A Texas Family Reunion

by Judy Christenberry

  Alex sighed inwardly. “All right, Aunt June. Goodbye.”

  After she hung up, Carrie said, “Don’t tell me she refused to go see her son.”

  “I’m afraid so. But she said he should come see her when he gets out because she has some things she wants him to do for her. Incredible motherly love, isn’t it?”

  “Oh, poor David. You were right about her. It’s so hard to believe.”

  “What is, honey?” Jim asked, having come into the office as she was talking.

  “David’s mother doesn’t care about going to see him, but she has some things she wants him to do for her! She doesn’t even care that he’s been shot.”

  Jim frowned. “She can’t be that insensitive, can she?”

  Alex sent him a grim smile. “You want her phone number?”

  “Wow! I didn’t believe your description of her earlier.”

  “Poor David,” Carrie said again.

  Alex just shook her head. “He knows how she is. He told me not to tell her. But we thought we should give her a chance to redeem herself.”

  “We?” Jim asked, looking at his wife.

  Carrie’s cheeks flushed. “Well, I didn’t believe any mother could behave like that.”

  “Do you have to tell David?” Jim asked next. “He’s doing okay, but I don’t think you should tell him something that might hurt him or depress him.”

  “It probably wouldn’t—he knows what June’s like—but I won’t tell him. Besides, Carrie says you’re both going to see him tonight.”

  “Uh, I think Vanessa and Rebecca may come, too. Rachel wanted to come, but she’s already made one trip up here, and her doctor forbids her to come again.”

  “Oh, goodness, no. That’s not at all necessary.” Alex figured David would be completely overwhelmed by so many visitors.

  “Does Pete have any family?” Jim asked.

  “No, he doesn’t. Was he still there when you got to the hospital?”

  “Yeah, they’re keeping him another day.”

  “Why?” Alex asked anxiously.

  “He was running a fever. The guys said the doctor didn’t seem very concerned and said Pete could probably go home in the morning.”

  “Does David think he’ll go home in the morning?” Alex asked.

  “And where will he go if he does? To his mother’s house?” Carrie asked. “I mean, after all, his condo burned to the ground.”

  It was Alex’s turn to feel the heat rise in her cheeks, but she pretended not to notice. “No, he’s staying in my second bedroom until he finds a new place.”

  “He told me he’s thinking about buying a house,” Jim said.

  Alex stared at him.

  “Is that a problem?” Jim asked.

  “No, of course not. I just hadn’t heard that he was looking for a house.”

  “It may be a sudden idea. You know, what he’s gone through can change a guy’s way of thinking. I certainly found that in the service.”

  “I hadn’t told anyone that we’re looking for a house,” Carrie said with a big smile. “That’s probably why the subject came up at the hospital.”

  “Oh, I see. Well, it probably would be a good thing for David to do. It would help with his taxes. And maybe he’ll let me help pick out new furniture and decorate it!” She ended with a smile.

  “I don’t imagine he’d turn down your help, Alex,” Jim said. “That’s going to be a time-consuming project, starting from scratch.”

  “But it’ll really be fun.”

  “Yes, it would,” Carrie agreed.

  Jim sent his wife a concerned look. “Do you want us to throw out everything and start over?”

  “No, of course not. I love what we have. But if it were necessary, I’d enjoy it. That’s what I meant.”

  “If you buy a house, Carrie, you’ll need to buy some new things,” Alex said. “You’ll have more space and probably more rooms. You’ll have to buy things to blend in with what you’ve got. That’ll demand some serious shopping.”

  Carrie’s dreamy smile had Jim sending a look of gratitude to Alex. Then he changed the subject. “How’s your case coming, Alex?”

  “Pretty well. I need to take the digital camera and get some shots. Then I think I can wrap it up.”

  “Good job. And quick. We have plenty waiting, so don’t think you’re going on vacation,” Jim told her with a smile.

  “With David’s problems, I’ll probably have used all my first year’s vacation days before he’s well and in a new place.”

