Chapter 6
He opened the door just enough to see him sprawled belly down on top of the bed, still wearing his jeans and socks.
He shook his head and smiled at the sight of Gunner’s broad back and his long legs, with his feet hanging off the end of the bed.
All of his sons had his height and thick black hair, only now, Jacob’s hair was a thatch of silver gray, and he didn’t stand as tall as he used to.
He picked up a blanket and spread it over him, like he’d done when he was a boy.
He’d known the moment he’d seen his son’s face that there was something off. But he’d find out tomorrow. Tonight, Gunner needed to sleep.
* * *
Holly woke up with a gasp, her heart pounding.
The sound of her mother’s scream was already fading from memory, but there was no way she could go back to sleep.
From the moment she’d learned of her mother’s accident, her greatest horror had been believing Helen had seen death coming too late to escape.
Learning that she had passed before impact was an odd relief.
Now she just had to reset her emotions to a new reality and hope for no more nightmares.
Her bedroom window was up enough to hear coyotes howling nearby, and to hear a horse nicker disapproval. They had new foals in the area. She didn’t know if her dad was awake or not, but it wouldn’t be the first time she had shot at coyotes to run them off.
She traded her pajamas for jeans and a T-shirt, stepped into a pair of sneakers, and headed down the hall when a door opened behind her. Travis had come out of his bedroom in a pair of ratty green gym shorts—the same shorts he’d been wearing to bed for the last four years.
“What are you doing up?”
“Bad dream, then I heard coyotes. I just wanted to make sure the foals were all okay,” she said.
“Dad’s already out there,” Travis said.
Holly sighed as she thrust her fingers in her hair to comb the wayward curls away from her face. “I should have known, but I can’t go back to bed yet. Feel like raiding the fridge?”
Travis grinned. “I could eat. Give me a sec to get a shirt,” he said and ducked back into his room. He came out moments later wearing a T-shirt wrong-side out, with his hair sticking up like a rooster comb.
Holly grinned. Except for his height, he looked like he did when he was twelve.
“How about ice cream?” Holly asked.
“I’ll get the spoons,” he said and slid his arm across her shoulder as they headed for the kitchen.
The moment she opened the freezer, she didn’t hesitate at the choice. There were three cartons in the freezer, but rocky road ice cream had solved a world of troubles when they were growing up. Maybe a little cold and sweet treat would take away the bad memory of her dream.
For a few moments, they ate without talking, using their spoons like swords, taking swipes at each other’s eating territory trying to get the clump of marshmallow, or the nut poking up from the surface before the other one could get it, just like they’d done when she still lived at home.
Then Travis surprised her and leaned back, letting her have the good bite.
“I’m really glad you’re here, Sis. Sorry for the reason why, but I’ve missed you,” he said.
The bite of ice cream was melting on her tongue when she looked up and swallowed. “I should have come home more often. I wish I had now, for sure.”
“No way,” Travis said. “It’s a hell of a long drive from here to Dallas, and you’re on the far side of the city, to boot.
You have a job with a lot of responsibilities, and we’re all proud of you.
Mom especially. We won’t hear or see her anymore, but she gave us the best life, and more love than a lot of people ever get in a lifetime. Right?”
“When did you become the grown-up in this family?” she asked.
He grinned. “I just finally caught up with the rest of you.”
“You’re going to love college,” Holly said. “I’ll help you get settled, and Dad and I will always be your best backup.”
“Can I ask you something?” Travis said.
“Sure, anything. My life is an open book,” she said.
“When you’re not at work, what do you do for fun?”
“Oh… I… Uh…” She frowned. “Well, I meet friends for lunch sometimes, but I’m around people all day long, and most of them are complaining about what’s missing in the houses I’m showing them, or my boss is throwing a fit because a house someone just sold doesn’t have a clear title.
That’s also part of my job, researching that stuff and filing all the paperwork to clear it.
So, I do like my quiet evenings at home. ”
He nodded and pointed at the pint of ice cream between them. “You gonna eat that last bite?”
She pushed it toward him. Travis scooped out the last big bite and stuffed it in his mouth. “So, I’m hearing no boyfriend, no significant other,” he said.
She frowned. “Don’t talk with your mouth full.”
He laughed and was still smiling when Garrett walked in.
