The Texan's Bride. Linda Warren
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we came home to find that our father had really left us…for good.”
Both her hands gripped his arm. “Cadde, I’m sorry.”
The waiter poured more tea and removed the plates. “Would you like dessert?” he asked.
“No, thanks,” Jessie replied.
“My mother didn’t deserve that,” Cadde murmured as if the waiter hadn’t interrupted them. “She was the nicest person.”
The words had come from a deep personal well inside him and Cadde thought he’d done enough sharing. “How about your mother?”
Jessie removed her hands and folded them in her lap. “I never knew her.”
“Not ever?”
“She left when I was a baby. Whenever I asked about her, Daddy would say that she left us and I had him. That was all I needed.”
“But you know who she is?”
She fidgeted in her chair. “I didn’t until I was older and snuck into Dad’s study and found my birth certificate.” She paused. “Her name is Angela Martinez.”
The spotlight was now turned on her, and by the thinning of her lips Cadde knew she didn’t like it. Sharing was hard for her, too.
“And?” he persisted.
“Okay.” She reached for her tea glass and took a swallow. “I called every Martinez in the Houston phone book, and believe me, there were a lot. I found a lot of kind people, but not my mother.”
“Did Roscoe know you did this?”
Her eyes darkened. “I would never hurt him like that.” She placed her napkin on the table. “I just wanted to talk to her.”
“About what?”
“I was fifteen. I didn’t have a plan.” She cocked a dark eyebrow. “Are you trying to make me angry?”
“Not intentionally.”
“Good.” She took another sip of tea.
He watched her. “But you do get a little heated when you talk about your mother.”
Her eyes narrowed to slits of fire and he knew a whole lot of stubborn was coming his way.
“Have you ever asked Rosa about her?” He tried to sidetrack her.
“Rosa and Felix didn’t come to work for us until after Crissy was kidnapped.” Her temper seemed to cool instantly.
“I didn’t realize that.”
“I’d had a normal childhood until then. Crissy and I were like sisters. Aunt Helen would take us to school and to our ballet and soccer classes. Life was fun. Suddenly it all changed.”
Dark emotions clouded her face and he wanted to comfort her in some way, but he wasn’t good at that. “You lived in Houston at that time?” he found himself asking.
She nodded. “Two blocks from Crissy. The kidnapper came in through her window and carried her away to his car. The police said that’s when she woke up and started to fight. She scratched his face and his hands. While he was trying to restrain her he broke her neck.” Jessie took a deep breath. “He stuffed her into a culvert at the end of the street and covered her with leaves. It was two days before they found her.”
“I’m sorry, Jessie,” was all he could say, and it seemed to be enough.
“Life became hell. Daddy carried a gun and hired Rosa and Felix to watch me. Felix had a gun, too. Daddy took me out of school and hired a tutor. I never went back.”
“But you went to college.”
She tossed her long hair over her shoulder. “Now that was a fight.”
Knowing her and Roscoe’s temperaments, he could imagine. “You won.”
“In a way.” She shrugged. “The college had to be up north where no one had ever heard of Roscoe Murdock, and the guards had to go with me. It was difficult to make friends with big, burly guys hanging around, but I managed. I missed Daddy, Rosa, Felix and Myra so much. I’d never admit it, though.”
“Never,” he joked.
She made a face at him.
The warm vibes stoked a flame deep in his groin. He cleared his throat. “Myra is Rosa and Felix’s daughter?”
“Yes. She works for Houston’s district attorney’s office, a very tough lawyer.” Her face became thoughtful. “I can see what you meant about Dane now. Myra is two years older than me and she sort of took Crissy’s place. She was someone to play with, talk to, share secrets and giggle with. She’s my very best friend.”
He was glad she had Myra so she could vent her frustrations. He had Kid. A fight with Kid spiked his blood pressure more than a five-mile run. And Kid knew him better than anyone.
“Sadly, though—” she was saying “—no matter how much I told Daddy I could take care of myself, he never lost that fear of someone kidnapping me.”
“I know.”
Her eyes caught his. “That’s why I’m married to you.”
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