He could hear Dub Childress’s voice now. Don’t start with the excuses, son. Somewhere along the way your choices put you in this position.
The argument already played in his head. An argument he needed to avoid. Yes, he’d procrastinated coming home, had buzzed the house one too many times and flew needless circles over town. By the time he’d headed to the airstrip, the storm had hit and livestock had escaped one of the ranches, blocking the only way to land.
So no excuses, Dad. It was my fault I ran a young mother and her child off the road.
With the plane turned in the right direction, he climbed up and pulled the door shut to the cockpit. He wished he could just stay there—his favorite place in the world. A place he was in total control.
Behind the seat he pulled out a towel. With a quick rub through his hair, he tried to stop the dripping, at least. He had so much mud on him, keeping the interior clean was a lost cause. Much like his relationship with his dad. Maybe this time he would manage...
Eyes closed, he stopped the pointless words. Clear Water was the last place he wanted to be. He knew he should have been here sooner, but every time he and his dad walked into the same room there was a fight. His mother had said it was because they were so much alike. He didn’t buy that.
He was nothing like his dad. Obstinate didn’t even begin to describe the old rancher. He was as hard to move as the rock that held the hills steady. Now that his mother and sister were dead and buried, there wasn’t anyone to soften the blows between them.
His fingers tightened around the controls. How did his father do it? How did he stay at the ranch and live in the home where memories of his mother and sister were in every corner? The silence of things they would never say, or moments they would never see, contaminated everything.
Tyler rolled his head back and took in a lungful of air. When had he become so melodramatic? He needed to get the plane in the hangar, call Henry about the fence, not to mention find out why his dad and John had gone ahead and hired someone without waiting for him. He had told them they needed a certified nurse.
Instead, he found a single mom barely out of her teens and a kid with special needs moving in on the ranch. One of John’s lost sheep. His dad would do anything for John Levi, the perfect man who had married his sister.
Karly and Bryce had charity case written all over them. So how was he going to handle this without a fight? Could he kick a single mom and her kid into the streets?
Easing the battered wings over the cedar post, he turned the plane onto the narrow asphalt road that led to the county airport. He had vowed not to say or do anything to get his dad upset, but that plan was already rolling downhill and picking up speed.
The discussion to sell the monstrosity of a ranch would have to wait at least a couple of days, if not weeks. First, he needed to get a certified nurse in the house so he could go back to his own life without worrying about his father.
He parked the plane in the small hangar right next to his dad’s plane, a vintage Mustang. The faded gray Volvo station wagon pulled in behind him. Maybe she could stay on as a housekeeper and he could get an agency to do daily nurse visits. Firing Ms. Karly Kalakona would not be an option, unless she was lying about who she was and were she came from.
The clouds lit up again, and thunder shook the old metal walls. Scanning the building, he found nothing had changed. Half of his childhood happened in the barns, the other half here in this metal hangar. His father had spent hours teaching him to fly. It was a passion they shared and had brought them together—until Tyler had announced he wanted to leave the ranch and make flying his life, not just a hobby.
He forced his jaw to relax. The muscles burned from the tension. Pulling a duffel bag from the back, he glanced over at the plane he’d learned to fly in as a kid. Things had been so much easier back then. He hoped his dad was okay. He had to be.
Tyler stepped out on the concrete, stomping some of the mud off his boots. He checked a few damaged areas on the right wing before heading to the car.
In the gray Volvo parked behind him, Karly smiled. She was saying something to her son. He had to admit she was a dark-haired beauty. Not his usual type. There was sweetness mixed with a spine of steel. Like his mom and sister. He froze in midstride.
His dad wouldn’t dare. One of their long-standing fights the past few years was about Tyler’s love life. Every time Dub called, he told Tyler he needed to settle down with a solid family kind of girl. His father hated every woman he brought to the ranch. They all spent more time estimating the value of the ranch than appreciating the raw beauty of the land.
A knot formed in his gut. He wouldn’t put it past the manipulative old man to use his health crisis as a means to play matchmaker. One more attempt to get Tyler to do what his father thought was best for the Childress name.
Karly opened her car door and stood. She was taller than he expected.
“I called the ranch and told Adrian that I picked you up and we’re heading that way now.”
“Adrian?”
“De La Cruz, one of the trainers.” She looked at him as if he didn’t have a brain. “He has a little girl about ten. I was told you went to school with him.”
“Adrian works for my dad? When did that happen?” Surprise made his words sharper than he intended.
“Um...I don’t know?” Her stunning eyes went wider, and her fingers tightened on the door frame.
Way to go, Childress, scare the girl. Why was he barking at her? “Sorry. I’ve been gone too long, and it’s been a long day.” He made his way to the passenger side of her car and folded into the tight space. She smelled like his mother’s kitchen during the holidays. Now she was making him think of Christmas cookies before Thanksgiving.
Four weeks. Surely he could manage four weeks without yelling at his dad or getting tangled with the new hired help. He knew right away that Karly was not the kind for a casual relationship, and that was the only kind he had managed to have the past ten years. He lowered his gaze to the worn leather handle of his bag.
