A Texas Bond

by Shannon Taylor Vannatter

  Please don’t ask for more. Please don’t take them.

  “I just can’t believe this. We should have known about this, before they were born.” Sam kept up his pacing.

  “Getting angry doesn’t help anything.” Karen stood, cut her husband off and grasped his hands. “We have two adorable redheaded grandchildren. We’re wasting time talking and pacing, when we could be meeting them.”

  Sam blew out a big breath, just the way Stacia had seen Ross do countless times.

  “You’re right.” Sam hugged his wife. “As usual. When can we meet our grandchildren?”

  “There’s no time like the present.” Ross looked her way.

  “They should be awake by now.” Stacia tried to put some enthusiasm in her response. “Let’s go to the house.”

  “I’m sorry for barging in on you like this, Stacia.” Karen’s tone echoed her apology. “We had no idea of the situation when we decided to invite ourselves here. When Ross said he was with a friend, we assumed you were his girlfriend and wanted to meet you.”

  “It’s fine.” Just don’t try to take them and everything will be fine.

  She stood, legs still noodly, and led the way to the house.

  Inside, chatter came from the kitchen as Ross’s parents hesitated in the foyer.

  “Come on in. Sounds like Daddy’s cooking breakfast. Are y’all hungry?” Thankfully her voice held up and she didn’t sound as jittery as she felt. She hoped.

  “I couldn’t eat a thing.” Karen pressed a hand to her midriff. “My stomach is doing acrobatics.”

  “They’re great kids,” Ross said. “They’ll love y’all.”

  “I hope so.” Karen smoothed her hands down each side of her slacks.

  “This way.” Stacia led the way to the kitchen.

  In the kitchen, Daddy was flipping pancakes and catching them in the skillet as the twins giggled. Even though they’d seen his antics countless times. He noticed the Lyleses and promptly dropped a pancake for the first time Stacia could ever remember.

  “Grandpa, you missed it.” Mason frowned. “You never miss it.”

  “I think we distracted him.” Ross took the blame. “Y’all have company.”

  “Uncle Ross.” Mason scampered over to hug his new favorite person.

  Maybe he’d move down the list once the twins met their other grandparents. But that would put Stacia way down the roll.

  “We don’t have school for the rest of the week.” Madison gave him a high five and then got her hug. “I like school. But I like sleeping in and eating pancakes too. It’s like we’ll have a really long weekend.”

  “You’re right.”

  “Y’all were here last night.” Mason stared at Sam and Karen.

  “You’re right. We were.”

  “With that long-haired guy. Where’s he?”

  Stacia held her breath. They’d forgotten to discuss Ron with his parents.

  “He needed help, so we got him some,” Ross said. “He left last night.”

  She started breathing again.

  “I want y’all to meet my parents.”

  Since Madison was fascinated with relatives, Stacia knew she’d put it together and saw the light in the child’s eyes when she did.

  “So you’re our grandparents?”

  “You’re a very bright girl.” Karen stepped farther into the room.

  “Her report card is always better than mine.” Mason peered at them. “If y’all are our grandparents, then you know our dad.”

  Stacia’s heart almost leaped out of her chest. “The twins know about their dad’s job and how it’s so important he doesn’t get to see them.”

  “That’s right.” Karen’s eyes turned glossy. “I’m sorry about that. But your grandfather and I are here. And we want to spend lots of time with you both.”

  “Did you just find out about us, like Uncle Ross?” Madison asked.

  “Yes.” Sam leaned against the countertop. “But now that we know, you’ll be seeing a lot of us.”

  “Yay!” The twins’ voices blended as they often did.

  “Would you like some pancakes?” Daddy asked. “I promise not to drop them on the floor.”

  “I can’t remember the last time I had pancakes.” Karen’s eyes closed in an obvious effort to pull her emotions together. “I hate to put you to the trouble though.”

