A Texas Family Reunion

by Judy Christenberry

  Pete spoke up. “Why would you say that?”

  “Most guns for hire are excellent shots. At that distance, they should’ve been able to hit you, if that’s what they intended.”

  David nodded slowly. “I’ll admit that did occur to me. I figured they were either very bad at what they did, or I’d been very lucky.”

  “Yeah. So what now?”

  “I had my car picked up to be fixed. I guess I’ll get a rental for tonight.”

  “I’ve got a better idea,” Jim said. “I’m not trying to sell you anything, but I think you need some security at your company. Why don’t I take a look at your setup and see what I can recommend while you work this afternoon? Then I’ll take you to the office and you can meet Alex there. She can take you to Will’s house tonight and bring you home.”

  “That would be fine, but, Jim, I’m not sure we’ll make any changes around here. I mean, that was probably just a random thing that won’t be repeated.”

  “I understand, David, but in case it’s not, you might think about your employees. If someone came after you here in the office, some of them might be hurt.”

  “I’ll think about it. Just come back here when you’re finished looking around. Jeannie will find me if I’m not in my office.”

  “Sure.”

  “I’ll be interested in hearing your ideas, too, Jim,” Pete said. “David needs protection, even if he doesn’t realize it.”

  “I agree, Pete. Oh, and David, you might give Alex a call so she can relax before you start back to work.”

  Jim left David’s office and after getting a notebook and pen from Jeannie, the receptionist, he headed for the first floor to begin his surveillance from the ground up.

  ALEX, RELIEVED after a talk with David, got back to work. The only problem was she’d planned on driving to her condo in Plano and changing her clothes before she picked up David and returned to Highland Park for the evening. Will and Vivian lived in Highland Park, where their office was also located. The area was an exclusive city within Dallas that was about twenty-five minutes from her own condo. David offered to go by her home and pick up something for her, but since neither he nor Jim had a key, that wouldn’t work.

  “I don’t know how you’re fixed for money, Alex,” Carrie said when Alex told her the situation, “but you could go shopping and buy something. I mean, Will won’t mind if you take an hour or two off. And North Park, a big shopping mall, is just a few blocks away.”

  “Oh, I couldn’t…just a few blocks? I could be back in under an hour, and I’ll be staying late waiting for David. Do you really think that would be all right?”

  “Of course it would, but you look fine. I should’ve said that first. You don’t need to change clothes.”

  “I still want to change, though, and I could use a new outfit,” Alex said. “I wish you could come with me—I’m not familiar with the stores in that mall.”

  “Wait a minute,” Carrie said, and jumped up from her chair. She walked to the door to Will’s office. “Will, Alex needs to take an hour off and do a quick shopping trip for tonight. Is it all right if I go with her?”

  “Sure. But she doesn’t need to dress up for tonight, if that’s the problem.”

  “She knows, but it’ll just make her feel better.”

  “Then go. I’ll see you in a while.”

  “Thanks, Will.” She turned to Alex. “I’m ready if you are.”

  “Oh, I love this job!” Alex said with enthusiasm.

  Carrie chuckled. “I’ll remind you of that when you’re working overtime.”

  “Willingly, I promise.”

  When David arrived at the office late that afternoon with Jim, Alex had changed into the silky dress she’d bought for the evening. And the shoes she’d bought to match it.

  “Wow! You look great, Alex,” David said.

  Alex jumped up from her computer and hugged her cousin. “Are you okay? What did the police say?”

  “They said to be careful.”

  Alex looked over his shoulder at Jim, a question in her gaze.

  “Unfortunately, they didn’t have a lot of information for us,” Jim said.

  “I got a lot more from Jim,” David said. “And if I believed such a thing would ever happen again, I’d do what he told me to do.”

  “Which was what?”

  “Alex, it wasn’t—”

  “I want to hear what Jim told you,” Alex said.

  “I pointed out some security issues I thought he should address,” Jim said with a smile. “But he’s the one who has to make that decision.”

  “David! What’s wrong with you? Why won’t you tighten your security?”

