Chapter 17 - A Peaceful Chaos
Chapter 17
A Peaceful Chaos
Andi had no idea what Danny’s family farm would look like. Somewhere between Little House on the Prairie and Heartland. Probably a nice house where six kids could grow up and a barn or two for animals. Horses, cattle, chickens, pigs, things like that.
Her mind kept naming critters as the deputy drove. Rats, snakes, fire ants, huge spiders, wild boars, and who knows what else. Suddenly the guys in the trees at Digger’s cabin didn’t seem so bad. But spiders and snakes didn’t carry guns. The ranches of drug lords in South America were more like forts than farms or ranches. Pop took her to see live volcanos when she was a kid. She’d ridden the rapids and swum in every ocean. She’d climbed rock walls at twelve and mapped caves that would have been completely black without flashlights, but Pop seemed to have left out farms and ranches from her education.
That was not what she saw when they pulled into the Davis headquarters. It was more like a small town. “You’re rich?” she asked.
“Nope,” he answered low. “In good years we build. In bad years we survive and the bank carries us. Farmers are always one storm away from trouble.”
Digger was halfway to the big white house’s back door by the time the pickup stopped rattling.
Danny jumped out, held the pickup door and offered her a hand. “You want to walk, or I could carry you over my shoulder?”
“Don’t ever do that again.”
She climbed out but she didn’t take the hand he offered.
He chuckled as they followed Digger. “If I ever do anything you do like, let me know.”
One step inside the back door, Danny knelt on one knee. “Give me your boots.”
She thought of a dozen reasons why she should refuse that request. She couldn’t run without shoes. Farmers never tracked dirt in the house. Maybe everybody takes off their shoes like they do in some countries.
Then she saw the rubber rug. Dirty boots lined up just inside the house. The first room was a mudroom.
It felt strange as he pulled one boot off, then the other. It was something practical to keep the house clean, but also somehow sexy. His hand holding her calf firmly. She touched his shoulder for balance. His sunshine-red curls brushed her hand. For a moment when he looked up, it seemed she could read his thoughts. Danny must have thought the simple gesture was suddenly alluring as hell because he winked at her.
Andi smiled knowing they were thinking the same thing.
All at once she heard screams. She reached for a weapon. Before she could locate one, three preschoolers attacked Dan. He tried to get his boots off as they climbed over him, showing no mercy.
One yelled, “We’re coyotes, Uncle Danny, and you are supper.”
Dan had one under his arm as he held the other two off. “Well, boys, I’m not dinner.”
The second wild creature went under the same arm while Andi just watched. The deputy grabbed the third kid’s leg and carried him upside-down.
Number two wiggled free and started fighting his uncle’s leg like it was a punching bag.
Dan picked up the escaping boy by the back of his belt and moved toward the big yellow kitchen with open windows letting in fresh air.
The boys’ shouts, complaints, and giggles were just background noise to Danny’s question. “Mom, when are these coyotes going to be old enough to go to school?”
A lady in her fifties was putting platters of food on a long table. “They start kindergarten next September.” Her hair was red with a brush of white and her cheeks were kissed by sunshine. She turned to Andi and smiled. “And you must be Andi. The lady my son is watching over.”
Dan was sitting the coyotes in their chairs and tying them in with apron strings. Then he turned to the kind woman who managed to look proper in jeans and a plaid shirt and said, “Mom, I’d like you to meet Andi. We had a little trouble and thought she’d be safer here. You got room for a few more at the table?”
“Always,” she said as she moved about the kitchen.
The lady smiled at Andi and frowned at Digger as if Dan let in flies. “The bedrooms upstairs are full but we’ll make room.”
Dan grinned. “Digger just came along for the ride. Feed him. He saved us tonight.” The look he gave his mother silently said details later.
She nodded in understanding. “Your father is on the water downstream, fishing with the sheriff. He said to tell you they caught three.”
He nodded once, letting his mother know he understood her code.
Dan’s mother welcomed her as if she was a neighbor who just dropped by.
Andi watched as a woman looking nine months pregnant waddled in. She said hello to Andi, kissed all three boys, smiled at Dan and ignored Digger.
Dan pulled his sister Summer’s chair out and did the same for Andi. She thought of telling him that wasn’t necessary, but she had a feeling it was, in this house. He patted Andi’s shoulder as if he knew she was feeling a little awkward with all this family. Dan stood until he pulled a chair for his mother. The tablecloth might be faded and everything was in the room to be useful, but the manners were woven into everyday life.
The deputy sat between his sister and Andi, and let his leg brush Andi’s. She didn’t move again. In a strange way she was growing used to his touch. There was no flirting, no advances, just a solid touch as if to remind her she was safe, protected.
By the time a few other siblings came in, introduced themselves and sat down, the table was full. Food and conversation flowed freely. Some talk was about the business, but mostly just family things. The grown brothers told stories about each other and the little ones played a game kicking one another under the table. Apparently, who yelled out first lost. At least Andi thought that was the game. When she was growing up they were usually just a family of two, or three, if her father made it home. Dinner was always eaten in front of the news and none of her family kicked.