Definitely not looking at the exotic tilt of her dark eyes with hints of gold, or the silky ponytail that swung when she talked. No, none of that caught his attention. She’s a mother, Tyler. That alone should make her invisible.
Chapter Two
For most of the ten miles to the ranch, Karly sat forward, her tight muscles sore from strain. She wasn’t sure what made her the most nervous, the storm or Tyler Childress.
The gossips adored talking about all the trouble Tyler got into while in high school. People loved to gossip—the more scandalous the better. She tried not to pay attention, but now that he was next to her she had to wonder how much was true.
Pulling through the stone pillars, she glanced up to the wrought iron archway where the letters spelling Childress boldly stood, surrounded by silhouettes of horses in motion. If things worked out, this would be their new home for the next year. Enough time to get Bryce’s physical therapy done, some of the medical bills paid off and a bit of breathing room to figure out where to go to next.
Living out of her car was getting old. She needed a plan and Bryce needed to be in school. This was the perfect job for her—that was, if the younger Childress didn’t kick them out.
He had spent the whole trip staring out the window. She’d glanced at him. He didn’t seem to want to be here. Maybe he would be leaving soon. “So how long do you plan on staying?”
He shrugged. “I’ve taken the next month off. I need to speak with the doctors tomorrow, figure out what Dad needs and when he can come home.”
Oh, no. He hadn’t been told. “Pastor John is bringing him home this evening.”
With his elbows resting on his knees, Tyler pressed the palm of his hands into his eyes. “John’s bringing him home today? I thought he had at least another week in the hospital.�
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“The nurses can’t keep him in bed, and he tries to leave every few hours. He tells everyone he’s walking home.”
She drove around a cluster of twisted live oak trees. At the end of the narrow asphalt drive, the redbrick ranch house sprawled long and low behind a shaded yard of lush, green carpet grass. She slowed down and took a moment to find her breath.
A home. A real home that Bryce was going to get to live in, hopefully, for the next year. She blinked a couple of times to stop the tears from spilling down her cheeks. Tyler would think she was crazy if she started crying. Thank You, God.
“Are you okay?”
She didn’t dare look at him. “Yes. I’m just not sure where to go. I haven’t been to the house before now.”
He pointed to the right. “Go to the back. We’ll pull into the garage and unload from there.” Facing her again, his blue eyes intense. “I don’t get it. Dad doesn’t have a way to leave. He can’t drive, and from what I understand he can’t walk that well, either. So why is John bringing him home?”
“He told the pastor that if someone didn’t drive him home he’d start walking. Your father seems very determined to get back to the ranch. So Pastor John’s giving him a ride. They should be here within the next couple of hours.” She skimmed the area around them, avoiding eye contact. “He’s leaving AMA.”
He threw his head back against the seat. “Seriously? A man with brain damage and a broken arm is allowed to leave against medical advice and no one calls me? That’s what AMA means, right? Against medical advice.”
“I believe that’s what it means.” She didn’t know what to say.
“Great. And no one thought to hire a real nurse?” His voice low as he stared back out the window.
“Horses! Momma, look. Horses!”
The drive forked. To the left, a couple of large barns, two outbuildings and several pens made what looked like a small resort for horses. A sharp right put them in front of a giant wooden garage door that belonged on a fortress. Rich wood and large wrought iron hinges brought to mind another time and place.
“Can we go see the horses? Please, Momma.”
“Bryce, it’s raining, and we need to get set up. Besides, the horses are off-limits. You cannot go to the barn area without me. Do you understand?”
“But, Momma...”
“Bryce.” She lowered her chin and looked at him through the rearview mirror.
“Hey, we need to help your mom unpack the car. Well, maybe repack first, then unpack and find out which room is yours.”
“Oh, I can take care of—”
“I’ll be in a different room? Is it far from yours, Momma?” Worry filled his young eyes. He had seen too much in his short life, and it was her fault.
“Right next to mine.” Sleeping together had become their norm since the night Officer Torres had arrested Billy Havender, her last life blunder. No more mistakes. “Bryce, it’ll be okay. Pastor John told me our rooms are connected through a bathroom.”
“You’re in my sister’s room?” His Florida Key blues narrowed. How did someone have eyes that blue without contacts? She didn’t think he wore them. She hadn’t thought about whose room she would be living in. The offer of a salary, plus room and board, had been all she’d needed to hear.
“Pull up. I’ll run inside and open the door.” His voice was gruff as he looked away again.
“Oh, Pastor John gave me the remote.” Digging it out of the console, she hit the button. The left door slid to the other side instead of overhead. As she pulled into the large space, the feeling of crossing the threshold into a special world washed over her. What if she couldn’t do the job that was needed? What if they didn’t let her stay? She stopped herself. No self-doubt allowed.
The concrete space was large enough to hold three cars along with a workshop. Currently only a large silver Suburban with the ranch’s logo sat in the opposite end of the garage. Color-coordinated boxes lined the organized shelves, sorted by shape and size. She skimmed over her car, filled with a hodgepodge of boxes she had saved from the drugstore Dumpster.