  “No trouble.” Daddy poured more batter into his skillet. “Have a seat and they’ll be coming right up.”

  Karen and Sam claimed the two chairs facing the twins.

  “We like peanut butter and syrup on our pancakes.” Mason traced his finger through a trail of salt he’d probably poured on the table. “What do you like on yours?”

  “Usually just syrup. But we may have to try it your way.” Sam grinned.

  And just like that, Mason and Madison wrapped two more adults around their little fingers. Stacia just prayed they’d be content with visits.

  She busied herself getting drinks and helping Daddy multitask, while trying to ignore the bonding going on.

  “All right, here we go.” Daddy handed her a plate piled with pancakes as he carried the scrambled eggs to the table.

  Everyone claimed their seats, with Ross by his parents and Stacia flanked by the twins across from him. Daddy said a prayer, but Stacia didn’t hear any of it.

  “So are y’all gonna live here, like Uncle Ross?” Mason talked around his mouthful of pancakes.

  “No talking with food in your mouth,” Stacia reminded him.

  “Sorry.”

  Karen chuckled. “We’re just visiting on our way to see my parents in Hondo.”

  “So they’d be our—” Madison paused to think “—great-grandparents, right?”

  “That’s right, and they’ll be tickled to hear all about the two of you.” Karen beamed.

  If there was any anger or scheming in her, she certainly didn’t show it.

  “Can we go with you to meet them?” Mason asked.

  “What have we told you about inviting yourself places, boy?” Daddy’s voice turned gruff.

  But Stacia wasn’t sure if it was because he was upset with Mason or the thought of the twins traveling with Sam and Karen. Her stomach churned and she set her fork down.

  “Your grandfather is right.” Sam sipped his coffee. “You shouldn’t invite yourself places. But in this case, we’d love for you to go.”

  “I don’t know—” Stacia tried to think of a reasonable excuse, but her brain spun.

  “You could come too.” Ross threw her a lifeline. “You know Nanny.”

  “You do?” Karen shot her a confused frown.

  “I’ve bought items from Myrna several times. I love her store.”

  “What a small world. Please join us. You too, Maverick.”

  “When were y’all planning to head out?” Daddy forked a mouthful of pancakes.

  “Saturday?” Karen and Sam’s voices blended together.

  “That won’t work.” Thankfully. “I’d love to see Myrna, but we’ve had this big order at the store and I have to make sure everything gets shipped that morning. And our part-time employees have been pulling double shifts so we could complete the order. I told them they could have Saturday off as a reward. It’s always our busiest day, so we’ll have to both be here to run the store.”

  “But we could still go.” Madison glanced from Daddy to Stacia. “Who’ll keep us if y’all are both at the store?”

  “You can stay at the store with us.”

  “That’s sooooo boring.” Mason rolled his eyes.

  “No eye rolling.” She wagged a finger at him.

  “We’d love to take the children with us. My folks would love it.” Karen closed her eyes as if savoring the idea. “It’s only an hour away. We could leave in the morning and
be back by suppertime.”

  “Pleeeeeaaaaase!” the twins begged.

  “Now stop that.” Daddy checked his watch. “Speaking of the store, I better get to it.”

  “I’ll go.” Stacia pushed her plate away and stood. “I’ll handle things there while you entertain our guests.”

  “If you both need to go, we’ll be fine on our own.” Karen started picking up plates. “These two will be plenty of entertainment.”

  “I can handle it. Thursdays aren’t usually very busy.” More than anything, Stacia wanted Daddy to stay and supervise.

  “I’ll clean up.” Daddy tried to shoo Karen away from the table.

  “But what about Saturday?” Madison pressed.

  “We’ll think about it.” But right now, she needed to escape. To get away from the twins longing to meet even more family members, away from Ross, away from the threat of losing Mason and Madison.