A tall man came in as everyone else was finishing dinner. The older version of Danny kissed the cook. He looked at his son next to Andi and nodded. Introducing himself as Rod Davis, Danny’s father had hair as white as snow. He made no comment about fishing but did welcome all the guests.
After the meal, everyone helped clean up while Rod Davis ate, and then the couples paired up. Danny’s parents went out to the front porch to watch the sunset. Summer and her husband were living upstairs with their triplets until the baby came. They disappeared to give baths and get the little coyotes to bed. Digger ate the last piece of cake off the serving plate while saying he thought he’d sleep over at the bunkhouse since there was always an empty bunk or two.
Danny’s mom smiled at the old man. “I keep your bunk made up. Thanks for helping the kids.” She pointed at Digger. “If you get up before seven, eat with the cowhands or sleep in and eat over here at eight.”
“Any chance I can make both?”
Everyone laughed and Danny’s mom smiled.
Dan’s cell rang. He straightened as he answered, then stepped outside.
Andi followed. In the still night she could hear both ends of the conversation.
“You got her somewhere safe?”
“I did.”
“Good. I finally found two of her brothers.” The sheriff’s voice came out clear in the night. “They were fishing and out of cell range the last few days. They said they’d be in by midmorning. Rusty said he’d meet her but he’s got questions and she’d better have proof. He said he wouldn’t tell Zach. The kid has had enough letdowns in his life.”
Dan answered, “I understand. I’ll keep her safe tonight. It’s been a long day. No telling what might happen tomorrow.”
“You need me to send backup?”
“Nope. I’ve got Digger to keep watch over her while I check the gates. I’ll give him a sleeping bag and put him in the side doorway of the barn where she’ll be. He can be on lookout until midnight. Anyone who wants to hurt my charge will have to climb over Digger and get past me.”
Andi backed into the shadows as the sheriff told Danny where they’d meet tomorrow. She didn’t care what they said; she’d be gone long before daylight. She made a habit of running when trouble grew close. Now that trouble had found her, she’d be smart to put off meeting her brothers.
Surprisingly she felt an ache in her chest. Brothers, she almost said aloud.
Just as Danny finished the call, she disappeared into the kitchen once again.
Dan’s mom made sure that Andi had everything she needed for the night. A toothbrush, a cotton gown, socks, and a shotgun. She walked Andi over to the barn that Dan occupied when he came home to Honey Creek, while he settled Digger downstairs with the horses. If anyone opened the barn side door, they’d trip over the old guy. If the big barn door swung open it would wake anyone in the place, including all the horses.
Before Andi could climb the rough steps to Dan’s barn bedroom, Summer, Dan’s very pregnant sister, popped by to tell Andi that Danny and her husband were checking the ranch gates.
Digger was already snoring downstairs. Summer said the horses were complaining about the noise.
As Dan’s sister opened the side door, Andi realized she was safe for the night. She could take a shower. She wouldn’t be bothered. Danny would be on the landing soon, half a stairway away.
“See you at breakfast,” the deputy’s sister added. “I know this is his job but I think you are the first girl he’s brought home.”
Summer was gone with a wave. Andi stepped on the loft floor and looked around at a space that looked more like an apartment than a barn. It appeared she wouldn’t be running tonight. She had no worry about locked gates, but she wanted to see her brothers even if just for a moment. Reason told her to run and disappear, but her longing for a family told her to stay.
When she was little, she used to dream of having brothers. In her mind she’d have adventures with them. Rusty must be the oldest. Zach was still a boy.
Perfect names, she thought.
She walked around Danny’s place as she murmured her brothers’ names.
A big desk was covered with manuals and two computers. It reminded her of the tech room at the Dallas Police Department. Books were stacked around the desk like a moat.
Over by the huge window was a king-size bed. Another huge window on the side of the loft opened out, and she could see the moon shining bright. Five feet of cabinets served as a kitchen on one side, and a bathroom on the other side along with what had to be a closet without a door.
The place seemed to be in organized chaos, designed for a big man, but this was not his home. No pictures. No plants or memorabilia. She opened the refrigerator. Bottled water, butter, ketchup, and various containers of what she assumed to be his mother’s great food.
In the open spaces around his apartment were boxes. Some had his name on them; some had other names. One read OLD TOYS. Another PUZZLES. Several were labeled BOOKS.
Her deputy didn’t live here; he was part of the storage. He wasn’t living . . . he was waiting, almost as if in limbo . . . but why?
Her sharp brain began to put together the pieces of the deputy she’d collected so far:
A month’s stack of mail he hadn’t read. Not interested.
A dozen novels by his bed. He couldn’t sleep.
A whiskey glass full of rattlesnake tails on a shelf of Western novels. He hated rattlesnakes.
A pocket-sized picture of a girl about twenty, worn and nailed to the inside of a cabinet.
Andi moved closer. The picture was so faded it seemed taken in shadow. Curled on the corners and at eye level so he could look at it every time he passed by. Not framed. Not cherished. This picture must only be a reminder.
She guessed. A lost love? A dream he’d once had?
Half a dozen books were open and left half read. It seemed the deputy never finished anything here. What was he waiting on?
