Texas Sunrise

by Fern Michaels

  “That’s because he is happy. I keep getting this vision of him and Riley playing with all that money. I’m going to tell you a secret, and you have to promise not to tell anyone.”

  Maggie nodded, her eyes dancing with interest.

  “Cole and Riley think I don’t know, but I overheard them talking back in the spring when we were all at Sunbridge. You’d just done your number and the family was in a turmoil. Anyway, those guys decided to finance Miranda through Valentine Mitchell. She set it all up. Cary thinks he got the financing from some English firm. It was Cole’s way of securing Miranda in case anything goes awry with the plane. They’re twits,” Sawyer said fondly, “but as Adam says, they always come through when it counts. I just wanted to bust when I heard it. The only person I could tell was Adam, and he just said, ‘I told you so.’ You have reason to be proud of Cole.”

  “Val set it up?”

  “Yes, she did. She was very good to this family, Maggie. I’m sorry she won’t be representing us anymore. You could always count on Val. I don’t think anyone has heard from her.”

  “In the beginning I was so certain she lied to me. Now I’m not sure. I don’t know why that is, Sawyer.”

  “I don’t know why either, Maggie. Does it really matter now?”

  “I thought it did ... does ... maybe, I don’t know. I try to block it all out, to keep busy. I got rid of all the furniture. At first I just got rid of the bedroom stuff, and Chesney’s too. Then the office stuff and then the rest of everything. I would walk around here thinking I smelled Rand’s after-shave, him. He never even told me he deeded this house to me. I had a real crying jag on the day Val sent the deed. It reminded me of the day I got the deed to Sunbridge. God, I was drunk as a skunk, but that sobered me up real quick. I never took another drink after that. I don’t want to talk about this, Sawyer.”

  “That’s fine with me. What do you want to talk about?”

  “Mam, I guess. Your plane. Whatever.”

  “I’d rather not talk about Grandmam. I don’t want to cry anymore. I’m so glad Adam agreed to this move. Sumi is looking for a little house for us to rent. I think it will be good for the girls. All those little cousins over there will be wonderful for them. I bet they learn Japanese with ease. The cousins will learn English. Sumi promised to get me a girl to watch the twins, and a housekeeper. Adam is going to be really busy. He’s had an offer to do a book of his favorite cartoons for Random House. But don’t think we’re going to neglect the girls,” Sawyer said hastily. “We’ll have more quality time with them. They are a handful, Maggie.”

  “I don’t doubt that for a minute. If things get wild, I’ll call on Addie and have her get me some schoolgirls to help out. Take as long as you need. You said production is under way?”

  “Yes, I made two fast trips over there. Things are under control. A year and it will fly. The switch over from Coleman Aviation to ColeShad Aeronautics throws me every so often. Cole thinks we should go public with CSA. I can’t make up my mind. What do you think?”

  Maggie shrugged. “I don’t know much about it, but I don’t think Cole would steer you wrong. Val can probably . . . well, someone can . . . talk to a lawyer.” Maggie averted her eyes.

  “Were . . . are you jealous of Val?”

  “That’s as good a word as any. In many ways I admired her. She did everything on her own. It really doesn’t matter how she did it, she did it. Ivy talks to me about her a lot. Ivy considers her a friend-friend, if you know what I mean. She said every club, organization and legal firm in Miranda and Austin threw going-away parties for her. She said her picture was in the paper every day with glowing testimonials from judges, lawyers. and clients. She did it all on her own. I’m envious of that. Look at you, Sawyer, you did it. What have I done? Nothing. All I did was take. I was no mental match for Rand.

  “I’ve had a lot of time to look back on things. The last year or so, Rand spent so much time away. He said he was going to Maui. He said he was going to Hilo. He said he was going to England. He said he was going to Hong Kong to see Chesney. He said a lot of things. I think I did to Rand what Ivy said Susan did to Cary I made myself an extension of him. What was my contribution? I walked on the beach. I swam. I prepared food. I went to exercise class two or three times a week. I shopped. I read. My God, what kind of life is that? The worst part is, I didn’t see . . . didn’t think I should do anything differently. Rand must have been bored out of his mind. When Chesney returned from one of her trips, he came alive.”

  “Don’t do this to yourself . . . Mother,” Sawyer said, taking Maggie in her arms. “Let it go. That’s what you used to tell me. Take each new day as it comes.”

  “Easy for you to say,” Adam said, flopping down on a beach chair. “The terrors are clean and asleep. They rise and shine around the time the sun comes up. Sometimes before the sun comes up.”

