Real World, page 24
“Stepping daddy?”
“Yes. Dixon had her, but Audie picked her.”
“Like you! Dan-Dan is my stepping daddy! Does Emma know? Does Randi?”
“I think so, kiddo.” Weldon was working hard not to howl with laughter.
“Then he still has to get Emma a horsey if she buys him.”
Dan was looking at Caleb like the little boy had grown a second head.
“Here, let me have him. Mel, grab plates. Dan, finish pulling out the kolaches.”
“You want sweet, Mel? I know Weldon wants jalapeno sausage.”
“I want pecan if that’s an option.”
Like he wouldn’t have put in a slew of the pecan rolls. All Mel’s grandchildren were addicts.
“You got it.” Dan slung kolache like a pro, and Caleb fell to his as if he was starving.
Just watching his lover and his mother-in-law laughing hysterically together over an exploding cherry kolache made Weldon’s day infinitely better.
Whatever happened, he had this. He had his family, and they’d deal with this whole Boyd thing.
Even if dealing with it did require hiding a body.
Chapter Thirty-One
“EMMA, I swear to God, if you season my soup one more time when I’m not looking, I will go wicked witch on your heinie and stuff you in the oven with the crescent rolls.”
Dan had found that dealing with Emma when her dad wasn’t around occasionally required domestic terrorism.
He’d already added a potato, another box of chicken stock, and a tablespoon of sugar. Thank God for his mom and her cell phone.
“I’m helping!”
“You would be helping if I asked you to add anything. Doing it just to watch me make faces when I taste the soup? Not so much.” Dan zoomed over to the stove and plucked Emma up, then swung her around in circles.
Emma’s laugh filled the air, joyous as anything he’d ever heard. He loved all the kids, but Emma and Caleb were special somehow, closer to his heart.
He could see that with Weldon and Kenzie too, he thought. That distance from other kids, the need to spend a good amount of time in the workshop, with music and space and solitude.
Neither his lover nor Miss Kenzie would be suited to the service, that was for sure. A man was never alone there.
Maddie was a fascinating cross between the two, and Jakob, well, right now he was about as isolated as a kid could be. Not that Dan felt sorry for him. Not as hurt as Weldon had been.
The grounding was over as of tomorrow, and they were talking together, Weldon telling Jakob details about Krista, about Jakob’s early days. It fascinated Dan, humbled him too, because he couldn’t have done it—taken the weight of responsibility for a disabled infant at nineteen, started a family, and built a business and a home without a rudder.
Weldon told the stories with joy, though, and with a simple pride that made Dan smile.
“No more seasoning, okay? We need to eat soon.” Dan kissed the top of Emma’s head.
“I promise. Bowls and little plates?”
“Yes, ma’am.” They would have a little feast.
“Is Daddy really going to stop and get ice cream for dessert?”
Caleb’s head popped up from over the back of the chair. “Ice cream!”
“No standing in the chair, Caleb,” Dan said automatically. “Does your daddy lie to you?”
“Never.” That was sure and immediate.
“Then there will be ice cream. Jakob has to get done with his lesson….” Dan frowned when he heard a diesel pull up outside. “Y’all stay here. Don’t touch the stove.”
“I’ll watch it, Dan-Dan.” Maddie came in, adjusting her new glasses. “I got my homework done.”
“Thanks, honey.” Dan headed outside. He wasn’t expecting anyone, and that wasn’t Weldon’s truck. Or Audie’s.
It belched enough smoke to pollute a small county and had been in enough fender benders to scream “Hi! I drive like a drunken idiot!”
Dan stood on the porch and folded his arms, staring.
He would have known who the son of a bitch was, no question. Jakob was his spitting image. Well, if Jakob were a trashy, missing teeth, skinny, meth-addict type, that was.
“What can I do you for?” Dan asked.
“’M looking for my son.”
“Can’t help you there. You sure you got the right place?” Dan stared the guy right in the eye when he advanced toward the porch. Nothing about this asshat scared him. After staring down men fighting for their way of life over the barrel of an assault rifle? One redneck asshole seemed puny.
