The Unexpected Wedding(26)

~ * ~

By the next day, Becky Lee was feeling guilty about her trip to visit her sister. Well, not actually guilty about going to see her, but about hiding it from Cal. Surely he’d understand her need to see Theresa Jean. Maybe it had even helped in some way, somewhere deep in Theresa Jean’s subconscious.

As if her thoughts could attract consequences, she heard a knock at the front door. She crossed the carpeted floor in bare feet, the worn pile on the carpet reminding her that she’d meant to look for new flooring for the cottage. Most of her to-do list had been put on the back burner since Cal and Scotty had come to town, but she guessed that was to be expected.

She opened the door to see Cal standing on the front porch.

“Hope you don’t mind that I just stopped by. I tried calling, but you didn’t answer.”

Her cell phone. Where was the darn thing?

“No, that’s fine.” But she self-consciously looked down at her worn shorts and her t-shirt with a big stain on it from painting a side table a few weeks ago. Her hair was falling around her shoulders in a haphazard mess. She reached up and twirled her hair up and slipped another pin in to try to tame it.

“I had to run an errand in town for Steve. Stopped by Magnolia Cafe but they said you weren’t working so I took a chance you’d be home. I wanted to ask you over for dinner tonight. Thought you’d like to spend time with Scotty. I’ll even cook. That is grill burgers. My only claim to cooking fame.”

“I’d love to.” Becky Lee figured now was as good a time as any to tell Cal she’d seen Theresa Jean. She looked him in the eye. “I need to talk to you for a minute and don’t get mad at me.”

“I can’t imagine what you could do to make me mad.” Cal flashed her an easy smile.

“Well, good.” Becky Lee forced herself not to take a step back, squared her shoulders and thrust out her chin in a bit of defiance. “I went to go see Theresa Jean yesterday.”

Cal’s eyes turned a steely blue and a muscle twitched at his jaw line. “You didn’t.”

“I had to. I had to see her, talk to her. See if I could get her to wake up.”

“I told you how dangerous it was.” Cal’s voice was a low growl.

“I was careful. Really careful.” She stared at his face hoping for signs of understanding.

“I said not to go.”

She bristled then, not used to being told what to do. “Well, I went. I needed to see her.”

“You’ve put Scotty in danger.”

“I don’t think anyone even knew I was there. Just one nurse saw me and I said I was a friend.”

“You have no idea what you’ve done.”

“I think it will be okay.” Becky Lee was beginning to doubt herself. Cal looked so fiercely protective.

“You have no idea the kind of people you’re dealing with.” He paused for a moment and cocked his head. “You’ve never even asked me my brother’s name.”

Becky Lee wrinkled her brow. No, she hadn’t ever asked him. She’d been so wrapped up in worry about Theresa Jean. Cal had always just referred to Theresa Jean’s husband as his brother. “What is his name?”

Cal took a deep breath and looked her straight in the eye. “Gordon Scott Grayson.”

~ * ~

Cal knew the exact moment when she recognized the name. He could see it in the wide eyes and the way she slowly sagged against the door frame.

“Oh. Those Graysons.” Becky Lee looked at him carefully. “Of Grayson Industries. Your brother’s arrest was all over the news. Your family is… powerful.”

“You mean my family is known as—how do people say it—a crime family?”

“Are they one?” Becky Lee’s voice cracked.

“Let’s say that my father has many powerful and ruthless friends. And enemies for that matter.”

“Cal, I had no idea.”

“I was trying to protect you. The less you knew, well I figured you’d be safer.” Cal sighed, angry at Becky Lee for going to see TJ, but also angry that by keeping his family’s identity a secret, he hadn’t impressed on Becky Lee just how dangerous going to see TJ was. He was making so many decisions these days and half of them were backfiring on him.

“I’m sorry.” Becky Lee’s blue eyes clouded with remorse.

He let out a long breath of air. “Well, what’s done is done. If I would have told you the whole truth maybe you wouldn’t have gone. You’d have understood the extent of the danger. My father is a powerful man and used to getting his own way. By any means possible.”

“I really was careful.”