Gambling On a Heart. Sara Walter Ellwood
Cartwright? “So, Dad is really retiring and moving to Texas?”
Mom raised a brow and smiled. “As soon as a replacement is found for his position. We decided we want to be near our grandkids. Thank you again for letting us move in here with you.”
Tracy didn’t mind having her parents around–really. “The house would have been yours if Dylan hadn’t inherited the ranch. I’m glad you’re here. This is a big house for just Bobby and me.”
“You’ve been avoiding us.” Her mother took a deep breath. “I know you think your daddy and I are still disappointed in you. Honey, we love you very much and are proud of you.”
“I know you love me, Mom.” Whether or not they were proud of her was a different opinion altogether. There were plenty of times Tracy wasn’t so proud of herself. “I guess it’s admitting to Daddy that he was right about everything that’s the real problem. I should never have stayed with Jake after the miscarriage.” She picked up her teacup and stared down into the dark liquid. “Hell, I shouldn’t’ve gotten involved with him again after we broke up the first time. If I hadn’t, I wouldn’t’ve gotten pregnant in the first place. Then I should’ve joined the Army and got my training to be a doctor away from here like Daddy wanted me to.”
“Then you wouldn’t have Bobby.” Her mother reached over the table and laid her hand on Tracy’s. “I can’t imagine life without my grandson, and neither can Bob. Besides, you never wanted to join the military any more than Dylan had. Doing so would have been just as disastrous for you as it was for him.”
“Bobby’s my life.” Tracy sipped her tea. She actually couldn’t imagine being a doctor now at this time in her life, either. But there were times she felt like she’d settled.
“What are you going to do with his attitude problem?”
Tracy straightened her spine and clenched her teeth. “Can I wring Jake’s neck? He’s the reason there was a problem today. He’s known about the wedding for two weeks, and that jerk had Bobby believing he wanted to take him to a Texas Rangers game. I’d bet my paycheck, he had no intention of taking Bobby anywhere. Jake was playing him because he knew Bobby would give me a hard time.”
“Which he did. If Zack hadn’t intervened while Dylan and Charli exchanged vows, he wouldn’t have stopped fidgeting. I think he was doing it only for attention, too.” Her mother sipped her tea. “But he wasn’t expecting Zack to bring him into check.”
Tracy’s stomach flip-flopped when Bobby started tapping his foot in clear impatience and obstinacy during the ceremony. Then her heart had done an answering back flip when Zack snuck his hand over and laid it on Bobby’s shoulder. He’d looked up into Zack’s stern face, immediately stopped his agitation, and spent the rest of the service behaving himself. Later in the ceremony, Zack winked at Bobby and patted him on the shoulder. With that caring move, Tracy saw what kind of man Zack had turned into–loving, supportive, and understanding.
She ached with the knowledge Jake couldn’t be anything but manipulative, demanding, and demeaning.
“What are you doing about Jake?” Her mother drew Tracy out of her thoughts.
Tracy shrugged and hugged the mug between her hands. “I have no idea. I’ve tried talking to him, but he won’t listen to me. And now, he’s threatened me with another custody battle. We go to court in three weeks.”
Her mother took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “What does your lawyer say?”
Tracy snorted and set her mug on the table. “I’m looking for a new one.”
“So soon before the court date?” Tracy nodded in answer, and her mother’s lips compressed into to a thin line. “You should sue him for full custody.”
“I can’t take Bobby away from his father.”
Mom leaned back in her chair. “In this case, no father would be better than a bad one.”
Jake wasn’t anybody’s saint, and compared to Zack, he was severely lacking, but he wasn’t necessarily a bad father. He wasn’t a deadbeat dad. He never hit their son, nor had he lacked interest in Bobby. Sure, Jake lost his temper and said things that hurt him, but in Jake’s mind, he was better than his old man. Jake’s father had been physically abusive and cruel.
Her mother shook her head and lifted her cup to her lips. “Jake Parker has been bad news ever since you let him into your life. What in God’s name did you see in him to make you do what you did? Zack has turned into such a wonderful young man. He’s such a doting father too.”
Tracy tightened her grip on the mug until her knuckles whitened. Her mother knew the story, every disgusting detail. She didn’t need to be a mind reader to know her mother wished Zack was her grandson’s father.
Tracy set her cup down with a thump, angry at her own stupid foolishness as much as her mother for bringing up the past. “I don’t know, Mom. I thought Jake loved me.”
“But you never loved him. Just like you probably didn’t love the man you left Jake for.”
She pinned her mother with a glower. “You really haven’t a clue, do you?”
“About what?” She lowered her mug.
Tracy stood and fisted her hands by her sides. “I didn’t leave Jake for another man.”
“But everyone knows you lived for almost a year with someone in Waco before moving back. You haven’t even told me his name.”
“That’s because I wasn’t living with anyone!” When her mother’s brow puckered, Tracy sighed and relaxed her hands. “It was Logan.”
“Zack’s brother?”
Tracy would have laughed at her mother’s widened eyes if her total lack of faith didn’t slice right through Tracy’s gut. “Yes. Logan gave me a loan to move away from Jake and helped me get a job with a friend of his at a salon in the city. Over the years, Logan became my best friend.” Tracy shook her head and looked away. “At first, we kept our friendship secret because he was Zack’s brother. Now we do because of the hideous rumor I left Jake and shacked up with some guy in Waco. We never wanted people to wonder. If Winnie Cartwright didn’t like me so much, I’m sure that little rumor Jake and his mother put out there would have flamed as out of control as a brush fire in August.” She faced her mom again and winced. “I’ve never slept with Logan. It would be like being with my brother.”
“I had no idea.”
“Of course not.” Tracy crossed her arms. “You haven’t had much interest in anything concerning Dylan and me since high school. And the fact you’d believe a rumor started by my ex-husband to drag my reputation further into the dirt really hurts.” She spun away.
“Your father and I have always cared about you and your brother.”
Tracy faced her mother. “Right. If it hadn’t been for Maddie–”
“Stop right there.” Mom scowled and held up a finger. “I’ll admit I wish I’d been here when you found out about your first pregnancy, but you were supposed to be a responsible adult by then, too. You were supposed be working toward your medical degree. Not–” She swallowed and shook her finger. “Don’t you dare compare me with my stepmother.”
The French doors opened and her father, following two noisy ginger-colored Yorkies, stepped into the kitchen. Retired General Robert Quinn looked from Tracy to Eileen. “Am I interrupting one of those mother-daughter talks?”
“Yes.” Her mother glared at her.
“No,” Tracy said at the same time as her mom.
“Okay,” her father drew out in his East Coast accent and started moving across the kitchen. “I’ve been a soldier long enough to know to stay out of no-man’s-land. Goodnight, ladies.”
“Sit