  “You going to take him home from the hospital tomorrow if he gets discharged?” Jim asked.

  “Yes, unless Susan is going to be there to take Pete home. I could give her my key so she could let David in. I might be able to bribe her to go in with him and make sure he gets in bed. But I don’t think she’d stay to feed him lunch because she’ll want to feed Pete his lunch.”

  “I think you should plan on taking him home, Alex,” Carrie said. “Will’ll understand that you’re not playing around. Especially when we tell him about David’s mother.”

  “I don’t want to try his patience too much,” Alex said, looking at Jim.

  “You won’t be. He figured you might need a couple of weeks to finish up your first case, and you’ve already finished it in five days. One week on the mark, and you’ll be ready for another case when you get in here tomorrow.”

  Will came in just then.

  Carrie stopped him to explain Alex’s dilemma.

  “Of course you should take him home and settle him in. Will he need a lot of care? You could bring him to our house and let Betty fatten him up, if you want. Vivian would love it as much as Betty.”

  “Oh, no, I wouldn’t do that, but if you don’t mind, I’ll take the middle of the day off, maybe eleven to two, to go get him and settle him in bed, make him some lunch. His mother expects him to do everything for her, but never offers to do anything for him.”

  “Sure, eleven to two is fine.”

  “And she’s wrapped up the case except for photos, and I might be able to do those for her in the morning,” Jim said.

  “I can do them in the morning,” Alex protested.

  “But then you’d be on the road all day going out to Plano and coming back. If you stay at the hospital with David and then take him home before you come to work, you’d only make your normal drive.”

  “Good thinking, Jim,” Will said. “I think that’ll work best. And, Alex, you’re doing a good job. Don’t worry about the time off to help David.”

  Chapter Ten

  When Alex reached the hospital that afternoon, Susan was already there.

  “How are you?” Alex asked, looking first at David and then Pete.

  Pete answered at once. “I’m fine. My fever has gone and the nurse says I’m doing well.”

  “Great,” Alex said. Then to David, “Why aren’t you saying anything?”

  “I’m fine,” he said, not looking at her.

  She moved to his bedside. “What’s wrong?”

  “Nothing.” Then, as if her concern had opened a door, he continued, “I’m bored to death. It’s so unproductive to lie here all day when I need to be at the office.”

  “Today is Thursday. I bet if you’re good, you’ll be able to go back to the office on Monday. That’s not too bad,” Alex said with a smile. “And I think you’ll have lots of company tonight.”

  David looked surprised. “Who?”

  “Maybe I shouldn’t tell you,” Alex teased.

  “Come on, Alex, tell me.”

  “Some of your family are talking about coming.”

  Susan seemed surprised more than David. “You mean Mom may come? That’s a shock.”

  David frowned.

  Alex hurriedly explained. “No, I meant David’s other family.”

  They were interrupted by a nurse’s aide bringing in a big bouquet to place on the shelf.

  “Oh, how lovely!” Alex exclaimed.

  “Yeah, and there’re
two more,” the aide said, heading for the door. “They’re on the trolly out here….”

  Alex followed her out. “May I help you?”

  “That’d be nice. I can only carry one at a time.”

  They brought in the remaining flower arrangements. After thanking the aide, Alex unpinned the card on the one she’d carried in. Handing it to David, she waited for him to tell her who the flowers were from.

  In a low voice, he said, “These are from Will, Vivian and Vanessa.”

  Susan had taken the card off the largest bouquet. “These are from the people at work. How sweet of them!”

  They discovered the other arrangement was from Rachel and J. D. Stanley.

  “Rachel wanted to come see you, but the doctor wouldn’t let her travel so far again,” Alex said.

  “Who are they and why can’t she travel?” Pete asked.

  “She’s one of my sisters, one of the twins, and she’s pregnant,” David said, a smile on his face.

  “Where do they live?” Susan wanted to know.

  “On a ranch in West Texas,” Alex said.

  “David, are you still my brother?” Susan asked, concern in her voice.

