Susan Mallery - Lip Service

Mitch knew Skye’s greatest vulnerability was Erin, but he wasn’t going to say that to Garth. Despite everything, the little girl still mattered to him.

“I’ll pay you,” Garth began.

Mitch’s gaze narrowed. “Don’t make me kill you.”

Garth held up both hands. “Sorry. I have people who are only in on this because of the money.”

“I’m not one of them.”

“Fair enough. I’ll be in touch.” He stood and crossed to the bed, then offered his hand.

Mitch hesitated a second before shaking it.

“Good to meet you, Mitch.”

Garth left.

Mitch turned away from the door and told himself he should feel better about finally having a plan. He was going to help destroy the Titans.

But as he lowered the back of the bed and tried to find a more comfortable position he found himself wondering if he’d lost more than a part of his leg in Afghanistan. Had he also lost part of himself?

IF THIS WAS a family dinner, Skye thought, it certainly wasn’t greeting-card material. The table in the dining room groaned with food, but no one was eating. She and Izzy still weren’t exactly friends. Jed was distracted and Lexi and Cruz only had eyes for each other. Erin alone was normal, chatting about how school was almost over, the things she wanted to do on her summer break and how high she could jump now.

“You should come see me jump, Grandpa,” she said cheerfully.

Jed managed to look up and frown. “You win any medals?”

“I’m just starting, but I will.”

Jed grinned. “That’s my girl. You’re going to be the best. Bring home an Olympic medal and we’ll put it front and center.”

Erin looked pleased and attacked her mashed potatoes.

“I was a barrel racer in high school,” Izzy told Erin. “It was a lot of fun. We could practice together sometime.”

“Okay,” Erin said, always happy to spend time with her aunt.

Lexi whispered something to Cruz, who grinned. They were crazy about each other, Skye thought, trying not to be bitter. She didn’t begrudge her sister her happiness-she just wanted a little of the same for herself. Someone to lean on. Someone to share with. Someone to help and laugh with and smile at for the rest of her life.

Even knowing it was stupid, her brain turned immediately to Mitch. She hadn’t seen him since he’d found out the truth about Erin. Fidela had told her he’d landed in the hospital and was now on crutches. Apparently he hadn’t been ready for all the walking he’d done.

She wondered how he was and wanted to go see him. Not that she would. He would only try to beat up on her again. She shouldn’t think about him at all.

He wasn’t her ideal man. He was just some guy she used to know…and couldn’t stop thinking about. But who needed lust? She had loved her husband. Maybe their relationship hadn’t been all fire and passion, but it had been strong and admirable. She winced inwardly knowing no one who wanted to be in love was looking for “admirable.”

People wanted the fire, although in her opinion it was highly overrated. She burned for Mitch and what did that get her? A giant pain in her butt, that’s what.

“The teacher at school said you have mad cows, Grandpa,” Erin said into the silence. “I said our cows are very happy.”

Jed looked up, his expression furious. “What stupid bi-”

“Dad,” Skye said sharply. “She was just expressing an opinion and she’s Erin’s teacher.”

Jed glanced at Erin. “She’s an idiot.”

Erin put down her fork. “She knows a lot. She’s a good teacher, Grandpa. She just doesn’t know our cows.”

Izzy’s mouth twitched. “Perhaps we should invite her over. They could have tea.”

Skye ignored that. “She’s not saying the cows are unhappy. Mad cow is a kind of sickness cows get. If people eat the cows, then they can get sick, too.”

Erin chewed on her steak. She’d been raised on a working ranch. She knew where dinner came from. “But our cows aren’t sick, are they?”

“No. They’re fine. But people get confused.”

“Mostly grown-ups,” Erin muttered under her breath.

“You got that right,” Izzy said, looking at Skye.

Dinner limped painfully along. When they were finished and the table cleared, Lexi and Cruz took Erin out for ice cream. Skye paced restlessly in her bedroom before grabbing her car keys and running downstairs. She was probably going to get her head chewed off, but she had to see him. Had to know if he was okay.

At the Cassidy Ranch Fidela answered the door immediately.

“He’s in the barn. In his office,” she said, looking worried. “He’s been in there every day since he got out of the hospital. He won’t talk to me or eat. He just drinks. I don’t know what to do. You’ll go talk to him? You’ll make him feel better?”

