Texas #4_Texas Christmas (12 page)

Riley helped Jack to stand and the room spun. Jack gripped Riley. This was way worse than the dizziness he’d felt this afternoon; this was the kind of dizziness that you only got after an entire bottle of Jack Daniels. They shuffled into the bedroom.

“Feel like shit,” Jack muttered. Then it hit him. Riley was in the room, touching him, getting in the way of germs and all. “Go ’way, you’ll catch it,” he added.

“Think I’m already marked out to be ill next,” Riley said firmly. “Not going to matter now.”

Jack pushed at Riley, but he didn’t have the energy. Instead, taking a step back, he stumbled and ended up flat on his back on the bed. Riley pulled off Jack’s boots and socks, then eased down his jeans. He somehow managed to support Jack’s weight and peel off his shirt and T-shirt. Finally something soft surrounded him as he was wrapped in the quilt. Riley made him swallow meds and finish off the water in the glass. Jack knew the routine: meds, hydration, bed rest, wait for the temperature thing to break, and in a couple of days he’d be fine. He just needed to be sure that Robbie and Liam were on the ball about the training day.

“Remind Robbie about the booked visit tomorrow,” Jack mumbled.

“Will do, babe. Sleep now.”

“Is
Pappa
okay?” Hayley’s voice filtrated through the fog in his head.

“He just needs sleep,” Riley reassured Hayley.

“Can I kiss him?”

“Sure you can.”

Jack felt the bed dip as Hayley clambered up, then the gentle touch of a kiss on his cheek. “Get better,
Pappa
,” Hayley whispered.

Jack answered with an okay, and she climbed down. The door shut and abruptly the room was silent.

Being ill kind of sucked.

* * * * *

Riley walked back into the kitchen and hoisted Max up into a carry on demand. The new game was Max walking his fingers on the ceiling, and Riley couldn’t get enough of his little boy’s wide-eyed fascination with being so high. Part of him sometimes considered Max’s parents. He knew the mom was dead, overdosed on the same drugs that made the few months after Max’s birth so hard. The dad was nowhere to be found; there was nothing on the birth certificate, and even Riley paying for private investigators had turned up no results. Max’s mom dying was the end of the road, and he didn’t have any siblings or grandparents. The closest the investigation got was a third cousin to Max’s mom who was serving time for bank robbery.

He’d wanted so much to find a family for Max. It had taken Jack simply stating that Max had a family now to finally stop the edge of sadness that gripped Riley whenever he looked into Max’s blue eyes. Where you came from was important. He knew that well. Finding out the man he thought was his dad actually wasn’t was the answer to every single question Riley had in his head. And now he had his real dad in his life, and Max had a grandpa and a
gramma
, two sets of them actually.

“How is he?” Carol asked from the sink.

Riley hefted the weight of his son in his arms and rubbed noses with him. Max still shut his eyes when Riley got too close, but he at least giggled when Riley tickled him.

“I think he has what Hayley had, some kind of viral thing probably.”

“How are you?”

“Me? I’m fine so far. What about the twins and Max?”

Carol shrugged and dried her hands on a towel. “Depends, they may get ill, I’ll get some more Tylenol in case, but there’s nothing really for the twins, pediatricians don’t recommend over-the-counter meds for children under two. But there’s Infant and Children’s Tylenol and it never hurt Marcus.”

“Okay, we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it,” Riley said on a yawn. Even having a nanny, he still got up in the night with the twins if he was needed, the same as Jack did.

“Down,” Max demanded. He punctuated the request with a bash to Riley’s chest with the ever-present Thomas. Riley privately wished his son had a soft toy instead of a hard Thomas toy. Setting Max down, he watched as Max immediately climbed the chair to sit at the table.

“I promised him mac and cheese,” Carol said with a smile. “Apparently it’s his favorite.”

“Did he tell you that?” Riley hadn’t heard Max express a favorite in anything, well, nothing except Thomas the Tank Engine.

“I printed out some pictures and then let him choose. Seemed to work okay. Are you staying? It’ll be ready in ten.”

“Can you keep some for me? I need to talk to Robbie and Liam.”

“In the microwave,” she agreed.

Riley shrugged on a light jacket. Late October in Texas wasn’t cold exactly, but when night fell the chill was enough that Riley felt it. He walked over to the new barn, but there was no sign of Robbie or Liam, so he strolled out past the fences to the fields beyond and finally spied the two men working on fencing about two hundred yards past the barns.