  “Of course I am,” he said. “We’ve been brother and sister for twenty-five years, and that won’t change.”

  “They’re not like Mom,” Susan said.

  “No, and thank goodness you aren’t, either. Mom and Janet are in a class by themselves.” David smiled at Susan. “Have you told Pete about our wonderful mother and sister?”

  “No.” Susan avoided looking at Pete and fell silent.

  “Who are the other flowers from?” Pete asked.

  “My baby sister, Vanessa, and her mother and stepfather,” David said. “Alex works for him.”

  “Oh, yeah. But that’s not Jim?”

  “No, Jim works for Will, too, along with Carrie, his wife.”

  “Man, your family is growing by leaps and bounds, isn’t it?” Pete said with a small laugh. It reminded Alex that Pete was alone in the world.

  “Those flowers certainly cheer up the room, don’t they?” Alex smiled brightly at David and Pete. “Especially the one from the company. That was so thoughtful of them.”

  “Yeah,” David agreed.

  “And I have even better news. I get the entire morning off tomorrow so I can take you home and get you settled in bed, fed some lunch and all that.” Alex watched David’s face. He hadn’t shown much pleasure this afternoon since her arrival.

  “I was thinking maybe I should go to a hotel,” he said, avoiding her gaze.

  “I won’t let you do that, David! You wouldn’t have anyone there to take care of you!”

  “But I shouldn’t put you out. It’s not your fault my condo burned to the ground.”

  “No! I’ll take you home in the morning. Now, Susan, you want me to get you some supper while I go down and get mine?”

  “Um, I’ll go with you, if you don’t mind.”

  “Of course not. You guys need anything?”

  They both said no and the two young women left the room.

  While they waited for the elevator, Alex asked, “What’s wrong with David? He seems really down.”

  “I don’t know. He’s been like that since I got here. But it is pretty depressing not to have a place to go home to, or any belongings.” She sighed.

  “Well, maybe his visitors will cheer him up.”

  “Who’s coming?”

  “I think both his sisters who are in town, and Jim and Carrie. Jim is the oldest of the Barlows, and you’ll love Carrie. She’s wonderful.”

  “You mean I’ll meet his real sisters? Should I?”

  “Why not?”

  “I don’t know. It just seems weird.”

  “You’ll like them,” Alex insisted.

  “DAVID, WHAT’S WRONG?” Pete asked, sitting up in his bed.

  “Nothing.”

  Pete shook his head. “Don’t tell me nothing when you’re acting like the world is ending.”

  “I don’t know. It just seems… My family has never been close,” he said. “I mean my adopted family. I guess I was feeling sorry for myself, and now I feel foolish because my real family is making a fuss about me. And then I think about you not having any family, and I feel guilty.”

  “But I have a really good friend, David. You’ve stood by me ever since we met our freshman year. Heck, you even shared your attackers with me,” Pete said with a grin.

  “Yeah, I did, didn’t I? And I’ve also shared my baby sister with you.” He chuckled. “She seems pretty much preoccupied with you.”

  “Is that okay? I’ve been wanting to ask you, but other things kept getting in the way.”

  “Pete, I’d love to have you as a brother-in-law, should things between you and Susan work out that way. Compared to my other brother-in-law, Janet’s husband, you’d win hands down. I don’t know Rebecca’s and Rachel’s husbands very well yet. They might give you some competition,” he added with a small smile.

  “Okay. I love winning contests,” Pete said with the wide grin that always cheered David up. “And I was afraid that you’d be upset about Susan paying so much attention to me, but I guess the fear was groundless. Especially as you’ve got Alex hovering over you.”

  “Now that worries me.”

  “Why?”

  “We’ve never been close. She’s independent. And she’s always had men around her. Now I’ve moved into her second bedroom. That seems a little strange.”

  “Good strange or bad strange?”

  “How could it be good strange?”

  “Well, if you like being with her, find her attractive, which I think any man alive would, then you should accept what she’s offering and see what happens.”

