Page 13

Chapter

Seven

“ W hat the hell were you thinking?” West muttered under his breath as he pushed open the door and left Burger Heaven.

He made certain not to glance over his shoulder as he strode to his car, cursing what had just gone down between Kelby Blackstone and himself.

He reached his car and climbed behind the wheel, quickly leaving the town square and heading to the rental.

Based upon the realtor’s directions, he should be there in five to seven minutes.

Boy, he’d made a fool of himself. Seeing Kelby again had done that to him.

The moment he walked into the burger joint and caught sight of her, a rush of unresolved feelings bubbled up to the surface.

It was funny because he had not thought of Kelby in years.

Well, that was a lie. He would think of her every now and then but tamp down the notion of ever seeing her again.

She had always been around his entire childhood, and he supposed he had taken her for granted.

Chance had been his friend, and West had been perfectly at home anytime he went to Blackstone Ranch.

Kelby was usually there, sometimes with one of her friends, including his cousin Darby, who was Kelby’s best friend.

As they’d reached middle school and then high school, Kelby had just been one of the group, hanging out together.

It was not until the spring of their senior year, when he had broken up with his girlfriend, that West really got to know Kelby one-on-one.

Chance wasn’t dating anyone either, and so Darby and Chance, along with West and Kelby, decided to enjoy attending all their senior activities together as a foursome.

There had been the senior trip to Austin and San Antonio.

The sports banquet and talent show. Prom.

Graduation activities and parties. Throughout all of these, he and Kelby were thrown together, and he’d found himself liking her, more and more.

She had a sweet nature, with a bit of a kick to her.

He’d actually liked when the feistiness made an appearance.

When he kissed her, just to show his appreciation for her accompanying him and making the last couple of months of senior year so much fun, sparks had ignited between them.

The kiss had taken on a life of its own, and they both were a bit stunned when it finally ended.

They had behaved maturely and talked it through, however, pointing out that they were both going to different universities.

He had been offered a sports scholarship to Texas A&M in College Station, while Kelby had made the cheer squad at UT in Austin.

They wouldn’t be like regular students, ones who could come home on a weekend and relax.

Instead, they would be committed to nights, weekends, and even some vacation breaks because of what they had chosen to do, so they decided to step back and simply remain friends.

But West had never forgotten that kiss. Or Kelby.

He heard about her peripherally through the years.

They saw one another two or three times while still in college.

They were both involved in bowl games over Christmas and New Year’s.

He thought he might have seen her once or twice during a spring break, but summers he remained in College Station, taking classes in summer school, working out, as well as going to a part- time job.

Hawthorne had been in West’s rearview mirror.

He was constantly looking ahead to a career in the NFL.

Chance had shared that Kelby was dating UT’s talented quarterback, Baxley Porter.

Bax had a terrific junior year and a phenomenal senior year, breaking a couple of NCAA passing records and winning the Heisman Trophy.

He’d been drafted number one in their class, with West going at the end of the first round to the Cowboys, while Bax was anointed the savior and starter for the Cleveland Browns.

He knew Kelby eloped with Bax to Vegas, and that was really all he’d heard until Chance had texted several years ago that Kelby had divorced her husband.

Bax had never lived up to his college potential in the pros, something all-too familiar with Heisman Trophy winners.

He recalled Bax being hurt and out that entire first year, but West was concentrating on making the Cowboys roster.

It helped that one of their star receivers retired just before training camp began and another one was traded when he demanded his contract be reworked.

Suddenly, West found himself as a starting wide receiver with the best-known team in football, and he never looked back.

He couldn’t ever recall playing against Bax in a game. Some gossip had circulated about how Bax had lost his touch and was prone to injuries. The fact that Bax had fallen so far and committed a murder shocked West.

It pissed him off that Kelby’s company dumped her because of her past relationship with Bax.

Then again, everything these days was all about image, one carefully curated on social media.

You could be the most miserable person on the planet, but if you posted pictures on Instagram of great meals in restaurants, trips you took, or selfies with smiling family and friends, no one ever knew you were hurting inside.

West turned on the street where the rental was located and easily found it, pulling to the curb and cutting the engine.

He saw his cousin Sawyer’s sensible sedan sitting in the driveway.

West wasn’t ready to talk to Sawyer just yet.

Instead, he took out his cell and wanted to learn more about Kelby and Bax.

He Googled Bax first, and all the lurid headlines were splashed across the internet.

It only took a few minutes to discover that Bax had a bad drug and alcohol addiction and had been in and out rehab numerous times.

It was a bookie he owed money to that wound up dead, shot twice by Bax.

The former pro athlete’s booking photo startled West. He remembered the guy with the golden arm and soft touch on the ball, not the hollow-eyed, gaunt man staring back at him.

West read how Bax had been shivved by one or more inmates, ones who gutted him and left him to bleed out.

It had yet to be determined who was responsible for the former quarterback’s murder.

Digging deeper, West found photographs of Kelby and Bax over the years.

At first, Kelby had that sparkle in her eyes, the one which had drawn him in.

She looked adoringly at her husband. Then things changed over time.

Kelby looked grimly at the camera, a haunted look in her eyes.

The final photographs before she filed for divorce on the grounds of irreconcilable differences had her looking like a shell of her usual, bubbly self.

He searched for her name now, seeing what would come up, and learned she had reclaimed her maiden name after the divorce.

West found several flattering articles and pictures from the last five years.

The photographs showed the old Kelby had reappeared.

She looked happy and healthy. She had won a few industry awards and spoken at a couple of conferences.

It seemed she was damn good at her job. That’s what made all this so unfair.

She was being judged for being in a relationship she had ended five years ago.

It seemed she had done everything to help Bax beat his addictions, but her husband hadn’t been interested in doing so.

Because of that, she’d left him. Kelby had gone on to make a good life for herself, only that life had now shifted radically, sweeping her away as if she were debris.

He’d been an idiot to open up to her the way he had.

Seeing Kelby unexpectedly had been like finding an oasis in a desert he’d wandered through for years.

West had kissed his fair share of women in those college years and beyond, becoming very skilled at kissing, learning how to make a woman feel satisfied.

Then one night as he came home after a win over the Eagles, he’d flipped on the TV.

An old Julia Roberts movie was on. She played a hooker and had a unique philosophy.

She didn’t seem to mind selling her body for money.

She looked at sex strictly as a business transaction, but the one thing she refused to do was kiss a client on the mouth.

Her character said that was too intimate. Too personal.

And West took that philosophy to heart.

From that moment on, he also gave up kissing anyone he went out with on the mouth.

He did everything else—and thoroughly enjoyed it.

He was a physical person. Sex was almost a recreational sport for him.

But he never kissed another woman again, realizing deep down inside it was because he knew he would never connect with another woman the way he had with Kelby.

That was why he had opened up to her. Told her that he’d lost himself for a while but that he was ready to be a better man.

He mentally kicked himself, thinking how he’d shared with her how he looked forward to having a family.

Somehow, although he had never formed concrete thoughts about it, he wanted to do that with Kelby.

Or someone like her. Someone who was raised a certain way and possessed the same values he did.

After his internet dive now, he knew how deeply she had been hurt in her relationship and marriage to Bax.

She’d been kicked to the curb. Like a phoenix, however, she had risen from the ashes and made something of herself.

She wouldn’t stay in Hawthorne for long.

She was only here because of her dad’s stroke.

Once Big Jim was on the mend, Kelby would be gone, looking for the next job opportunity in a big city.