  “Alex, calm down. Take some deep breaths. It isn’t necessary. The shooting was random. Jim admitted they probably weren’t trying to kill me. If anything, they wanted to scare me.”

  “Well, they sure scared me!” she exclaimed.

  “You’re being ridiculous,” he said, taking her by the shoulders. “I’m fine, and I’ll continue to be fine. Did you wear this to work this morning?”

  “You’re trying to distract me,” Alex claimed.

  “Yeah, is it working?” David asked with a grin.

  “No!” she said, but she stopped arguing with him. Sitting down in her chair, she pretended to ignore him as she turned her attention to her computer screen.

  “You ready to go home, honey?” Jim asked Carrie, leaning over her chair to give her a kiss.

  “Can I have about fifteen minutes? I’ll be finished then.”

  “Sure. Where’s Will?”

  “He went home to see if he needed to help Viv with the evening.” Carrie kept typing as she talked.

  “Okay. Come on, David. Will’s got some good magazines in here,” Jim ordered. The two men went into Will’s office and closed the door.

  Alex turned and stared at the closed door, irritation on her face.

  Carrie smiled at Alex. “Alex, if Jim thought he was in real trouble, he’d be forcing him to make some changes. You can tell by Jim’s attitude that David is all right.”

  “Do you think so?” Alex asked.

  “Definitely. You saw how he tore out of here when he wasn’t sure David was safe.”

  “That’s true. Thank you, Carrie, for telling me that.”

  “I just don’t want you to worry.” She stood. “Now that we’ve talked, I can leave. Remember, you and David can come to the house whenever you’re ready. Will told you that before he left, didn’t he? You don’t have to wait until six to head over there.”

  “I know. It might be best if we go early and David can meet each of his sisters one at a time.”

  “That’s a good point, Alex. And Jim and I won’t be long at home. We don’t live far away.”

  “Good. David relies on Jim already.”

  Chapter Six

  David rang the doorbell at Will’s home, grabbing Alex’s hand as he did so.

  The door swung open to reveal an older man.

  Alex reached out her right hand. “You must be Peter. I’m Alexandra Buford and this is David Buford, Jim’s brother.”

  “Come right in. Mr. Will said you’d be here early. He and Miz Vivian are in the den. Come this way.”

  “We shouldn’t have come early,” David whispered as they moved down the wide hall passing several closed doors. They heard some laughter as they drew close to an open door. Just as they reached it, a small boy came running out.

  “Hi, Peter!” the child said, hugging Peter’s knees. Then he looked at David. “Uncle Jim?” he asked, looking a little confused.

  “This must be Danny,” Alex said, bending down to greet him on his level.

  “Yes, I’m Danny. Who are you?”

  “My name is Alex. I work for your daddy.”

  “Oh.” The child leaned closer. “Is that Uncle Jim?”

  “No, it’s his brother, David.”

  “Danny? Come back, dear,” a soft feminine voice called.

  Danny gav
e them a wide smile. “That’s Mommy.” He turned and ran back into the room.

  The threesome followed. Peter announced, “Ms. Alexandra Buford and Mr. David Buford.”

  “I wondered who Danny was talking to!” Vivian exclaimed as she came forward, followed by Will. “Welcome, Alex. Will has been raving about how good you are at your job. And, David, I’m so glad you’ve come to meet your family. They’re very anxious to see you.”

  “Thank you, Mrs. Greenfield,” David said. “It’s very kind of you to welcome us into your home.”

  Vivian leaned forward to hug David. “I hope you’ll consider this home your home, too. After all, you are Vanessa’s brother. And please call me Vivian.”

  “Thank you, Vivian.”

  Will shook David’s hand and gave Alex a small hug. “Come in and sit down. We’re playing with Danny, but I promise he’ll head for the kitchen when we eat.”

  “He doesn’t get to eat with us?” Alex asked. “We’d enjoy his company.” She took Danny’s hand when he came to her side.

  “He’ll be having his own party with the other little ones. Joey and Jamie, Rebecca’s children, will be there, too.”

  “Rebecca has two children?” David asked in surprise.

  “Yes, and Rachel is expecting her first child in a couple of months.”

