Promise Broken (The Callahan Series) by Mitzi Pool Bridges Page A

apologize.”
    Cal gave her a look. “I don’t think so.”
    “Where will you go?”
    Cal shrugged. “Does it matter? I’m not about to stick around for more of whatever that was.”
    What could she do to stop this injustice? “It’s my fault.”
    Cal was at the end of the barn where he stored his Harley. “Tell Mark goodbye for me.”
    “Please, Cal,” she tugged on his arm. “Donovan didn’t mean it. I know he didn’t.”
    Cal gave her a twisted smile. “Oh, he meant it all right.”
    He put on his helmet, straddled his bike. “I’m outta here,” he yelled, and took off.
    Tears ran down her cheeks as she watched him leave. He didn’t even wait for his pay. Putting her head in her hands, she burst into tears.
    She’d thought she was finished with panic attacks. Apparently not.

Chapter Nine
    Donovan tried walking off his rage by pacing up and down beside the corral.
    Seeing Cal attack Phyl had brought back the stunning truth that his biological father had attacked and raped Mom. Just seeing Phyl, her face red, her breath coming in uneven gasps, had made him more than angry. Nothing like that would happen here.
    But Cal of all people? He was like a rich kid playing at working, with a sense of humor that kept them all laughing. How had his impeccable manners and earnest smile fooled them?
    He heard the Harley rumble to life and take off, went back to find Phyl working in one of the barn stalls.
    “Tell me the truth. Are you all right? Did he hurt you?”
    “What’s wrong with you?” She stared hard at him. “You need help—professional help.” She whirled around to leave as Donovan reached out to stop her. She jerked away, left him standing alone in the barn.
    What had just happened?
    One minute Cal’s attacking Phyl, the next she’s attacking me for defending her.
    Am I missing something?
    He couldn’t slow his heartbeat long enough to understand what had just happened. Why wasn’t she even a little bit grateful?
    He sank down on a bale of hay, willing his anger to drain away. He tried to figure out why Phyl had just acted as she did and what had come over Cal. In the short time he’d been here, the young man had been respectful to his mom and to Phyl. Even a cowboy like himself could tell Cal came from a good background. So why had he pulled that stunt? Even more curious was why Phyl’s attitude was the opposite of what he expected.
    When he went into the kitchen, Phyl wasn’t there. Mark was eating dessert and Mom had an angry look in her eyes.
    “We didn’t wait.”
    “I can see that. Where’s Phyl?”
    “Mom went upstairs,” Mark said, taking a last bite. “She wants me to go to our room when I finish.”
    “Do you think you can wait a bit? I need to talk to her.”
    “Sure.” He turned to Nellie. “Can I watch TV?”
    “After you rinse your plate and put it in the dishwasher,” she said.
    “You’re just like Mom,” he mumbled, but did as he was told.
    Donovan took the stairs two at a time.
    He stood at her door, suddenly afraid. But Phyl had been upset with him at the barn when she shouldn’t have. He needed to know why. He knocked softly.
    “Come in, Mark.”
    He opened the door. “It isn’t Mark.”
    She turned at the sound of his voice, her eyes wide with apprehension.
    “I wanted to talk to you about what just happened.”
    “Oh? You have an explanation?”
    “Cal was hurting you. I had to stop him. Okay, I got a little angry, but I saw you struggling, heard you cry out.” He watched her, saw the anger and indignation. “Why aren’t you upset with Cal?”
    “What are you talking about?” She held up her hand. “It’s a splinter. I couldn’t get it out. Cal couldn’t. He was trying to help me. Not hurt me. Then it became a game—a challenge. Why would you jump to such a conclusion? Cal hasn’t done a thing since he’s been here to justify what you just did.”
    Donovan felt the blood drain from his face. “You were struggling,” he said weakly.