Texas Thunder

by R. Casteel

“I just thought . . . .”

  “Quite frankly,” she interrupted, “I don’t give a damn what you think at this point, and if you can’t drop it, then turn around and take me back to the trailer.”

  He clinched his jaw and strangled the steering wheel. Slowly in his mind he began to count, one…two…three….

  They pulled up to the house and Charles put Kristina in her wheel chair.

  Linda came running up. “Kristina, you want to see Thunder?” The enthusiasm of a young girl bubbled up.

  With a smile on her face, Kristina went off toward the barn as if there had never been any harsh words just moments before.

  Everyone was seated at the table when Ronald arrived. “Sorry I was late,” he apologized giving his mother a kiss on the cheek.

  “Hi Sport, how was school?” he asked Linda as he kissed the top of her head. Ignoring everyone else, he sat down and reached for the plate of roast beef in front of him.

  The meal started out in good order but the tension radiating from Ron and Kristina soon put a damper on the conversation. What little of it there was, was directed away from them.

  “Ronald,” the quickest way to build a fire was to rub faster, “would you mind giving Kristina a ride back to the trailer tonight?” he asked. “Cynthia and I are staying here tonight and it would save me an extra trip.”

  Charles saw the momentary glare Ronald gave him.

  “Sure, be glad to.”

  But the gladness never reached his eyes.

  As Ron prepared to leave after supper, Charles followed them out to the van.

  “You got something to say, say it and be quick about it,” Ron’s voice was sharp with unresolved conflict.

  “I don’t know what went on between you two today, and you’re probably going to say it is none of my business. And you’re probably right,” Charles’s voice was soft, disarming some of Ron’s anger.

  “What ever it is, you two had better get it worked out soon before it does become my business.” Charles turned and walked back to the house.

  Ronald dropped Linda off at the house, “You go ahead and get your homework started. I’m going to take Kristina over to the trailer.”

  “Dad, don’t forget old long-nose across the street,” she chided.

  “Linda,” Ron said taking a cigarette out of the pack, tapping it irritably on the dash, “I have told you not to refer to Mrs. Weatherbee like that. Besides it’s probably too late to worry about that now, Kristina was here most of the afternoon…resting.”

  Ron drove off and a gradual smile came to Linda’s face. She liked Kristina; if things worked out maybe, they would be getting more than a hospital. With light steps, she ran into the house.

  Ron helped Kristina into the wheelchair and started to follow her into the house.

  “I don’t need any help,” she snapped.

  “Fine, we need to talk.” Ron was trying to keep his voice clear of the tension he was feeling.

  “Fine.” She turned around. “Talk.”

  “Can we go inside where it is a little warmer?” he suggested.

  She turned the chair around and started up the ramp.

  “Okay, we’re inside, let’s hear it.”

  “I wanted to apologize for my rudeness tonight and for this afternoon,” he held up his had to prevent her from interrupting. “Please let me finish. My behavior this afternoon was not very professional and I don’t want you to think I act that way towards all my female patients.”

  Kristina smiled, “Apology accepted, tell me Ron, how many years have you been divorced.

  “What’s that got to do with anything?” His words took on a defensive tone.

  “Just answer the question please.”

  “It’s been ten years.” He stared out the window. “Any other questions?”

  “Yeah. Do you compare all women with your ex-wife or am I the exception?” she asked with some reserve.

  Ron turned and walked out the door.

  The next morning Charles found Kristina at the desk preparing for the first day of taking applications. He contacted the office and spent the next two hours on the computer going over problems and design changes for other jobsites. The survey crew showed up around ten. The rest of the day was filled with ringing phones, applicants stopping by and Charles finishing the interior doors.

  At four in the afternoon, the phone rang. Kristina answered, “Hi Ron.”

  “Yes, dinner would be nice.”

  “Six o’clock is fine. Bye.”

  Charles looked questioningly at his sister.

  “Let’s just say last night I gave him something to think about.” A smile played at the corners of her lips and there was a twinkle in her eye as she turned back to her work.

  Twenty minutes later, the sound of a siren split the air as an ambulance pulled into the field next to Ron’s plane. From the window of the trailer, they watched as two EMT’s loaded a stretcher into the plane. As Ron started the plane, they climbed aboard and closed the door.

  Chapter 16

  Kristina looked at her watch again. Eight o’clock, she was starting to worry when she heard the noise of a plane break the stillness of the evening. The landing lights came on attesting that it was indeed Ron’s plane. She watched him land, thankful that he was safe.

  Ten minutes later, the phone rang.

  “Linda has supper ready. Would you like to join us?”

  “You sound tired. Are you sure it’s all right?”

  “Be over in ten.” He hung up.

  Five minutes later Ron pulled the van into the drive.

  Kristina met him at the door, “You really need a new watch; first you tell me six and it’s after eight and then you tell me ten minutes and it’s five. I hope you’ve a good secretary to keep your schedule straight.”