  * * *

  Finished with the cattle, Ross hurried toward his apartment as the sun set. He’d enjoyed two days spent with his folks, the twins and Maverick. Yesterday, they’d hung around the ranch. Today, they’d taken the kids to the dude ranch in Bandera with Maverick.

  Though Stacia worked the store both days, she’d been overly generous with letting them spend time with the twins. As if she thought she could ward off her imagined custody battle by letting his folks practically live at the ranch.

  But truth be told, he’d missed her. How had she done it, wound herself into his heart, despite all his efforts of keeping her from it?

  Inside, his parents waited for him.

  “Hey. We’re just breaking and entering.” Mom chuckled. “Actually Maverick gave us a key. We’re all supposed to go to Bandera for supper, so we thought we’d give them a break from us for a bit until time to go.”

  The first time they’d been alone since his parents had arrived. “I’m really sorry I didn’t tell y’all about the kids.”

  “It wasn’t really your place.” Dad’s tone was harsher than usual, a testament to how much Ron had hurt him. Hurt all of them.

  “Your brother should have told us.” Mom held her hands up as if warding off argument. “But it doesn’t matter. We’re here now and we’ll have years to make up for lost time with our adorable grandchildren.”

  “Are y’all okay with them staying with Stacia?”

  “Of course.” Dad set his hat on the dresser. “Houston isn’t that far. We can visit back and forth.”

  “I told her that, but she’s afraid y’all will sue her for custody.”

  “Oh no, we’d never do that.” Mom shook her head. “I mean unless they were being neglected or mistreated. But they’re obviously happy and this is their home.”

  “Maybe she’ll believe it if y’all tell her.”

  “We most certainly will.”

  “You really like her, don’t you?” Dad raised an eyebrow.

  “It doesn’t matter.”

  “You don’t think she likes you?” Mom scrutinized him. “I think you’re wrong. There’s something in the way she looks at you.”

  “She doesn’t trust me. I told her how I felt and she thought I was using her to get custody of the twins.”

  “Well maybe once we tell her she can keep the kids, she’ll settle down and see the real you.” Mom patted his arm.

  “Thanks.” Not likely. And he couldn’t go through the whole distrustful relationship again. Once was enough. “Have I got time to clean up?”

  Dad checked his watch. “Twenty minutes.”

  Ross took a quick shower and as he towel dried his hair after dressing, a knock sounded at the apartment door. When he stepped out of the bathroom, Stacia was there, just inside the open door as if she might need a hasty escape.

  All the oxygen drained out of him at her presence.

  “We’re still on for supper, right?” Mom asked.

  “Our treat.” Dad tried to sweeten the pot.

  “Yes. Daddy will be here with the kids soon. I wanted to come over a bit early. To ask—to beg.” Her eyes turned glossy. “Please don’t take them away from us. You can visit anytime you want. I realize Ron may change his mind on our custody arrangement, since he saw them, but I can’t lose them.”

  “Oh honey.” Mom hugged her. “We’re not in the business of uprooting children.”

  “If you can’t trust me on anything else,” Ross caught her gaze over Mom’s shoulder, “trust me on this. Though it pains me to say it, Ron has no interest.”

  “Look at everybody getting along.” Maverick stepped inside the open door. “I’ve got two hungry Keyes children raring to go.”

  Maybe getting to know his parents a bit tonight would appease her. If his folks could work out a visitation schedule, then after the day trip to Hondo, he and his parents could go back to Houston. Then deal with whatever damage there was and he could leave Stacia behind for good.

  Maybe then he could repair the damage she’d done to his heart.

  “Uncle Ross, your hair’s all flippy.” Madison giggled.

  “That’s cause it’s wet, munchkin. We ready?” He scanned all the faces, but his gaze locked with Stacia’s.

  “We can wait for you to dry your hair,” Mom said.

  “I’m fine. Let’s go.”

  “Can we all ride together?” Mason was obviously enthralled with his new grandparents. “We can all fit in Aunt Stacia’s SUV.”