  “They drove up yesterday and are staying with Rebecca and Jeff,” Will explained.

  “And Vanessa?” David asked.

  “She should be here anytime. She’s been quite busy, working on her doctorate in psychology.” They could all hear the pride in Vivian’s voice.

  “That’s wonderful,” Alex said. “It must be a very interesting study.”

  “Oh, yes, it is,” Vivian said. “But we all try to be careful what we say around her. She loves to psychoanalyze us.”

  “That must be weird,” David said.

  Will laughed. “Vivian exaggerates. Vanessa is a delightful young woman.”

  “She was a tiny baby the last time I saw her.” David raised his head as he heard a woman’s voice in the hallway.

  Danny, too, reacted. Leaving Alex’s side, he began running toward the door. When a tall, graceful young woman entered, he leaped for her, his arms outstretched. “’Nessa, I missed you!”

  She scooped the little boy up and hugged him. “I missed you, too, Danny.”

  “Darling,” Vivian interjected, gesturing at Alex and David, “this is Alex Buford, Will’s new employee, and her cousin and your brother, David Buford.”

  Vanessa let Danny return to the floor and stared at David. Then she imitated Danny, almost leaping into David’s embrace.

  “Oh, David, I’m so glad we found you!” she said as she stepped back, tears in her eyes. “Now we can all be together.”

  “Except for Wally,” David added.

  “Yes. Jim always feels guilty when we mention Wally because he followed Jim into the Marines.”

  “I know it’s not Jim’s fault. He’s pretty protective of his family. I’ve already experienced that,” David added with a laugh.

  “What do you mean?” Vanessa asked.

  “I had a little…incident today. Before I knew it, Jim was there.”

  “Darling,” Vivian interjected again, “I know you’re excited about David, but you shouldn’t ignore Alex.”

  “Oh!” Vanessa exclaimed, her cheeks turning red. “No, I’m so sorry! Please forgive me, Alex.”

  “Of course I will. I would’ve reacted the same way if I was meeting my brother for the first time.”

  “Thank you. So you and David are cousins?” Vanessa asked.

  “Yes. I was five when I first met him.”

  “How old was he?”

  “He was eight, and he definitely thought he was in charge.”

  Vanessa looked from Alex to David. Then she said, “Ah.”

  Vivian laughed. “Careful, Vanessa. I warned them you would try to psychoanalyze them.”

  “Mom, you didn’t!”

  “I’m afraid I did.”

  Before anyone could say anything else, Peter escorted Jim and Carrie into the room. Vivian hugged them both, then asked Carrie how she was feeling.

  “Fine,” Carrie replied. “I’ll just be glad when I get to the second trimester so I’m not so tired all the time.”

  “I understand exactly how you feel,” Vivian said.

  Vanessa had taken a seat next to Alex. “I’m glad someone else hasn’t been pregnant, Alex. I was getting tired of being the only one who hasn’t had a baby or isn’t in the middle of a pregnancy.”

  Alex chuckled. “Well, when you do get pregnant, hopefully after a beautiful wedding, you’ll know exactly what to expect.”

  “I hadn’t thought of that. I suppose that is a good thing.” Vanessa laughed, then asked, “Are you planning a wedding soon, Alex?”

  Alex was taken aback. “No, I’m not. Are you?”

  “No. It’s hard to find men like my brothers. And I don’t think I’ll be satisfied with anything less.”

  Alex looked at David and Jim, both tall, sexy men, and murmured, “I can see the problem. They are really special, aren’t they?”

  “Yes. Of course, Mom found a good one, so I shouldn’t give up hope. And Rebecca and Rachel, too.”

  “I do like Will. He’s a great boss.”

  “He’s not bad as a stepfather, either,” Vanessa said with a grin.

  Peter now appeared with Rachel and J. D. Stanley, and Rebecca and Jeff Jacobs.

  David had more memory of the twins. Alex could see the emotion in his eyes as he met the two young women as adults, along with their husbands. When he glanced around for the children, Rebecca laughed.

  “I’m afraid they are much more interested in Betty and Peter. You’ll get to meet them after dinner.”