  “I’m hard on secretaries,” laughing, he continued. “If I stood still long enough they would pull my hair out instead of their own.” Ron parked the van and helped Kristina into the wheelchair.

  Looking down at her, his eyes fixed on the beautiful view of her full breasts as her loose fitting blouse gaped open. “I’m glad you decided to come over.”

  She looked up and saw the stark hunger in his eyes. His gaze was so intense her nipples hardened as if he had touched them. “Me too.”

  “Shall we go in see what the chef has prepared? I have to tell you, this was Linda’s idea. She has been running around the kitchen all afternoon excited over you coming to dinner. With the unexpected flight to Dallas, I wasn’t sure if there would be time afterwards.”

  “She is a charming young lady. I’m sure she worries about you whenever you are gone.”

  Ron opened the door and she wheeled into the living room.

  “Mmm, smells wonderful. Linda, everything looks perfect.”

  The meal was indeed delicious. The conversation was light, revolving around school, horses, Thunder in particular and the proceedings for the hospital. After dinner, Linda disappeared to her room leaving Ron and Kristina to a quiet evening in front of the fire.

  “You were right about what you said last night.” Ron was gently swirling the wine in his glass. “In a way I was comparing you with my ex. It wasn’t fair and I apologize, again. In several ways, you’re like her. She wanted to travel, see the world and live life on the edge. The prestige, glamour and bright lights she craved, couldn’t be found in a small Texas town with a doctor who still made house calls in the middle of the night…She also didn’t want the responsibilities of being a mother.”

  “Ron,” sudden understanding filled her words with raw emotion, “that might be what my life looks like from someone on the outside, and for a while I admit, that’s what I wanted. But I grew to hate the constant going, always on the move. The accident gave me an excuse to come home without begging. Can we start over and be friends.”

  Ron looked at her, making eye contact. “I don’t think that’s possible at this point.” He paused and then continued. “I don’t want to be just friends,
which would probably put a strain on the relationship of patient and Doctor.”

  The emergency radio tone went off drawing a muttered curse from Ron. “Dr. Petterson, unit five zero one responding to a knifing at the Boots & Spurs. They are requesting you to stand by at the clinic.”

  Ron answered the dispatcher, then turned to Kristina.

  “Go on.” She waved towards the door. “I’ll be here when you get back.”

  Ron grabbed his coat and left. The tires of his van burned rubber as his emergency siren cut the stillness of the night.

  Linda came in and sat down, “You two getting your differences worked out?”

  “I think we’re working on them,” she said taking a sip of her wine.

  “Does that mean you two are going to be lovers?” Linda questioned.

  Kristina choked on her wine. Tears came to her eyes and her sinuses felt like they were on fire. She looked at Linda trying to figure out how to answer the question.

  “Dad has been by himself too long,” she continued without waiting for an answer. “I have noticed the way he looks at you. I want him to be happy, but I don’t want to see him hurt again.” Linda’s lips quivered and a tear rolled unbidden down her cheek.

  Kristina held out her arm and Linda ran over and snuggled up next to her, tears flowing freely down her face. “You won’t run away like she did will you?” Linda sobbed.

  Kristina, tears finding their way down her own face, gently cradled a very small, lonely and frightened child to her breast. “No, dear child,” she whispered softly, “I won’t run away.”

  * * * * *

  Ron walked in the door around midnight to find them both asleep on the couch. Linda cuddled in the warm embrace of Kristina’s arms. The warm fuzzy feelings going through him were strange and foreign to a heart grown bitter and cold. This was what he and his daughter had missed for so many years. He walked over to the couch and gently picked Linda up.

  Kristina woke from her dream of a country home and a baby in her arms.

  Ron bent and kissed her on the lips, a light almost impersonal kiss. “I’ll put her to bed then be back,” he whispered.

  “Rough night?” she asked when he came back in.

  “A couple boys filled with bottle courage fighting over a girl down at the local bar. They got a little carried away and one of them pulled a knife. If he had known how to use it, they wouldn’t have needed me. Twenty-five stitches but it could have been worse.

  “Someone dropped the one holding the knife with a pool-cue and I had to sew up his head. Both are cooling their heels at the county jail, hopefully in different cells. What did you girls find to talk about tonight?”

  The quick change of topic caught Kristina off guard. “Oh, just girl things,” she hedged. Wondering how to put her plan of seduction into action without appearing to forward.

  “You ready for me to take you back?” he asked.

  “It is rather late.” She looked at the grandfather’s clock. “To save you going back out again I could stay here, if you don’t mind.”

  Ron cleared his throat that had suddenly gone tight. “That, uh would be fine,” he finally managed. He carried her into the bathroom. “Don’t try to crawl to the bed on you own, holler and I’ll help.”

