golden band, and felt a sinking horror. Not for Wyatt to see she still wore it, but for Brett or her mother to notice and start asking questions. Why hadn’t she thought of it before this moment?

She pulled at the band, trying to wiggle it off her finger, but the summer heat made it hard to get off. She managed to slip it a little up and saw the deep groove left from thirteen years of wearing a ring she never took off, along with a noticeable white tan line. Too much Florida sun. On or off, it made no difference. Anyone who bothered to look would know she was married.

Her car door opened, and Tabitha dropped her hand self-consciously, hoping to God Wyatt didn’t see her fight with her wedding ring. She grabbed her purse, clutched the blanket tighter, and jumped out of the car before Wyatt could do something like try to carry her again. If he wanted to follow, she couldn’t stop him. Even if he wasn’t sheriff, which made him something akin to God of Garnet, he was still bullheaded.

She fished in her purse for the small set of keys as she walked up to the lake house, that was surrounded by woods and hidden so far off the main road few knew it was still there. It was bigger than she needed, but the only other place Terry had to rent was next door to Clay Powers, and she sure didn’t need that.