  Her mouth tightened, but she didn’t protest.

  The gathering flowed out of the apartment and loaded in the vehicle.

  The fifteen-minute drive was filled with chatter from the twins as usual. Upon arriving, Stacia was able to park close.

  As they stepped inside the OST, his dad looked around. “What’s the name of this place?”

  “The Old Spanish Trail, OST for short.” Stacia gave the hostess a head count.

  “Could we get a table in the John Wayne room?” The side room decorated with the Duke memorabilia was a bit more private and less noisy the times Ross had stopped in over the last month.

  “Of course. Right this way.”

  “Isn’t it awesome?” Mason pointed out the covered wagon salad bar, the saddle barstool seating and the enormous trophy elk on the wall that servers had to duck underneath.

  “They don’t serve alcohol here.” Stacia smiled, obviously on hyper alert trying to prove she was a suitable guardian for the twins. “The bar is just for food.”

  Once they were seated, they gave their drink orders and checked out the menu. When their drinks arrived, the server took their food orders and left them alone.

  “Thank you for making us feel so welcome.” Mom patted Stacia’s hand. “We’ll probably head back to Houston Sunday morning.”

  Stacia paled. “So soon?”

  Huh? Ross expected her to be glad.

  “We need to check on our house and the store. But we should be able to come back in two weeks, if that’s okay with you.”

  “Two weeks?” Her voice cracked. “The kids have school.”

  “Yes. If it’s not too much, we’d like to come and visit Mason and Madison every other weekend.”

  “Visit them, here?” Some color returned to her face.

  “Well, yes. This is where they live. Eventually, we might want them to come visit us, maybe in the summer. But for weekend visits, it’ll be easier if we just come here. We’ll try not to crowd you or be a nuisance.”

  Stacia clutched a hand to her heart. “That sounds fine.”

  She must have thought they planned to take the twins with them for two weeks.

  “Wonderful. Now that we have things settled, have you decided about tomorrow?”

  She glanced at Ross, then the hopeful faces of their mutual niece and nephew. “I think they’d enjoy visiting more grandparents.”

  “Yay!�
� the twins echoed one another.

  “You’re the best, Aunt Stacia.” Mason smacked her a high five across the table.

  “Thank you.” Mom gave Stacia’s hand a quick squeeze. “And Mason is right, you kids are very blessed to have Stacia for an aunt.”

  The tension eased and she seemed to relax as their food arrived.

  Could Mom be right? If Stacia could get it settled in her heart that the twins were hers, could she see him in a new light? Dare he hope?

  * * *

  This had to be the longest day in history. Stacia had seen the twins off this morning, but it seemed like days ago. The store had kept her busy with getting the B and B shipment off and a constant flow of customers. But she’d been unable to focus and as the workday ended, she was anxious for their return.

  Thankfully, the Lyleses seemed content with the twins living with her. Eventually, she’d have to deal with the twins going to Houston for visits during school holidays. She dreaded dragging them back and forth for road trips and if she took them or Ross picked them up, they’d have to see each other.

  Tying her to him and his fake feelings forever.

  She checked her watch. Shouldn’t they be back by now? Had she been too trusting? Her hands shook.

  “Relax.” Daddy shot her a wink. “Ron’s out of the picture. Karen and Sam are content with visits. The twins are probably having the time of their lives.”

  “I hope so. I really do. But I was expecting them back by now.”

  “They’re meeting their great-grandparents for the first time. That’s not something you can rush.”

  “I guess you’re right.”

  “Sweetheart, the Lyles family aren’t scheming, manipulative or obsessed like your aunt was.”

  “I hope you’re right.”

  “I am. Why don’t you go take a walk? You’re wound tighter than a roll of barbed wire.”

  It was tempting to let the chatter of birds and the fresh air soothe her fried nerves.

  “Go on. I’ll close up.”

  “Okay.” She tried to give him a reassuring smile, but didn’t quite pull it off.