“Look. I’m here to talk to my boy. Jakob. You know him? Blind kid, looks just like me? He’s my son, and I want—”
“Who the fuck gives a shit what you want, asshole?” The sound of a rifle cocking was sharp—almost as cutting as Mel’s voice. “Get off my land. Now.”
Okay, now, a granny with a gun? That was scary. Dan checked her line of fire. Yeah, if she missed, she’d hit Boyd’s truck. Good deal.
Boyd’s eyes widened. “You’re Krista’s momma.”
“I am.” Mel chuckled. “And I love Jakob’s actual dad to death. You get on.”
Dan nodded. “I’d listen to her if I were you. She’s fierce.”
Boyd opened his mouth, and Mel took a step closer, the barrel of that rifle not wavering one bit. “You made my baby girl cry, asshole. I will never forget that. One.”
“I think she’s serious, man.”
“Two.”
“He called me!” Boyd blustered, but he was backing up, opening his truck door. “He wanted to see me. Ain’t my fault no one gives him any attention.”
The single shot had Dan ducking and Boyd jumping in his truck and peeling out like the hounds of hell were after him, which really….
“Remind me never to piss you off, Mel.” His heart was beating a million miles a minute, his ears ringing like church bells.
“It’s a good thing to remember. Get back in the house, Emma. Right now.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
The front door clicked shut.
Dan grinned at Mel. “You gonna put that down now? You’re giving me flashbacks. I made soup.”
“I like soup.” Her eyes filled with tears. “I forgot how much of a kickback this old thing has. I haven’t had to fire it in years. Plumb wrenched my shoulders.”
“Here.” Dan slipped down the stairs and held out his hand, relieved when she handed him the .22 rifle. “Great varmint gun.” He put his free arm around her.
“It is. Was my husband’s.” She took a deep breath. “There enough soup for one more? I could use a sit and possibly a beer.”
“I made a triple batch, thanks to Emma. Unexpected potatoes and more chicken stock.” He would lock the gun in the office he and Weldon shared now.
“Oh, Jesus. That child will be the death of someone, sure as shit.”
“Yep. I predict she grows up to be a chuck wagon cook on a ranch.”
“Wouldn’t that be something? I bet she’d love it.”
“She so would. She cracks me up.” Dan guided Mel inside, where a ring of frightened faces waited for them. “I need to put this away, guys. Maddie, can you show Mel where we are on supper?”
“Uh-huh. Are you okay, Granny?”
Emma followed him down the hall. “Do you know where the gun safe is, Dan-Dan?”
“Nope. Show me?” The keys would be in Weldon’s desk with the safe keys, he’d bet.
“Okay, but you can’t show Kenzie or the baby. This is serious. People can get hurt with guns. People can die.” So solemn.
“They sure can. I saw a lot of people mistreat guns in the Army. You have to respect them.”
“Uh-huh. You don’t play with them.” She brought him into the office. “The keys are in the safe. You have to know the numbers.”
“Thank you.” He could do that.
“Okay. I will leave you. You promise to lock it away, right?”
“I totally promise. Go help your gran. She needs a hug.” And a beer, which he would get her too.
“Good man.” For a second, she sounded so much like Weldon it made him dizzy.
Dan shook it off, because he had to get shit done. He needed to get the kids fed. He needed to get Mel a beer. He needed Weldon to come home.
He locked the rifle in the gun safe, and as soon as he put away the keys, a wave of nausea swept over him. Okay. Okay, no puking.
Was this what life was here? Was this fucking normal?
Dan breathed deep, his ears ringing. Get a grip, soldier, he told himself. Get. A. Grip.
He shook, his palms slick with sweat, the taste of metal in his mouth.
“Dan-Dan?” Maddie made him jump, her hand on his back. “Are you okay?”
“I. Yes. Yes, sure, honey. I’m sorry.”
“Are you sick? I can…. Do you want a cold rag?”
“That would be a huge help. I just got a little adrenaline rush, you know?” God these kids were good people, like their daddy.