  Kristina stripped off the skirt and blouse and gave herself a hasty sponge bath. Drying herself off she took a deep breath to calm the butterflies, “Ron I’m ready.”

  Ron came in and stopped in his tracks, staring at the very nude body of Kristina.

  “I’m ready for bed now. You said for me to holler,” she purred.

  Ron’s breathing deepened as he looked at her. Even with the casts and the fading black and blue places on her, she was a beautiful woman. She held out her good arm to him as an invitation to be picked up. As he bent to lift her, their lips met as if by design.

  He traced her lips with his tongue and found open access to the wonderful taste of her mouth. Their tongues met and dueled for right of possession.

  Kristina felt the world spin as he left a fiery trail of kisses across her face and down her neck. As her back made contact with the bed, he found her breast. The fire that she felt exploded in her chest. Her hand worked hastily at the buttons of Ron’s shirt exploring the contour of his solid chest. The way his hand caressed her with a soft velvet touch brought a picture of a butterfly skimming the petals in a field of flowers.

  Each time the butterfly approached the central flower in the field it would hover, the wind created by the beating wings disturbing the petals, only to float off to another spot in the field. A vibrant current sent ripples of erotic vibrations through the field as the butterfly landed on one of the roses. The other rose was surrounded by the warmth of a summer rain as his mouth found and his tongue encircled the nipple of her other breast.

  He stripped off his shirt and then stepped out of his pants before rejoining her on the bed.

  She felt the uncontrolled shudder that traversed his body as she stroked his rigid length. The butterfly was back, this time going straight to the central flower in the field. His fingers found the fleshly folds, and she arched off the bed, to draw him further in.

  * * * * *

  Linda lay in her bed smiling. Even though the house was large and their door closed, she still heard the muted sounds of their lovemaking. Dad had been too long without love in his life. She knew and had experienced the void of emptiness that her mother’s leaving had brought. How many nights had he held and comforted her. Tonight it was Dad’s turn, after all these years, to be comforted. And maybe, she thought as her smile deepened, after all these years there might be someone in her life she had never known before; a mother.

  Chapter 17

  Three weeks later, the minister announced:

  “Ladies and Gentlemen allow me to present to you Mr. and Mrs. Charles Randall.

  “It is also my privilege and honor to be able to announce to you that immediately following the reception, there will be a ground breaking ceremony for the Eastland County Faith Memorial Hospital.”

  Everyone enjoyed the reception with Kristina catching the bridal bouquet.

  Then, it was on to the groundbreaking ceremony. All the key players were in place.

  The Governor of the State of Texas, Senator Shaffer, Mr. Grey, Mr. Scottsdale, Mr. Gallagher, the entire staff of Randall Construction and of course the man whose dream had started it all, Dr. Ronald Petterson.

  The press had indeed turned out. Even they had no logical explanation for how quickly they were actually breaking ground.

  The Governor and Senator both gave short speeches.

  Doctor Petterson took the podium.

  “We have a lot to celebrate today and I cannot think of a better time or place in the festivity to add to the celebration,” he motioned for Kristina to join him.

  “As many of you know, the beginning of this hospital is centered around this young lady. The accident she was involved in on Christmas Eve brought together the key people responsible for the birth of Faith Memorial Hospital. Because of her, the dream for a hospital has become a reality. I’m hoping that she will want to be around to see its completion…as my wife. Kristina will you grant me the honor of becoming my wife and the mother of my children?”

  Kristina was overcome with joy. Their relationship had progressed quickly and passionately. Her heart overflowed and her smile was as big as Texas. “Yes Ronald! I would be honored to be your wife.” She sealed the statement with a kiss as everyone clapped and gave a Texas cheer.

  Charles shook Ron’s hand and gave a smiling Kristina a warm embrace.

  Then it was Charles’s turn.

  “Honorable Governor of Texas, Senator Shaffer, distinguished guests. I want to take this time to thank you all for coming here today for this occasion.

  “Very rarely, if ever, do we see in the construction world a building project of this magnitude come to this stage in such a short time. I would like at this time to thank all those who have worked diligent
ly to ensure this day arrived. I want to thank Hayworth Engineering of Houston Texas for graciously giving us a set of plans that we could adjust to fit the needs here at Faith Memorial Hospital. To break this ground on the same day as my marriage makes it that much more meaningful.

  “Ladies and gentlemen may this hospital be built for the benefit of the people of Texas, and the Glory of God.”

  As the shovels turned over the first soil and the photographers shot their pictures, the diesel engines of the bulldozers cranked up spewing great black clouds of smoke and sounding like thunder rolling across the Texas plain.

  The End

  Coming soon, the story of David Petterson and his Rodeo Queen in

  Texas Ice.

  If you have not yet purchased this title and would like to support this author’s work, please visit http://ellorascave.com/honorbox.htm to contribute to our Honor Box. We thank-you for your support.