“Hey,” he said as he came closer. Liam straightened at the words and immediately shuffled around so he was facing Riley. Robbie moved slower, but then he had hold of the large roll of wood that Liam was hammering into the ground. “Jack’s not well, and if it’s anything like what Hayley had, he could be out of action for a couple days.”

“Okay. I’m guessing we’re delaying the training session he was running?”

“He said you two could handle it,” Riley said with a shrug.

Liam raised his eyebrows and glanced at Robbie.

“Sure can,” Robbie answered firmly.

Riley was amused at the sudden pride that flashed over Liam’s face, followed immediately by obvious panic. Liam was clearly torn between the subtle assurance from Jack that he could work with Robbie on this, and the probably overwhelming panic that he wouldn’t be able to do his part.

“You should maybe keep away from the D for Eli.” Unspoken was the extra bit about keeping Eli away from infections if they had the choice. No person could completely avoid illness, but in this case, they could keep Eli away from his favorite pastime of cooing over the twins. His immune system was still a little weak, although at least it wasn’t totally compromised as it had been before.

Robbie settled the post and indicated Liam should support the weight.

“Can I just talk to you quickly?” he asked Riley. Then he walked a little way away from Liam. Riley followed and fear gripped him. Why would Robbie want to talk to him alone? Was it Eli? Was the cancer back?

“Is everything okay?” Riley asked.

“It’s this training session with Liam.”

Riley felt relief trickle through him. Eli was one of his best friends, and they may have missed out on a few years when Riley was being a dick and Eli was finding himself—as Jack summarized—but they were close.

“Go on.”

“The ranch they’re sending the guys from backs onto the Bar Five, where Liam was.”

“That doesn’t mean anything; even though the ranch bumps up against Bar Five, it’s miles away, right?”

“Ranching is a small world,” Robbie explained patiently. “They’ll know the bastard that hurt Liam, they may even know Liam.”

“You want to keep him out of this then?”

“Hell, no,” Robbie exclaimed sharply. “He’s a man now, he’s damn good at his job, and he’ll need to face this. I just hate that it’s sooner rather than later. I don’t know much about the two they’re sending, but Liam will have me backing him up and he can face them down.”

“If you think that is best.”

“It’s what Jack wanted. He was going to have Liam in as support, wasn’t going to be hiding him out back or anything like that.”

“Then if Jack called it, and you’re happy with it, then just let me know if I need to do anything. I’ll be working at home for the rest of the week anyway.”

Robbie nodded. “Eli says it’s Max’s birthday soon.”

“Yeah, he’ll be five.”

“Thought me ’n Eli could get him something for
Hatty’s
stable, if that’s okay?”

Robbie looked embarrassed to ask. “Remember he’s into Thomas and horses and anything you do will be good,” Riley reassured.

Robbie inclined his head, and then the two of them walked back toward Liam. He smiled, and Riley sketched a wave before splitting away and heading back to the house. When he arrived everyone was still eating, and he took his place at the table and shoveled in the homemade macaroni cheese.

“So good,” he said between mouthfuls.

Max ate enough to warrant a well done, and Hayley polished off nearly as much as her dad. She shared his metabolism and was going through the first of what was probably many growth spurts before she stopped growing.

“Dad, will you help me with my chemistry homework?”

“Don’t know much about chemistry,” he deadpanned. Given his job had elements of chemistry mixed with geology, he knew enough chemistry to be dangerous when it came to helping Hayley with her homework. Still it meant quiet time with his daughter, and he craved time like that. As she grew she looked more and more like Lexie, all slim and willowy. Add in his height, and while he may be biased as her daddy, he thought she was beautiful. At twelve she was still his baby, but that wouldn’t last for long.

Connor squawked from his portable bassinet, and Riley scooped him up to cuddle him. He was actually more vocal than his sister right now.

“If you’re going to cook for us, I’m going to have to give you a raise,” Riley threatened. Again. He said the same thing every night, and her answer was the same each time.

“You already pay me enough, too much, and I might think you’re bribing me to overlook your cookie stealing.”

Hayley snorted a laugh, and Riley pushed her on the arm. She feigned pain and punched him in return. “Beating up your daughter,” she muttered. “So not cool.”

