Becket chuckled. “I remember you following me around when Nash and Rider were busy. Seems you were always there when I brought a girl out to the ranch.”
Her cheeks heated. She’d done her darnedest to be in the way of Becket and his girlfriends. She didn’t like it when he kissed and hugged on them. In her dreams, she’d been the one he’d fallen in love with and wanted to marry. But that hadn’t happened. He’d dated the prom queen and married her soon after graduation.
“I thought you had married.”
“Didn’t last.”
“Why not?”
“It’s a long story.”
“If I remember, it’s a long driveway up to the ranch house.”
Becket paused. For a moment, Kinsey thought he was done talking about his life and failed marriage. Then he spoke again. “After college, Briana wanted me to stay and work for one of the big architecture firms in Dallas. I was okay with the job for a while, but I missed the ranch.”
“You always loved being outdoors. I can’t imagine you stuck in an office.”
He nodded. “Dad had a heart attack four years ago.”
“I’m sorry to hear that, but I assume he survived, since they’re in Hawaii.”
Becket smiled. “He did, but he can’t work as hard as he used to.”
“So, you came home to run the ranch?”
“Yeah.” Becket’s gaze remained on the curving drive ahead. “Briana didn’t want to leave the social scene. We tried the long-distance thing, but she didn’t like it. Or rather, the marriage didn’t work for her when she found a wealthy replacement for me.”
“Wow. That’s harsh.”
“Eh. It all worked out for the best. We didn’t have children, because she wanted to wait. I like it here. I have satellite internet. I telecommute in the evenings on projects for my old firm, so I stay fresh on what’s going on in the industry. During the day, I’m a rancher.”
“Sounds like you know what you want out of life.” Kinsey sighed and rested her head against the window. “I just want to be free of Dillon.”
“What about you? You went to Baylor. Did you graduate?”
“I did. With a nursing degree. I worked in pediatric nursing.”
“Did you?”
“For a while. Dillon was still at Baylor when I graduated. When he signed on with the Cowboys, he changed. He said I didn’t need to work and badgered me into quitting.” Kinsey remembered how much she hated staying at home, and how useless she felt. “I loved my job. The kids were great.”
Becket stared at the road ahead. “We leave high school with a lot of dreams and expectations.”
“I figured I’d be happily married by now with one or two kids.” Kinsey snorted.
“Same here.” Becket’s lips twisted. “We play the hands we’re dealt. How long have you put up with the abuse?”
“Too long.” Kinsey stared out the window. “The beatings started when he signed on with the NFL. He’d take me to parties. When his teammates paid too much attention to me, he’d get jealous, drink too much, and hit me when we got back to our place.”
“Why didn’t you leave him then?”
“In the morning, he’d apologize and promise not to do it again.” Her lip pulled back in a sneer. “But, he did. Eventually, he stopped taking me to the parties.” Her life would have been so different had she left him the first time he hit her. She’d been a fool to believe he would stop.
“Couldn’t you have gone to your family?”
“Each time I mentioned leaving, Dillon flew into a rage and threatened to kill me. Then he took away my car. He said it was for my own good. The car was too old, and needed too much work to drive.” At first, Kinsey had thought his action was out of concern for her safety. But her checkbook and credit cards disappeared, and he blamed her for being careless, forcing her to live off whatever pittance of cash he gave her. Without a job, she had no income and became a prisoner in Dillon’s home. “He told me I was a terrible driver and shouldn’t be on the road. That I’d probably end up crashing into someone.”
“The man’s a dick.”
“Tell me about it.” Kinsey bit her lip to keep it from trembling. “I think part of the reason he stopped me from driving was that I’d go to visit my parents. Like he was jealous of how much I loved them, and liked spending time at home. By taking away my car, he left me with no way of getting there. Mom and Dad came up to visit me in Dallas when they could, but after they left, Dillon would stomp around the house, sullen and angry. He’d accuse me of being a mama’s girl. If I defended myself, he hit me.”
“Your parents were good people,” Becket said. “I was sorry to hear of the accident.”
Tears slipped from Kinsey’s eyes. “They were on their way to visit me, since I couldn’t go to them. I think they knew I was in trouble.”
“Why didn’t you tell them what was going on?”
“I was embarrassed, ashamed, and scared. By then, Dillon was my world. I didn’t think I had any other alternatives. And he swore he loved me.”
“He had a lousy way of showing it,” Becket said through tight lips.
She agreed. Along with the physical abuse, Dillon heaped enough mental and verbal abuse on Kinsey, she’d started to believe him.
You’re not smart enough to be a nurse. You’ll kill a kid with your carelessness, he’d say.
When her parents died, she’d stumbled around in a fog of grief. Dillon coerced her into signing a power of attorney, allowing him to settle their estate. Before she knew what he’d done, he’d sold her parents’ property, lock, stock and barrel, without letting her go through any of their things. He’d put the money in his own account, telling her it was a joint account. She never saw any of the money—never