“What’s going on?” he asked.
“Bad dreams, good brothers, and ice cream,” Holly said. “Is everything okay out there? I heard coyotes.”
“All clear,” Garrett said. “Is there any ice cream left for me?”
“In the freezer,” Holly said and wondered when Gunner was coming to Crossroads. Hopefully, before she left. Life was so much simpler here. Sitting at a table with him in the Yellow Rose would have been almost like a date. Not just lunch with an old friend.
She’d been so elated to run into him again, and then all of this happened.
She felt a bit like she had when she was a kid, watching him getting on the bus and leaving for Dallas.
She’d been too young for him to see her in that way, but their chance meeting at the supermarket felt like a gift, and then their early dinner at the taqueria—the fancy bow.
She hadn’t felt that happy and carefree in forever.
He made that promise not to forget her, but the wreck happened and she left Dallas. Now they were a world apart and in limbo. The timing was all wrong again. There wasn’t one fair thing about any of this.
Her dad came to the table with a spoon and another pint of ice cream.
His voice was a little shaky, but he was smiling.
“Strawberry, in honor of my sweet lady,” he said, then took the lid off the little carton and dug out his first bite and popped it in his mouth.
“So, what were you two talking about?” he asked.
“Holly’s lack of a social life,” Travis said.
Garrett watched Holly’s cheeks turning pink. “I suspect there’s more than she’s willing to talk about.”
Holly shrugged. “Actually, I ran into Gunner Kingston in Whole Foods the same day I left Dallas. He took me to a local taqueria for an early dinner… Sort of a catch-up reunion. He promised to stay in touch, but then I left. He called me the day after I got home. I told him what had happened. He was shocked and very sympathetic. Sent his condolences to all of us, and said he’d see me when he came to Crossroads. ”
Travis’s eyes widened, and then he held up his hands in a gesture of surrender. “Okay, officially minding my own business now. And I got a text from Lee’s girlfriend, Trish. The Peters family is moving away. They’re taking Lee’s body to Tulsa to bury. I think that’s where both families still live.”
Garrett nodded. “I heard that, and Helen’s services are this coming Saturday at the Baptist Church in Crossroads. The pastor said the Ladies Aide has graciously offered to provide the food for family and friends afterward.”
Holly was silent, contemplating what was ahead of her—like a thousand handshakes and hugs, and “so sorry for your loss.” Her mother and father had grown up here. People loved them. It was friends wanting to show their respect. But it was going to be a hard day, for sure.
She waited until her dad put the ice cream back in the freezer, then got up and gave him a quick hug.
“I’m going back to bed. I don’t get up before daybreak unless I have to.”
* * *
Gunner woke with a start, thinking he’d overslept and was going to be late for work, then rolled over in bed, saw the Coors Beer nightlight and remembered he was home, and Dixon was supposed to be calling off his dogs. He glanced at the clock. Fifteen minutes to 5:00 a.m.
He could hear water running across the hall and guessed Pearl was getting ready to go to the Yellow Rose to start her day, which meant Dad was probably still asleep.
Their working hours made it difficult for both of them to spend quality time together, but he also knew that after all the years of them being apart, they were grateful for whatever time they had now.
Gunner wanted that kind of forever love, but he’d never let his guard down enough to let a woman into his world. He thought of Holly again and wondered what was happening at the ranch, and where they were in the process of autopsies and funerals.
He would call her later to let her know he was here. Then he remembered the list of names from Homicide that he was supposed to send to Asher to check out. Back in Dallas, he would have rolled over and gone back to sleep, but not here. Daybreak in Crossroads was nothing short of holy.
Without hesitating, he put on his boots, put the shirt back on he’d worn yesterday, and left it unbuttoned as he walked out the kitchen door and into the backyard. He took a few steps more and then turned to face the east.
Standing within the silence of the sleepy little town, he watched as the sky began to turn from dark to light, slowly coloring the vast horizon to introduce a new day.
Just as the first flash of sun topped the horizon, Pearl emerged and saw him, a tall, unmoving silhouette against the sky. But instead of getting in her car and hustling up the highway to her café, she walked up beside him.
“It never gets old, does it, baby?”
Gunner slid his hand across her shoulder. “No, ma’am. It does not.”