Nothing organized or coordinated about her. Maybe she had made a mistake. Taking a deep breath, she studied the most precious thing in her life, the reason she’d taken this opportunity. Bryce.
“Are you ready for our new adventure, Bryce?”
“Can I go pet the horses?” He blinked. “Please?”
Tyler opened Bryce’s door in time to hear the word horses. “How about we help your mom get your stuff in the house? Then I can take you to the barns and introduce you to the stars of the Childress family.”
“Oh, I’m not sure that’s a good idea. He’s never been around large animals.” She didn’t want to come across as the No Patrol, but Tyler was making all sorts of promises and probably didn’t realize how serious a five-year-old took his every word.
Bryce started struggling with his seat belt. Another roll of thunder shook the walls.
“Hold on, baby. I’ll come help.” She made her way to the other side of the car.
Her son glared at her. She paused. He had never glared at her before today. They had always been a team.
“I’m not a baby. I can get out of the car on my own, and Tyler said we could see the horses.”
She realized she’d embarrassed her son in front of his new hero. Karly glanced at Tyler. He shrugged his shoulders, the wet T-shirt plastered to his skin. He mouthed “sorry” from behind Bryce’s back. She put her attention back on her son.
“First, you call him Mr. Childress. Second, I know you can get out of the car. I just needed to get my bag so you won’t step on it. Third, the horses will have to wait.”
Tyler crossed to the other side and started pulling out trash bags full of their clothes. She bit the inside of her cheek.
Do not apologize for your lack of luggage. You have nothing to be ashamed of, Karly Kalakona. “I’m sure this is the most unique baggage you’ve seen as a pilot.” Her laugh sounded stiff to her own ears. She kept one eye on Bryce as he climbed out of the car, his legs still not at 100 percent.
“You’d be surprised.” Tyler’s voice brought her back to him. “This looks like the luggage I used when I moved to college. Aunt Cora gave me a matching set, but I took it back to the department store for the cash and used dependable Hefty bags. My mom got so mad. The best part is when you’re done you can use them for cleanup and they don’t take up any space.”
But she was a mom, not a kid moving away from home the first time. Growing up, she’d gone from feast to famine. During a con, her stepfather, Anthony, had always insisted they travel with only the best. He would spend thousands of dollars, then take everything to a pawnshop when they ran out of money.
Things were different now. She paid her own way. And she didn’t need to waste time thinking about her stepfather. That was the past. “I can get our stuff if you could point me to the right room.”
“No need, I’m here and I know the way.” He pulled out one of her free book bags full of makeup and hair supplies. “Here you go, big guy, can you carry this for me? That’s pretty heavy. Do you think you can handle two?”
“The doctor said I’m strong now. I can carry three.”
Tyler winked at her. “Oh, I don’t know, three is a lot. What do you think, Mom?” Tyler handed Bryce a lightweight grocery bag before picking up a small plastic container with a sealed lid.
“I can do it. Mom, watch!” With the straps across his shoulders, he tucked the box under his arm.
“Good job, Bryce.” At the look of pride on Bryce’s face, a piece of her heart twisted. She popped open the tailgate and stuffed clothes and toys back into the boxes. Tyler was by the door, slipping off his muddy boots. The wet jeans had mud on them, too. It couldn’t be comfortable. “Tyler, the large tub stays in the car. If you would just s
how me the way, I can get the rest of our stuff. I’m sure you want out of the wet clothes.”
“Oh, don’t worry about me. I’m a river rat. I love the rain.”
Bryce giggled. “I want to be a river rat.”
Great, now she had to worry about him going to find the river on his own. She followed Tyler and Bryce through a huge washroom. When he led them through a large open kitchen, she paused. It was bigger than any apartment she had ever lived in during her entire life.
It was unreal, the kind of home she had only seen in a Country Living magazine. The smoothness of the long gray-and-black granite counters begged to be touched. A beautiful pine table with eight chairs sat opposite an island. Four stools hugged the counter.
The kitchen had two sinks. Everything was clean and fresh, from the white cabinet doors to the dark wood floors.
Well, except for the two bananas in a ceramic bowl. They were covered in black dots. She should throw them out.
“Mom! Come on.”
He didn’t even know they had just stepped into another world, a world where they didn’t belong. Thank You, God, for giving me such a resilient child.
She looked at the desk with a shelf full of cookbooks above it. She would need those books.
Ramen noodles cooked to perfection were the extent of her skills in the kitchen. She had a feeling this family wasn’t the cheap noodle crowd.
Tyler stepped back into the kitchen. “Sorry, I guess I should have given you a tour first.”
She shook her head. “No, I’m fine. I was thinking I should throw away the bananas before Mr. Childress arrives.”
Bryce came up to the table and wrinkled his nose. “Gross.”
He chuckled. “Oh, yeah, I didn’t even see them. Dad has one every morning with his breakfast. Always made me eat one, too.” He put the bags down and took the overripe fruit to the other side of the room. With a tap of his foot, a trash bin rolled out from under the counter.
A Texas Christmas Wish Page 2