“Uh-huh. Those guns are super loud, and you don’t imagine the stink, but ew.” He heard her running water, and then she was back, the cold, wet rag in her hands.
“Yeah.” He got a smile going, tough as it was. “Sorry I’m delaying supper.”
“We gotta wait for Daddy and Jakob, and Caleb won’t eat the soup because, hello! Emma! Granny Mel’s feeding him peanut butter and crackers.”
Dan laughed. “Well, that’s his favorite thing ever. Come on, hon.”
“’Kay. The soup is good. Really. I like it.”
“Thank you.” He hugged her to his side as they walked. “You’re a star, you know that?”
“I totally rock.” She elbowed him in the ribs. “Come have a Coke.”
“That sounds great.” It did too. Familiar. Fizzy.
The kitchen seemed warm, comforting. Perfectly normal, thank God.
Caleb brought him a cracker immediately, sliming his shirt with peanut butter. “Appetitzees, Dan-Dan.”
“Indeed. Thank you, Caleb. You are a gentleman and a scholar.”
“Love you, Dan-Dan.” Caleb beamed for him, and the last of the stress reaction fell away.
“I love you, baby boy.” Peanut butter and all.
Maybe especially because of it.
Chapter Thirty-Two
“HE COULD sue for custody. He won’t win, but he can try.”
The lawyer’s words echoed in Weldon, but he set his teeth against them. That bastard wanted Jakob’s SSI; Weldon had no doubt that was Boyd the Asshole’s plan.
Over his fucking dead body. Weldon was going to fight tooth and nail.
He screamed obscenities at the top of his lungs as he drove, letting the stress out with the foulest language he knew, alphabetically. He swung onto the road to Audie’s place, ready to pick Jakob up from his guitar lesson.
He slung gravel when he parked, his truck rocking on its springs.
Audie was out in the pasture, working horses, and he got a wave when he pulled up. Weldon nodded and got out of the truck to go stand by the fence for a second.
“You look like a thundercloud, buddy,” Audie said after moving close, the sweet little mare he rode tossing her head.
“I’m fixin’ to rain down hellfire and brimstone, man. I swear to God. I just come from the lawyer’s.”
Audie winced. “Ah, fuck-a-doodle-doo.”
“Yes. That sums it up real well.” Weldon sighed and cracked his neck. “I hope I don’t have to pay that man a retainer. His consultation wasn’t cheap.”
“Shit, you ever known a lawyer that was cheap?”
“Do I look like the kind of guy that knows lawyers?”
“Nope.” Audie chuckled. “Custody shit is…. Man, it guts you.”
“You know, I know. He’s a meth head, man, after the money Jakob brings. When he finds out that I’m going to threaten him for all the back child support for fifteen years’ worth, he’ll cut and run.”
“Of course he will. That was how it was with Grainger’s momma’s family. They knew we had land, and they thought they could get something out of me. When they found out the judge wanted them to help support Grainger, they signed away everything.”
“There’s not even any proof Jakob’s his. They have to force Jakob to give a DNA sample, then run the tests, then start any proceedings.” Getting a court order to make a blind kid give DNA to a meth addict would surely be expensive on Boyd’s end.
“I told him I’d just give him the DNA, Dad. What would it hurt? To prove he’s my biological father?” Jakob and Pepper stood in the breezeway between studio and house, with Dixon right beside, looking horrified.
Weldon thought maybe Jakob was trying to kill him. Really. That was the only excuse for this kid’s actions. “You’re not of age to do that without my permission, son. So no, you will not.”
“Why are you so hung up on hating on him? He didn’t even know about me. So what if he wants to know me now?”
“Get in the goddamn truck.” Weldon was about seven seconds from losing his shit.
“Dad.”
“No. Now.” He shot Audie a look. “Sorry. Dix, ditto. Come on, Jakob.”
Audie nodded, making the universal “call me” hand signal.
Weldon nodded shortly, then moved to get Pepper loaded after Jakob climbed stiffly into the passenger seat. His jaw hurt from clenching it so hard.
He pulled out and headed down the road, repeating one plus one is two, over and over and over again.
