“No, he’s not, which makes it even more of a miracle that you turned out as wonderful as you did. It seems that what we’ve overcome is what ultimately molded us into the people that we are instead of where we’ve come from.” He gave me a grin that didn’t quite reach his eyes and cocked his head to the side. “So, what do you want to do to kill time while we wait for your old man to leave the house?” He wiggled his eyebrows at me. “I have some suggestions.”

I felt a twinge between my thighs, but while my body might be on board with his type of distraction, my mind was a million miles away and not interested in being vulnerable and bare even to him. “I think we’ll put a pin in that for later when I don’t feel like I might throw up and pass out at any minute.”

He nodded and rose to his feet. “Well, we’re in Texas, so how about you take me for some barbecue.”

I put a hand over my roiling stomach. “I don’t think I can eat right now.”

He reached out his hands and waited patiently until I placed my palms over his. He pulled me to my feet with a gentle tug. “That’s fine; you can watch me eat and laugh at me when I get barbecue sauce all over my face. I’m not going to let you sit in the room and wind yourself up so tight that you snap.”

I followed him out of the room and let him load me into the car. On autopilot, I tonelessly gave him direction to the place that used to be my favorite barbecue joint when I lived in town. I hadn’t eaten there in years and years. Oliver thought it was too messy, so he forbade me having it in our home. The one time I snuck away and grabbed some with a friend from church, I of course got it on the outfit I was wearing. When he found the garment buried deep in the laundry, he wrapped the fabric around my throat and pulled on it until I blacked out. When I came to, I was covered in bruises and missing all of my clothes. I should have left long before it got to that point, but today, I was simply glad I was around to know better and to tell others that they deserved more than that. Life shouldn’t be about merely surviving and enduring; it’s about living and savoring every single day we had.

The hostess took us to a secluded table near the back of the restaurant. I realized as she was walking away that she had purposefully picked a place to seat us that was all the way across the room so that she could eye-fuck Wheeler for as long as possible. He seemed oblivious but I quickly learned he wasn’t the only one fighting the urge to throat-punch someone when they wouldn’t keep their eyes to themselves. I would never actually hurt anyone in any way, not when I knew what kind of lasting damage flying fists could do, but that didn’t stop me from envisioning the girl with her hair on fire when she coquettishly looked over her shoulder at him on her way back to the hostess stand.

Luckily, our server was a guy who didn’t seem to care about either one of us very much. Wheeler ordered a platter of meat that was big enough to feed a small army and a beer. I stuck to water and told him I would pick at the corn bread that came with his meal. We made small talk, mostly about the baby and how anxious he was to find out if he was having a boy or a girl when we got back. I didn’t bother to remind him that the baby still might not cooperate, they could be flying blind about knowing the sex right up until the little bundle made an appearance. I kind of hoped the baby would keep being difficult. It was fun to watch Wheeler try and wrap his head around being responsible for a little girl. In his mind, a boy would be easier and I didn’t have the heart to tell him how wrong he was. All girls were daddy’s girls at heart. I asked if he and Kallie had started talking about names for either eventuality and he made a pained face. Apparently, Kallie was all for names that he considered boring and basic. He wanted something strong and memorable. He tossed out a couple that sounded like all the guys at his shop had voted on and deemed badass but I could see why Kallie wasn’t a fan. He was asking if I had any suggestions when a shadow suddenly fell over the table. Thinking it was the server with Wheeler’s food, I didn’t look up until a throat was cleared.

Standing at my elbow was a man dressed in a sheriff’s uniform. I didn’t recognize him right away but when he spoke his voice was familiar. Case Lawton. He’d been a deputy when I lived in Loveless with Oliver. He was at the sheriff’s office the night my husband had broken my arm and cracked several of my ribs. He was there when his father, the acting sheriff at the time, asked me if I really wanted to press charges. It was a small town and people would talk. My father had done a lot for the community and he would hate to drag my entire family into a domestic situation. He told Case to take me to the doctor, ordered him to get me checked out, and then mentioned he should go talk to Oliver about the proper way to keep his wife in line. I’d bolted before any of those things could happen. When the people that were supposed to help you were just as bad as the people that hurt you, all you could do was take care of yourself until you found someone that really cared.

“Poppy Cruz. I thought that was you. I followed your story on the news a while back.” He ran a hand over the lower half of his face and took off the wide-brimmed hat that was covering his dark hair. He looked older than I remembered, tired and jaded, but still very handsome in a rough and rugged kind of way. “I told my old man that your husband was a loose cannon. I knew something terrible was going to happen if we didn’t lock him up for assault. That bastard never listened to me.”

I looked at the sheriff’s star on his chest and over to Wheeler, who was watching the other man through narrowed eyes. “He should have listened. Oliver would be in jail, instead of dead, and I might not have spent the last year of my life jumping at shadows and waking up in the middle of the night screaming. He put a bullet in his head right in front of me. I had bits of his skull and his brain stuck in my hair.” I sucked in a breath through my teeth and lowered my lashes as my hands curled into fists on the top of the table in front of me. “All of that came after two days of rape and torture. I’m lucky to be alive, but more than that, I’m lucky to still have my sanity and belief that not all men are made like my father and my deceased husband.”

The cop rocked back on his heels and looked like he might be sick. His face went pale and his mouth pulled into a furious frown. He put his hat back on his head and dipped his chin. “We’re supposed to protect and serve, ma’am, but not all cops are created equal either. My father was cut from the same fabric as yours, which is why he no longer has the big office. This town is small and word gets around when the people that are supposed to be paying attention are purposely looking the other way. I’m glad you made it out, and if you need help with whatever brought you back, know that I will answer the call personally. I knew I let you down that night, failed to protect you, and it’s been a sore spot I’ve carried with me for years.”