Salvation, Texas (West Texas Series Book 2) by Anna Jeffrey

Author:Anna Jeffrey [Jeffrey, Anna]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Anna Jeffrey Books
Published: 2015-08-15T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 16

Rusty turned his cell phone on again on his way back to his office and saw a missed message from Elena. Carla’s pregnancy rushed into his head. He drove out of sight of Blanchard’s house and parked on the side of the highway that led back to town. After schooling himself into an objective state of mind, he returned Elena’s call. She answered on the first burr.

“What’s up, darlin’?”

“Daddy and I were at Carla’s house earlier today. Rusty, Gary’s sending Carla’s kids to California with his parents.”

Rusty’s eyes narrowed as his brain tried to assess the significance of that development. “I guess he can do that.” He tried to keep his voice even, hoping not to add to her distress. “They’re his kids, too, Elena.”

He heard her sniffle again. “I know. But Daddy is so angry. You should hear him. He threatened to kill Gary. I know he didn’t mean it, but...

Rusty felt no more than a modicum of concern for Blanchard’s safety.

“Anyway,” Elena continued, “now he’s on the phone in the study ranting at Malcolm about grandparents’ rights. If Malcolm can’t stop Gary, we might never see those kids again.”

Of course Ryder had gone straight to his lawyer. “If your dad tries to bulldoze his way into that situation, he can only cause a helluva of a lot of hard feelings. I haven’t heard a word about Gary being a bad father. In fact, I’ve heard he’s pretty good with those kids.”

“Oh, Rusty, Daddy still remembers when Carla and Gary got a divorce and were squabbling over custody of the girls. Gary would come to Texas and take them to his parents’ place in California, then Carla would go get them and bring them back. Then Gary would come back here and leave with them again. Daddy worried so much about them being pulled back and forth.”

“Maybe your dad should call off his dogs and try a little diplomacy.”

“I think it’s too late for that. They haven’t even brought my sister home yet and Gary’s already made funeral arrangements. He didn’t say a word to Daddy or to me. He just did it. He’s planned her service to be at the Methodist church tomorrow. Our mother was Catholic. And there isn’t enough time for everyone to come. Daddy’s so upset. I don’t know what to do.”

Rusty thought about the dichotomy in Elena’s makeup. She could calmly and competently deal with a dozen car accident victims suffering from severe trauma and even death and never falter, but she had never known how to deal with her own family. His mind spun back to their youth, when he had played this scene with her many times. She had always wanted her family members to get along with each other and live in harmony with their neighbors. She had never been able to accept that the Ryders weren’t a harmonious bunch. With the exception of Elena, every damn one of them was self-centered, with his own axe to grind and his own ego to stroke.

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