His older sister lived in Houston and never had liked Jody. She seldom came around and when she did, she stayed in a hotel. She was trouble on wheels, and pretty often, after Lyle spent time with her, he was hard to live with. However, he did always tell Jody when Brenda was coming to visit. Why would he withhold that information now?

She was still fuming when she got back to the trailer. Thank goodness it was Saturday and the shop was closed or she’d be late getting to work. She tried calling him again but didn’t get an answer, so she went inside and brewed a pot of coffee. She poured a cup and carried it to the sofa. She’d only taken one sip when her phone rang. She grabbed it so fast that she fumbled the cup and spilled it on the carpet. She forgot all about the stain it would leave when she saw Lyle’s number come up on the caller ID.

“Where in the hell are you? Did you and Brenda hit the bars last night? If you’re in jail, I’ll be damned if I come bail y’all out. You can just rot in there, and why did you take off work yesterday? What’s so big that you can’t even tell me why you aren’t coming home?” She stopped long enough for a breath. “Did you go and sell our place to Quincy? Is that why you didn’t come home?”

“Jody, slow down,” he said. “We need to talk.”

“What do you think we’ve been doing?” She finally got control of her shaking hands. Even if he sold the property, he was alive and not lying in the morgue. They could deal with anything if he was alive, right? “I’ve been out looking for you and was about to start calling hospitals. Why didn’t you come home last night?”

“Because I got married,” he blurted out.

“You did what?” Jody shook her head. Surely she’d either heard him wrong, or else he was trying to make her laugh so she wouldn’t be angry.

“We haven’t been doin’ so good the past six months. You know that, Jody. I want kids. You don’t know what the hell you want. I kind of had an affair,” he said.

“You did what? How do you kind of have an affair? Either you cheated on me or you didn’t. Which one is it?” Her voice shot up an octave with every word.

“The ranch foreman’s daughter and I—”

“You mean that teenager, the one I met at the Christmas party? Katy, or was it Kristin?”

“Her name is Kennedy,” Lyle answered. “She’s almost twenty, Jody.”

“You’re serious, aren’t you? This is not a joke?” Her hands trembled and her stomach twisted into a tight little knot.