  “Did you hear that, Danny?” Will said. “Joey and Jamie are in the kitchen with Betty. Do you want to go with Peter so you can play with your cousins? I think Betty has some special treats for you all.”

  After Peter left, Vivian said, “Betty has some special treats for us, too.”

  J.D., owner of a ranch in West Texas, said, “I hope so. I was counting on her feeding us well.”

  Rachel swatted his arm. “You make it sound like you’re starving, J.D. Rebecca made us a lovely lunch.”

  “It was great, but it was six hours ago. Takes a lot of food to keep me going.”

  Everyone laughed, especially as the door opened and Betty brought in two plates of hors d’oeuvres.

  “Here you are, Betty,” J.D. greeted her. “I’ve missed you!”

  “I’ve missed feeding you, Mr. J.D. You look like you’ve lost weight.”

  “Well, when Rachel was first pregnant, a lot of things made her sick, so I had to give them up for a while, too. You know how it is.”

  “That I do. And I’m proud of you putting your wife’s comfort in front of your stomach.”

  Everyone laughed.

  Jeff said, “You couldn’t tell he was suffering from the amount he had at lunch. I went home to join them and almost didn’t get anything to eat.”

  “Here you go, Mr. Jeff. I made your favorites,” Betty said.

  “Betty likes to feed hungry men,” Vanessa whispered to Alex. “But she eventually remembers us mere females.”

  Carrie heard Vanessa’s remark. “You’ll have to admit, we never run out of food, and she does make your favorites, too.”

  “I know. She takes good care of us. I guess that’s why I still live at home,” Vanessa admitted. She looked at Alex. “Do you still live at home?”

  “No, my mother and David’s mother share a house. It would be hard enough to live with my mother, but I don’t really get along with David’s.”

  “Why not?” Vanessa asked.

  “Mmm, well, she likes to be the center of attention…all the time. She expects David to be at her beck and call constantly. And he tries. But she’s never satisfied.”

  “She doesn’t sound like a lot of fun,” Vane
ssa said.

  “Don’t say that to David. He’ll try to defend her,” Alex warned, as she glanced across the room and saw David talking to the twins.

  “So did he have a happy childhood?” Vanessa asked.

  “Yes, I suppose so. His father was there to take care of his mother until a few years ago. David went into the family business and ended up running it. He’s done an incredible job, and his mother certainly enjoys her share of the profits.”

  “Does she have a job?” Vanessa asked.

  Alex laughed. “Absolutely not. That’s what men are for.”

  “Oh, dear. I don’t think I like her, either.”

  Alex frowned. “I shouldn’t have said so much. I’m probably a little biased. David has accomplished so much, but I’m not sure he gets credit for it.”

  “I won’t say anything,” Vanessa promised.

  Alex relaxed. She figured Vanessa would keep her word, like David and Jim. It seemed to be a Barlow trait.

  David called her over and introduced her to his twin sisters, too. She liked both of them. And, as Carrie had pointed out, all David’s sisters were beauties. Alex was surprised, however, when Rebecca pointed out that she looked a lot like them.

  “Oh, no, I can’t compare with you three,” she protested.

  “I think she does,” David said. “I always thought of the three of you when I was around Alex.”

  “Well, you certainly didn’t show it!” Alex exclaimed.

  Everyone laughed.

  “No, I didn’t,” David agreed. “I was trying hard not to remember my old family.”

  “Why, David?” Jim asked.

  It took several moments for David to answer. “Mom told me I should never think about my birth family. I was disloyal to her and Dad if I did.”

  “How terrible!” Vivian exclaimed.

  “Yes. I should’ve ignored her,” David said, his head down.

  Jim crossed to David’s side. “No, Vivian didn’t mean you were terrible. She means your mother was terrible to tell you that. I bet you were just a little boy when she began telling you that.”

  “Of course I wasn’t talking about you when I said that was terrible,” Vivian said. “I think it was very wrong of your mother to try to get rid of your memories!”

  David raised his head. “I appreciate your understanding my situation. I…I need to forgive myself. And be grateful that you found me.”