“Let’s not get carried away,” Skye murmured. “I’ll check on him.”

“Good. He needs something.” She spoke softly in Spanish, her words almost like a prayer.

Skye drove around to the barn and got out of her car.

It was early evening. The air was still warm, with a hint of coolness. The bugs were loud, the horses quiet and she had the sense of being the last person alive. That lasted until she heard the crash of glass breaking.

Stuffing her keys in her jeans pocket, she hurried toward Mitch’s office. She found him standing by his desk, supported by one crutch. His left pant leg hung empty. A Scotch bottle lay in shatters by the wall, another sat on his desk.

“Well, lookee here,” he said, his words slurring. “Skye Titan. Is it your day to make calls on the local cripples? You gonna check on the widows and orphans after you see me?”

His skin was pale, his eyes bloodshot, but his hand was steady as he poured himself another drink from the fresh bottle.

“I wouldn’t want to be you when you wake up in the morning,” she said.

“You wouldn’t want to be me anytime,” he told her. “God knows, I don’t want to be.” He sank heavily into his chair and pushed the bottle toward her. “Help yourself. Sorry I don’t have another glass. You can drink out of the bottle. I don’t care.”

She ignored the invitation. “I wanted to see how you were.”

He waved the crutch at her. “Never better. How ’bout yourself? You’re looking particularly sexy tonight, Skye. Why don’t you take your shirt off so I can see those pretty breasts of yours.” He raised the glass toward her. “To your breasts, darling, and every man they’ve brought to his knees.”

He was beyond drunk. She eyed the bottle and wondered if he was in any kind of danger from alcohol poisoning.

She picked up the bottle of Scotch, walked over to the sink in the corner and poured it out.

“I’ve got five more just like that one,” he said.

She turned to face him and set the empty bottle on the counter. “Maybe, but you’re going to have to get up to find them and I doubt you’ll make it halfway across the room.”

His gaze centered on her chest. “That depends on my motivation.”

She ignored that. “Have you done anything since you got out of the hospital?” she asked. “Other than drink? Or are you just sitting around feeling sorry for yourself.”

He drained his glass. “You don’t get to play this game with me.”

“Why not? Someone has to. Look at yourself, Mitch. This isn’t who you are. I know you had a rough time, but you’re alive. You have a home and people who care about you.”

“Not a kid, though. Right? No kid.”

“You came home,” she said, determined to get through to him. “What about the guys who didn’t? What about the guys who don’t have a home or a family? I think they get first shot at the pity trough. You’re hogging way more than your share.”

He glared at her. “Don’t push me, little girl,” he growled. “I can still take you.”

“Not tonight, you can’t.”

“I can try and I promise that will hurt.”

She approached the desk and stared down at him. “Is that what you want? To hurt me? Will that make it all better? Fine. Give it your best shot. I dumped you, Mitch. I walked out on our relationship. Start the punishment.”

He slammed the glass back on the desk. “That’s just it, Skye. You didn’t dump me. You accepted my proposal. You told me you loved me and wanted to be with me forever and then you changed your mind because your daddy told you to.”

He was right. About all of it. “I was scared,” she admitted, her defiance gone. “Jed was going to turn his back on me. I couldn’t stand that. I’d already lost my mom. He was all I had left.”

“You were all I had,” he yelled. “I’d lost both my parents that summer, Skye. I thought we were going to be there for each other.”

She hung her head. “I know. I’m sorry.”

“Sorry isn’t good enough.”

She straightened. “Fine. Then what do you want?”

“I want you to bleed the way I’ve bled. I want you to feel all of it.”

His anger and pain were living creatures in the room. They sucked out the air and made her want to bolt for the outside.

Then she finally understood.

“You think this is my fault,” she whispered. “You blame me for everything. If I hadn’t broken up with you, you wouldn’t have gone away. You wouldn’t have become a SEAL or lost your leg.”

He didn’t say anything.

She couldn’t believe it. “Are you sorry for what you did? The lives you saved? The difference you made?”

“That’s not the point.”

“Then what is? You made a choice. We both did, and now we have to live with the consequences.”

“Must be tough for you,” he said, his voice thick with anger. “Living in your big house with your kid and all. Does the pain and suffering keep you up nights? Do you regret marrying Ray?”

Which was what it all came down to, she thought sadly.

She stared into the eyes of the man she had loved more than anything, but not enough to defy her father.