Texas_Winter (13 page)

Jack found his brother and sister, heads close in conversation, outside in the yard. They moved apart quickly when he said "hi", and he narrowed his eyes at the guilt in their expressions.

"I'm not going to like this, am I?" He sighed. Josh and Beth exchanged glances.
"For the record," Josh began, "we know exactly what you're going to say, and we understand where you're coming from."
"Okay…" He took the proffered beer from Josh's hand and drank a third in two swallows. He imagined he might need the alcoholic support if his suspicions were correct and this was to do with his mom.
"Neil came to see me," Josh said. "He said that as the eldest—" He held up a hand to stop what Jack was about to say, "—he wanted to ask for my blessing because he's going to ask Mom to marry him. He wants you and Beth to do the same thing, so it is all of us."
Jack shifted uncomfortably under their expectant looks. Neil was a good guy, an excellent vet, and he'd done so much with Taylors. He was a career man, with a large house, and it appeared he had money in the bank. His mom was smitten, and Neil was good to her, good with her. It was just the damn twenty-year age gap and the fact that Neil was young enough to be Jack's brother. The thing was Jack had taken on the responsibility of the D and, part of that, was watching out for his mom. He hadn't gone to college like Josh, and Beth was someone who needed care and wasn't able to support as much as she wanted. Which just left him. Maybe he should try and explain he just needed time to adjust?
"Do you want to know what I think?" Beth interrupted his line of thinking in her quiet voice. Jack looked at her expectantly. Beth was always the mediator, the calm one who made sense of things in their family when brotherly testosterone got in the way. Jack nodded, and Josh encouraged her with a "go on".
"Emily loves him," she started. Jack agreed his niece really did have a soft spot for the vet. She smiled at his voice and bit his hair—the whole thing. "And I really like him, and it makes me sad to see Momma alone. Most of all, I trust him."
"I agree with Beth," Josh said simply. Jack looked from one to the other and felt his prejudice melt away under their acceptance of the guy in his mom's life.
"Okay." He pushed his hands into his jeans pockets, and added, "I guess he has my blessing as well."
When they walked back into the kitchen, Donna and Neil were in the middle of a flour fight with a grinning Riley trying to break them apart. Jack couldn't help himself. Seeing his husband dressed in his customary black pants and shirt covered in white handprints and his mom laughing was a good thing to see. He listened even as Neil looked over at the three of them with concern on his face. Josh must have indicated something because suddenly Neil just grabbed Donna's hand and exited stage left to the pantry. It was chaotic with kids and laughter, teasing and food, and no one really noticed when the two came back to the table. Though Donna looked a little flushed and Neil had a grin as wide as the state on his face, no one said a thing. They waited until the turkey was carved and everyone had plates piled high with food. Neil raised his voice above the general chatter.
"We have an announcement," he said clearly, and everyone gradually stopped talking to listen.
Jack felt his stomach churn, and blindly, he reached for Riley's hand under the table. Riley gripped it hard, and Jack sensed his husband looking at him, but he couldn't meet his gaze. Neil stood and encouraged Donna to stand with him. Jack really didn't think he'd seen her ever look so relaxed and happy, and as quickly as butter melted in the sun, his final doubt seemed to melt away too. Riley was tracing a pattern on his palm, and the regular movement was soothing; it grounded him.
"With Josh, Jack, and Beth's blessing, I have asked Donna to marry me." He looked down at her, and she smiled and leaned into his hold. It appeared that collectively the whole family around the table was holding their breath. "She said yes."
The table erupted in cheers. Emily started to cry, and in an instant, Jack scooped her before Beth could get to her. He shook hands with Neil, kissed his mom on the cheek, and hugged her one-armed. He then sat, attempting to eat a full Thanksgiving dinner with a baby asleep on his chest.

When Riley woke, it was to an eerie light through the cracks in the drawn drapes. He blearily extricated himself from Jack's grip to go to the bathroom and, hands washed, he moved to the window. Pulling the drapes, he couldn't hold back his curse of surprise.

Jack shot bolt upright in bed, his eyes staring madly, clearly trying to find the reason for the actual curse as well as the volume. He was fighting sheets one minute, and the next, he was at Riley's side, naked as the day he was born, staring out of the window.

"Holy shit," he repeated Riley's earlier sentiment. "Hayley—"
"Hayley—"
They said it at the same time, and in a flurry of

movement, they were dressed, teeth brushed, and hair pushed back under caps from the back of Jack's closet. Riley reached her room first and crossed straight to her bed. Falling to his knees by her side, he shook her gently, and her tousled head appeared from way under the covers.