Andi guessed something stopped him from leaving the nest, or he came back here on purpose. The saying she’d thought of earlier came back again. Sometimes home isn’t a place. It’s a person. Maybe he lost that person, and he ran back to the nest.
From the looks of it, the deputy hadn’t found his place in the world. He’d been a football player, a firefighter, and now something brought him home.
A single tear drifted down her cheek. They were a strange pair, she thought. He couldn’t find his place and she’d never had a place where she belonged.
“Are you settling in okay?”
She swiped at her eyes as Danny’s voice cut through the silence.
“I’m fine.” She gestured at the scattered mess of his room, hoping to distract him. “Are you moving in or moving out?”
Dan barked out a laugh. “Come on, let’s go for a ride. I’ll show you. I’ve got to double check the locks anyway.”
Once they were in the pickup, neither one said a word. After a few miles, Andi made out the frame of a three-story house sitting next to a spring. A widow’s walk wrapped around the top floor, and she imagined the owner would be able to see in every direction. No one would ever surprise Danny in this house.
Dan stopped the truck and said softly, “Someday I’ll be moving out here. This is the beginning of my goal.”
He stepped out of the pickup and offered Andi his hand. Two steps later they were running toward the someday house.
As they moved through the rooms, Danny didn’t let go of her hand, and for the first time excitement shone in his eyes. He smiled, showing her every room in the layout of the house.
She could almost see the end product in all the wood and concrete. They moved through the rooms and she could imagine the home. The living room, the patio, the bedrooms. A huge fireplace, handmade with river rocks that had been placed with care. Oversized windows in every room.
As they walked through the frames of doorways, Andi noticed they were all seven feet tall. In the kitchen and bathroom, the sinks were waist high on her. She could see herself in the mirrors that usually cut the top of her head off. And as she moved through Danny’s space she could see that this was a home made for tall people.
“There are so many rooms in this house.” Andi laughed.
“Yea, I’m planning for a bunch of little Davises running around.”
Andi wondered what a big family would be like. Kids running up and down the stairs. Laughter everywhere.
“I can almost feel the love and laughter that’ll be here,” she whispered.
As they moved upward, to the third floor, she saw the master bedroom. It was one room, a large bathroom to the side and a shower tall enough to fit her. She stopped in front of a huge window as large as the one in Danny’s barn.
Her deputy stepped up behind her and gently put his hand around her waist. “I wanted to feel like I was a part of nature, to be able to see the land from all sides.”
Andi stared out into the night. The moon shone high in the sky and she saw the stream beside the house and oak trees that would grow with the family over the years.
She searched for any sign of civilization. “I’ve lost my sense of direction. Where is this on your land? Is it in the center or on the far west side? Where is it?”
When she was a little girl and traveling the world with her father, he’d taught her to find her markers so she would always know where she was. And right now she couldn’t see anything. All she knew was that Danny was with her, and it felt right.
Dan stepped closer and moved his hand up her back. He slowly ran one hand over her shoulders and said, “If your back was a map, this would be north.” His hand trailed slowly down to her waist. “This would be south.” His fingers brushed along her side. “East,” he whispered. His palm moved back across the other side. “West.”
He moved his hand gently, stopping in the center of her back. “This is where my home is. In the center. My home is in the middle of the ranch so I can see the dawn and the sunset for the rest of my life.”
She shivered. Her whole body seemed cold except where his hand rested gently.
He stepped away and Andi almost yelled out in protest. But a second later he wrapped her in the flannel shirt he’d been wearing and pulled her into him. The warmth of his body heat welcomed her. He leaned forward and she felt his words against her ear.
“Are you warmer now?”
She turned in the circle of his arms so she could see his face. They’d been in gun fights, five-year-old coyote fights, and they’d run for their lives. And not once had her deputy made a move on her. It was about time she took matters into her own hands.
Slowly she pressed her lips to his, barely touching him. He seemed to turn to stone. He didn’t object but he wasn’t participating. She decided she’d better try again. Full on assault.
She kissed him full out. Danny didn’t defend himself. He surrendered. His arms tightened around her as he lifted her off the ground.
For the first time in Danny’s life he was in the center of his family’s land and he had no idea where he was. It took his whole brain to find his bearings as Andi pulled away. Every cell in his body wanted to pull her back. He saw a different kind of fire in her eyes, one he never wanted to lose. In that instant he knew he was addicted to that glow. He wanted more. He needed more.
He just stared at her. Neither one of them seemed to be able to say anything. Finally he whispered, “Let me show you one last room.”
Danny grabbed her hand as easily as if they’d been lovers for years. He took her to the last room in the house. This one room looked like an office space without windows.
“What’s this?” Andi asked.
“I can’t tell you much about what I really do. I have another job that only the Texas Rangers know about. I’m not just a deputy. They call me the Wizard, and I search for the bad guys on the internet.”
His honest eyes focused on her. “I can’t tell you everything.”
Andi smiled and said, “Let’s save this conversation for when we’re naked. Right now we’ve got a lot on our plates.”
Danny grinned. “You mean there’s a future between us?”
She didn’t say a word, but he saw the fire in her eyes and knew there would be.