“Beating on your old dad,” Riley began thoughtfully. “Just uncool.”

“No one says
uncool,
Dad.”

“They don’t?”

“You’re so old.”

Riley considered the comment, but at thirty-one he didn’t feel old, he felt settled.

There was a difference.

~November~

Riley saw how curious Max was about the extra door in his room. The craftsmen had finished the sensory addition with two days to spare and the guys with all the equipment had managed to get everything set up with hours until Max’s official birthday. Riley was desperate to make a fanfare of the whole thing, with a grand opening of sorts and everyone here, but when he’d broached the subject with Rebecca she had warned him off. Max didn’t like fuss or noise or days that were wildly different from the previous day.

She explained Max wasn’t as bad as some autistic children she had known, but that he still thrived on routine and calm. So instead of everyone here with balloons and a party, Riley and Jack simply sat on his bed and watched him explore the new space.

“It’s really good, Riley,” Jack offered. He sounded like shit, but he ignored Riley telling him he should go back to bed. Despite not feeling great, Jack wouldn’t miss the unveiling for anything.

“I’m pleased.”

The room was darkened and along one side there was a wall of solid immovable plastic tubes full of light arrays that were soft and gentle. A curtain of similar lights hung down from the ceiling, and in the middle of the ceiling was a rainbow-colored ceiling fan. Jack was the one who’d noticed that Max liked fans and other things that spun, like the washing machine in the utility room. Riley, Jack, and Hayley had painted the lines on the fan themselves, and as the fan spun lazily in the room it created a rainbow effect in the colors. That was what Max was doing now, lying on his back and staring up at the fan with a rapt expression on his face.

Beyond the softly undulating ‘hills’ to one side of the room was a young kid’s Thomas
playset
winding in circles and over bridges and through tunnels. The train moved slowly, and Riley had read up on the best things that Max would want with the train, the different-colored carriages, the smiling faces of Thomas, James, and Henry. Max crawled up over the hills and disappeared on the other side. He didn’t immediately come back. Riley and Jack moved silently to peer over, and Riley’s heart swelled when he saw Max curled on his side with his own Thomas watching the train move on the wide tracks.

Riley and Jack exchanged smiles and backed out of the bedroom. So it wasn’t a party for forty little kids or cake and pass the parcel, nor was it a full-blown family affair, but for Max it was perfect and he was happy.

That was all Riley wanted.

The two of them left Max with his trains and met Carol in the hallway. She was twin-free.

“Thought I’d just go get a birthday hug before I need to feed the twins” she said with a smile.

“He’s in with his trains.”

Jack held his hand out, and Riley instinctively twisted his fingers in his husband’s.

“He’s happy with what he has in there,” Jack said.

Carol simply smiled at this. “Of course he is.”

She carried on into Max’s bedroom, and Hayley ran up the steps and slid to a halt in front of them. She held out the house phone.

“
Pappa
, call for you.” Jack took the phone and released Riley’s hand. Riley took the opportunity to lift Hayley off the ground in a hug.

“Dad!” she squeaked in outrage. But then she giggled and clung like a limpet to him. “Come see what Eden did with me.” Riley glanced at Jack, who was evidently deep in some discussion over horses and bookings.

“What’d she buy you this time?” Riley said with an exaggerated sigh.

“
Nothin
’.” Hayley looked affronted, then wriggled down from Riley’s hold. “We made it.”

Riley followed her into what he and Jack privately referred to as the pink palace. No doubt when Hayley turned fifteen, everything would be somber and teenage-dark, but for the moment the room was bright and cerise and pale roses. She had a huge bed in the middle and wide windows with views over the ranch. The room was pillows and blankets and everything a girl wanted it seemed.

She pointed at the wall and the large pin board that covered half of it. Eden had put this up? Riley’s sister? That Eden? Riley looked at the large thing with trepidation alongside the sincere hope it wouldn’t fall off and on someone’s head. Eden wasn’t known for her skills with nails or glue. He recalled the incident of the Barbie and G.I. Joe falling to their deaths from top floor of Hayes Oil when they were kids. He’d liked that G.I. Joe, and Eden convinced him the parachute she’d made would be fine and that both Barbie and G.I. Joe would float gently to the ground some fifty stories below. They were lucky no one was under the projectiles as they plummeted into the gardens in the center of the atrium. He smiled at the memory and the fact he had new teasing material with his little sister.