"Wha…" was her level of coherency, but as Jack pulled back her drapes and she blearily looked over, it was an instant wake-up call.
"Snow!" she shrieked and rolled out of the covers. Together, they found clothes to wrap her up in.

Riley insisted on four layers; Jack said three was enough. Hayley just wanted a coat over her PJs—desperate to get outside.

Boots finally on, Riley pushed open the mud room door against a heaped deposit of snow, and together, all three took their first steps into the untouched white.

Jack. His husband always had an eye on weather news. "Not at all. Jeez. It never snows here in December.
Last year, we got an inch in February, and it disappeared
overnight. Remember?"
"Santa brought it for me," Hayley whispered
conspiratorially and darted off as quickly as she could. "I
need to see Red," she called over her shoulder. They
followed her at a slower pace, and Riley looked up at
cloudless sky.
"It's going to be gone by tomorrow, isn't it?" "Most likely." They watched from the gate as
Hayley crossed to the barns and started chatting away to
Red.
"Will the horses be okay in the barns?"
"I'll keep an eye out, but yes, they should be fine.
Snow'll be gone by tomorrow, and we can turn them out." "Wanna make a snowman?" Tongue in cheek the
question might have been, but Riley felt a lightness in him
he hadn't felt for weeks when Jack grinned like a kid. "Hayley, want to build a snowman?"
"Coming…"
She ran back to them, her cheeks flushed, and her
eyes bright. They built a snowman, not a particularly big
one, but he looked cute and was nearly the same height as
Hayley. They decorated him with stones and a carrot and
then made snow angels, lying there, laughing like idiots
even when the cold was eating through Riley's jeans. After fresh clothes and coffee and hot chocolate,
they took seats on the sheltered porch, and Riley's world
was complete. His cell vibrated in his pocket, and more out
of habit than desire, he checked the caller.
"Hi, Dad." He smiled as he answered the call. "Like
the snow?"
"I had some disturbing news, Riley." Riley sat up in
his chair, exchanging a worried glance with Jack. "I
received notification on the filed papers for petition of
custody from Sarah and Elliot Anderson. As we thought, it
was rejected, but that isn't what's worrying me. The files
are dated four days ago, and I just got off of the phone with
Sarah. Seems like Elliot isn't handling the news so well.
Had some kind of minor breakdown. He left two days ago, saying he'd get money one way or another. Sarah thought he was blowing off steam, but when he didn't come back
last night, and she checked the gun safe…"
"She thinks he is going to come here and he's
armed?"
"What's wrong?" Jack leaned forward, but Riley
waved him back.
"I don't know. We could call the cops out on him
just in case. But if he's coming out to you to talk, and we
get the authorities involved and then and it gets messy…
Why don't you bring Hayley here or take her to Josh's?" "We will." Riley ended the call and leaned back in
his chair.
"Okay?" Jack asked.
"Hayley, why don't you go get dressed a bit better,
and we'll take you to visit Josh and the kids."
"Yay!" She scrambled down from her seat and
scampered into the house.
"Tell me, Riley."
"Elliot told Sarah he would be getting money one
way or another and left Abilene two days ago with a gun." "Shit, Ri. Do we need to call the cops?"
"Let's just get Hayley to Josh's. She can have a
snow day with the kids. Then we'll come back and deal
with a call to the police."
"You get Hayley situated, I'll check on Taylors and
the foal, and we'll leave in ten, right?"
Jack stood in a flurry of motion, and in seconds, he
was off the porch and away to the barns and the paddocks
behind. Riley didn't waste any time either. The gun cabinet
was open in seconds, and he pulled out a rifle and some
rounds. He was going to meet a gun with a gun if he needed
to.
"Daddy?" Hayley didn't sound concerned. She
clearly just wanted his attention. "Shall I take the cookies
we made yesterday?" Riley was speechless for a second.
He needed to say something. Anything. But all he wanted
to do was scoop Hayley up, dump her in his 4x4, grab Jack,
and leave. This wasn't rational. Elliot was probably holed
up somewhere with whisky, nursing his failure to get
money and all the what-if's in his life. Why would he make
his way to the D? What could he gain from facing down
Riley and Jack with a gun?
"Sorry, baby?" He'd forgotten what she wanted. "The cookies I made with Grandma Donna. Should
we take them?"
"Good idea, sweetheart. Get your bag and we'll grab
them on the way through."
In five minutes, they were out in Riley's 4x4, and
Riley had the engine ticking over warming the inside and letting the heat of the engine clear some of the snow. It was slow going, and Riley checked the time. Jack was taking too long with the horses. They needed to get Hayley over to Josh's as soon as they could. He didn't want her here with a freaking madman on the loose. He tapped his fingers in a
rhythm on the steering wheel.
Come on, come on.
He glanced to the left to the barns, but Jack was
nowhere to be seen.
"Daddy!" Hayley's shriek of fear sent ice down
Riley's spine, and he spun in his seat, the loaded rifle just
out of reach. He recognized Elliot immediately. Elliot stood
right in front of the car holding a snub-nosed revolver and
aiming straight at Hayley. Not him. Hayley. The gun didn't
waver. Elliot's expression was set in stone, and it was clear
what he wanted. The front of his coat was covered in blood,
and there was more blood on his face. Shit. Was that Jack's
blood? Riley was transfixed, utterly unable to think of what
to do and where to turn. Was Jack injured somewhere?
How was he going to get Hayley away from this man?
Should he drive away? Leave Jack… Shit, there was so
much blood on Elliot, but Jack would want him to take
Hayley and drive the fuck away from the D. If anything
happened to Hayley then Jack would hate him for staying. "You want me to go back and finish him?" Elliot
shouted through the window.
Relief flooded through Riley. Jack wasn't dead, but
he was lying injured somewhere. His knuckles whitened on
the steering wheel. Elliot was nearly a foot shorter than
Riley, and it would be easy to use some of that extra body
weight to maybe take the guy out. What if he floored it and
ran the guy down? The gun was still pointing at Hayley,
and Riley wasn't going to risk her life. He wasn't left with
any real choices. "I'm giving you until the count of five,
Hayes."

