Lolly clenched a handful of Hugo’s coat. “Her husband said she didn’t mean it, that she’d taken too much medicine, but I don’t care! I never want to see her again!”
The big dog gazed up at her questioningly. Laurel unfastened Lolly’s hand from his fur finger by finger. “Um, how did you find her?”
Lolly grabbed a paper napkin from the holder in the center of the table and blew her nose loudly. “Her husband called me, some old guy named Bart or something. He said my—my mother wanted to see me, but I shouldn’t tell Daddy because he wouldn’t let me come.” She sniffed. “And now I wish I had told Daddy, and he’d locked me in a dungeon rather than let me go meet her!”
Laurel pulled more napkins out of the holder and stacked them in front of Lolly. This might be a long evening.
“She was awful, so awful! I wish I never had a mother—I wish I’d never been born!” She looked up at Laurel. “I don’t want to go home. Daddy—she said…she said that Daddy…” She reached for another napkin. “It’s all so nasty!” Long, wracking shudders ran through her. She moved her head back and forth, then clutched at Laurel’s arm. “I want you to be my mother, Laurel! Please let me stay with you!”
Laurel took her full in her arms. “Lolly, Lolly baby, that’s okay. Hugo and I will take care of you. But let’s get you upstairs.”
Laurel supplied Lolly with a nightgown and sat by her bedside as she cried herself to sleep, then left Hugo on watch as she went down to the den to call Jase’s home number.
“Maxie? This is Laurel Harlow. Lolly’s with me. I’ve bedded her down for the night, but she’s in bad shape. Marguerite got her to come to San Antonio and told her more than she ever wanted to know about Jase and their relationship—very explicitly. I can’t understand how anyone could do something like that—and to her own child.”
Maxie snorted. “It goes with the territory. But thanks for letting us know. I’ll call Jase right away.”
Laurel replaced the phone and wandered upstairs, soaked in her bath, checked on Lolly, and went to bed. But she couldn’t sleep.
Why had Marguerite Shelton lured Lolly to her bedside, then—well—attacked her? She should have been happy that her daughter had come at all.
She fluffed her pillow and turned over. Odd how hard it had been to get accustomed to sleeping alone again after Jase left. She hadn’t felt that way when Dave vamoosed.
She shut her eyes, but her mind refused to close down for the night. Would Maxie be the one to come for Lolly, or would it be Jase? She pictured herself opening the front door to him. She’d wear one of her nicer dresses, maybe the pale blue with the stiff pleats down the front. And heels, yes, definitely, heels. And she’d be a perfect lady, gracious and cool.
Ice-cold cool.
*
Jase’s phone sounded off with Maxie’s ringtone. He nosed to the side of the road and parked, fear and hope clutching at his heart. His finger hesitated for a second before pushing the icon.
“Jase, she’s safe. She’s with Laurel again.”
His mind shuddered with relief. Thank you, God. Again.
“But I’ve got to warn you. Laurel said the meeting with Marguerite—it wasn’t pretty. More like traumatic.”
“Marguerite? Lolly actually found Marguerite?”
“Apparently Marguerite was the one who found her.”
“Damn that woman! What sort of game is she playing?”
“Who knows? Laurel said Lolly’s sleeping now, but Marguerite really did a number on her. Apparently told her all about the your relationship with her, in detail and living color.”
“Damn that woman to hell! That’s why I didn’t want Lolly to have anything to do with her!” Jase inhaled deeply. “I’ll pick Lolly up in the morning. Right now I’m a traffic accident waiting to happen.”
“Take care.”
He nodded as if she could see him and signed off. After the wave of relief came the tsunami of frustration. His forehead dropped to the steering wheel. Bosque Bend? What happened to San Antonio? What the hell was Lolly doing with Laurel again? Probably giving her a hard time. That seemed to be the Redlander family’s main purpose in life lately—giving Laurel Harlow a hard time.
He was exhausted. His brain felt like a worn-out sponge. Girl Child was aging him before his time. He’d better find a motel while he could still keep his eyes open.
Merging back into traffic, he stayed in the slow lane and turned in at the first neon blue VACANCY sign he saw. After a quick registration, he parked in front of his first-floor room, opened his car door, and checked out the parking lot. Mostly pickups and semis in the parking lot.