“Dad. Dad, we have to talk about this.”
“Okay.” God, not now. “Talk.”
“He’s a neat guy. You’d probably like him, huh? He’s a musician like me. He plays guitar. I want to invite him over for supper. I want you to meet him.”
Weldon was going to kill something. Probably Boyd.
“Jakob, I think you’re very naive. This guy is a criminal. A drug addict. He’s been to jail for assault.” Weldon knew how to look up shit too.
“So, he made some mistakes. Haven’t you?”
“Of course I have. I also know he left your mom at the worst time he could. I never, ever made that mistake.”
“No. Why did you do it?”
“Do what?”
“Why did you get with her? You knew she was pregnant with me.”
“I loved her.” Simple as that.
“What? Just you saw her and you were in love?”
“Pretty much. I didn’t know that’s what it was. I knew that I couldn’t let her cry any more. I knew that I would do anything to make her smile.”
“And now you’re with Dan.”
“Yes.” He kept his tone even by sheer will. “You’ve known Blake all your life. You know he was my first date. I just love who I love.”
“I wasn’t bitching, Dad! I just… I’m trying to understand!”
Weldon took one deep breath, then another. “I know. I know you are, but I’m trying to understand how you could do this whole thing without even talking to me.”
“I’m not a baby! I can do things, figure things out. I just… I wanted to do this without someone helping me.”
It took everything inside him not to point out that Jennifer had helped. That would only put Jakob back on the defensive.
“There’s a difference between independence and hurting the people who love you.” Trust was the most fragile of all connections and almost impossible to restore.
“I didn’t even think that it would. I totally didn’t.”
And that was it, wasn’t it?
Jakob was a teenager, and sometimes they didn’t think. Still, Weldon expected Jakob to have more care. More sense.
“Well, it did. You hurt me bad enough I’m not sure I’ll ever recover, Jakob.”
“I just want something that’s only mine. You have everyone else to love too.”
“Yeah, but you were the first. You were my first son, my first baby. The first time I knew that I couldn’t love anyone more.”
Jakob’s face turned a dull, dark red. “Even though I’m not yours?”
“Shit, son. You’re mine. I dare anyone to say otherwise. You. Are. My. Son.”
And he would take anyone who argued, tear off their heads, and shit down their necks.
“I want—I just—I’m sorry.” That voice was Jakob the boy, not Jakob the teenager.
“Me too. I need you to promise me that you won’t contact him again without my permission. At least right this second until I can figure out what to do.”
“I promise. I won’t do anything without talking to you.”
Well, thank God for that.
“I’m going to trust you. Don’t let me down.”
“No, sir. Not this time.” Jakob’s jaw set in a hard line.
“Good man. I appreciate it.” He cracked his neck, trying to release the tension. “Call home, would you? See if we need anything but ice cream?”
“Sure.” Jakob tugged out his phone and called home, his voice activation really well-behaved. “Hey, Dad wants to know if we…. What? He what? Granny did…. Oh God. Oh God.”
“What? What’s wrong?” He slammed his foot on the gas, screaming down the highway, praying he didn’t get stopped. If it was nothing, he’d be at the HEB sooner.
“He—the other one. He came to the house. Granny Mel shot at him.”
“Is he still there? Is everyone okay? Let me talk to Dan.”
“Hold on.” Jakob fumbled, then handed him the phone.
“Dan. Talk to me.”
“Everyone is okay. He’s gone. Mel shot at him and totally missed. The kids were all inside. We made soup. Me and Emma.”
“Oh.” He backed off the gas a little bit. “Did he say anything?”
“Just said he was there to talk to his son. I had it, babe. I sure didn’t expect Mel to shoot.”
“She’s a firecracker.” She probably burst into tears right after.
“I locked the gun in the safe in the office. You got Emma trained good on the rules.”
“Yes.” With Emma it was a source of pride, that he taught her about weapons, to respect them. Maddie was so freaked-out that she wouldn’t touch a rifle, but his Em was curious. “Okay, so you still want me to stop and grab ice cream?”