Riley went through options for a way out of this. None of them made any sense. He glanced over his shoulder, contemplating driving in reverse through the gate and getting Jack in the car and them away before Elliot got a shot in. It wasn't going to happen.

"Four."
"Hayley," Riley said loud enough so she could hear over her sobs. "I'm getting out of the car, and I want you to stay in here."
"No, Daddy." She gripped his arm tight, and the number "three" echoed into the car as Elliot kept counting.
"Hayley, I need you to do this for me. As soon as I leave the car, you press the button to lock the doors again. Can you see it? The car symbol?"
"Daddy—"
"Can you see it, Hayley?"
"I can."
"Two. Hayes, get out of the car."
"Lock the doors and stay inside whatever happens."
"Daddy?"
"Will you do that for me, baby?"
"I will, but, D-daddy, don't die—"
Riley looked direct into brown eyes swimming in tears and saw the naked fear within them. He pasted his best reassuring smile on his face.
"I won't die, Hayley. I promise you. I love you; Pappa loves you too."
"One, Hayes."
In a smooth move, Riley was out of the car, his feet on the ground and the door shut behind him. He heard the snick of the locks, and at least for now, his daughter was safe.
"What the hell, Elliot?" he said brusquely. Putting Elliot on the defensive could possibly be a good move but might also be a bad one. "You're not taking Hayley."
"I don't want Hayley." Elliot laughed sharply, the abrupt noise dripping with madness. He appeared momentarily unfocused,and for an instant, Riley wondered if perhaps the man had left prison with one too many habits he couldn't break. "I just want money. You have money." Elliot displayed the absolute logic of a man on the edge. "Sarah won't go for taking Hayley, so I'm comin' direct to the bank so to speak."
"I don't have money here." Riley injected as much calm as he could into his voice while, inside, his heart was nearly beating out of his chest. Elliot was two paces away, not close enough for Riley to make an attempt to grab at the gun. Considering his glassy-eyed disorientation, Elliot remained lucid enough to hold the weapon with an absolute, solidly horizontal aim.
"Do I look stupid?" When Riley didn't answer, Elliot repeated himself. "Do. I. Look. Fucking. Stupid?" The gun wavered a bit, and Riley retreated until his back was against the car door.
"No."
"I have an account. I want you to transfer over what I need."
Relief flooded through Riley. He could do that. He moved and felt the weight of his cell in his pocket. Shit. He should have given that to Hayley. God, did she even know how to use a cell?
"Get in the house." Elliot's harsh voice broke into his thoughts, and he snapped back to see Elliot gesturing with the gun, indicating Riley should go first. As he turned to go around the car, he caught sight of Hayley's face and her eyes wide with fear. Fuck. If he got his hands around Elliot's neck, he would surely squeeze the life out of him for scaring Hayley like this.
He would kill him.