  David almost jumped off his bed. “Nothing is going to happen!”

  “Why are you so sure? You’re not really kin to her.”

  “Yes, I am! She’s my cousin. I…I accepted her offer to stay with her because I didn’t have anywhere else to go. But I don’t think I should stay there.”

  “Aha! Because it’s good strange,” Pete concluded.

  “You’re going to drive me crazy. Don’t talk about ‘good strange’ ever again.”

  Pete lay back against his pillow. “I don’t think I’m the one driving you crazy,” he said softly.

  “I’m warning you, Pete!”

  Alex stared at David as she walked in the door. “What are you warning Pete about?”

  “Nothing,” David said, scowling.

  Alex decided to ignore his response. “Guess what we bought.”

  “Your dinner,” David said.

  “There was a bakery across the street. We bought three dozen oatmeal cookies for you to serve your guests this evening. What’s left over you two can share. Wasn’t that a great idea?”

  “I guess so,” David said. “I’ve never played host in a hospital room before.”

  “Try one, Pete,” Susan said. “I don’t think one will spoil your appetite.”

  Pete was willing. Alex looked at David. “Do you want one, or are you going to be difficult?”

  “If I don’t want to try one, I’m difficult? For all you know, I hate oatmeal cookies.”

  “Do you?”

  “No, so I’ll take one.”

  Alex gave him a disgusted look. “Anyway, you’re still being difficult.”

  “Eat your dinner and I’ll be nice.”

  The two women settled down in chairs between the beds so they all could talk.

  “I’d be even nicer if you gave me a bite of your hamburger,” David said, looking longingly at Alex’s dinner.

  She immediately offered him half.

  “No, honey, I shouldn’t even ask for a bite. I know I don’t deserve half of your meal. Just a bite.”

  Alex gave him his bite and a couple of French fries, too. Then she said, “Jim said you’re thinking about buying a house.”

  “Yeah. It sounds good to me after the condo burning dow
n.”

  “Will you promise to let me help you decorate it?” Alex asked with a smile before a different thought occurred to her. “I mean, unless you—you know—have someone special in mind to, um, move in with you.”

  “No, Alex, I… I’d really appreciate your help. I don’t know much about doing that stuff.”

  She breathed a sigh of relief. “I’d love doing it. Susan could help me, too.”

  “It would be fun, David. And we wouldn’t make it all stuffy and stiff like Mom’s place.” Susan’s face scrunched up in distaste.

  “You’re right,” David said. “I wouldn’t want it furnished like Mom and Aunt Gladys’s house. And I like blue, but I don’t want it all blue.”

  “No, of course not,” Alex assured him.

  The patients’ dinner trays were brought in, and David and Pete dug in.

  “You know, I don’t know how I’ll eat alone when I go home,” Pete said. “It’s a lot more fun to eat with all of you.”

  “Me, too,” Susan said. “I hate eating by myself.”

  “Maybe we can start having a weekly dinner party, just the four of us,” Alex suggested.

  “That would be good,” David said, “but who’s going to cook?”

  “Well, I wouldn’t mind cooking occasionally, but I think we could go out, too,” said Alex.

  “I suppose so,” David agreed.

  They had just finished their meals and cleaned up when their first visitors arrived. Rebecca and Vanessa came in, eager to see David. Susan stared at them, her eyes wide.

  “Susan, say hello to David’s sisters, Rebecca and Vanessa.”

  “Hello,” she said hesitantly.

  “This is Susan, David’s sister, uh, other sister,” Alex said, suddenly feeling as awkward as Susan.

  But Rebecca and Vanessa immediately made Susan feel like part of their family. They asked questions about her life and told her how excited they were to have David back in theirs. Soon Susan was chatting as if she’d known them forever. And she included Pete in her conversation. Then Jim and Carrie arrived. Both David and Pete relaxed a little, glad to have another man in the room.

  Alex passed out oatmeal raisin cookies, and suddenly they were having a party. In the midst of it, Will and Vivian arrived.