  “That’s interesting to know. I’m an early riser myself,” Maggie said.

  “They’re very demanding,” Adam said.

  “They are little shits,” Sawyer said. “What one doesn’t think of, the other one does. Then they both act on it. If you had told me twins run in your family, I never would have married you.”

  They argued back and forth good-naturedly, then heatedly, almost coming to blows. Maggie watched and listened. They were so passionate about everything. She couldn’t ever remember having had such a discussion, such a fight, with Rand.

  “I could punch your lights out with one hand behind my back,” Sawyer blustered. “You were the one who forgot to buy the Fig Newtons. Don’t lie, Adam!”

  “While you’re trying to do that, I’d be snatching you baldheaded,” Adam stormed. “Jesus, I’m tired. Let’s go to bed, honey.”

  The tempest was over, if that’s what it was. Maybe this was the way young people communicated.

  Sawyer leaned over to kiss her husband’s cheek. “I’m kissing you now because when we get to bed I won’t have the energy. You don’t mind if we turn in, do you, Maggie?”

  “Good heavens no. You both look exhausted. What time is your plane tomorrow?”

  “Ten-thirty. We’ll have to leave here at nine. ’Night, Maggie,” Sawyer mumbled. Adam waved wearily.

  “Sleep tight,” Maggie said.

  Maggie walked down to the ocean, the damp sand tickling her feet. She sat down, cross-legged, and stared out across the moonlit water. How beautiful. How peaceful. The waves’ soft lapping was music to her ears. She hummed a few bars of a popular ditty until tears gathered in her eyes.

  She was alone.

  She thought about her family. Their lives seemed to be in order. No one needed her. Baby-sitting the twins for a week or so didn’t really qualify as having someone. If Cary was on track, that left only her and Susan at odds with life. Maybe she should call Susan when she went back to the house. And say what? Ask her to come here? Not a good idea, Maggie. Make the offer anyway. You know she’ll refuse.

  Mam. Don’t think about Mam. If you think about Mam, you’ll set yourself back months. Maggie hugged her knees, her toes digging into the sand.

  Sand castles.

  Maggie leaped to her feet and ran back to the house and into the kitchen, where she rummaged in the cabinet for a bowl, a plastic glass, and a bucket from under the sink.

  Grandmothers built sand castles.

  Maggie worked diligently, lugging buckets of water to a spot high on the beach so it would stay intact until morning when the twins awoke. She molded and sculpted with the Tupperware bowl and Burger King plastic glass. When she finished at four o’clock, she rocked back on her heels to stare at the wonder she’d created. It had turrets, windows, a moat, and a drawbridge. The girls would love it. It was almost perfect. But every castle needed a flag. She raced to the garage, where she searched for a swatch of suitable material. She decided on one from the Pacific Jewels collection. She grimaced. What good was a flag without a flagpole? She bounded out of the garage and into the house. In the bathroom she found the pe
rfect flagpole—a cuticle orange stick. She was back in the garage a moment later, dabbing Krazy Glue on the stick. When she had pressed the small flag around the cylinder, she reached for the pinking shears and snipped at the edges.

  Perfecto.

  Maggie ran back to the beach and positioned her flag to the right of her drawbridge—the shiny cardboard tray chicken cutlets came wrapped in. She felt pleased with herself, almost as pleased as the day her color swatches were made final.

  In the shower, she remembered her intention to call Susan. She felt like singing and wasn’t sure why.

  Back on the lanai, dressed in a one-piece playsuit the color of the Hawaiian sky, Maggie reached for the portable phone. “Suse, it’s Maggie.”

  “You’re up early, aren’t you?” Susan’s voice accused. She sounds depressed, Maggie thought.

  “Actually,” Maggie said, and laughed. “I didn’t go to bed last night. I stayed up and built this gorgeous sand castle for the girls. They’re here, you know. I am going to baby-sit. Can you believe that? I don’t know for how long. Adam and Sawyer are going to find a house in Japan. They’re moving there temporarily, but then you know that, right?”

  “No, I didn’t know that,” Susan snapped. “No one tells me anything.”

  “Sawyer said she spoke to you,” Maggie said gently. “Is something wrong?” Of course there was something wrong. There was always something wrong in her sister’s life. This conversation was already a downer. Think positive, she cautioned herself.

  “She did call weeks ago, and she did say she was thinking about it. I’m out of sorts. What have you been doing since . . . are you all right?” Susan asked in an uninterested tone.

  “I finished the dyes a few weeks ago. Look for Pacific Jewels and Egyptian Lights next spring. If you like, I can send you a scarf. I’ve been working on them. I want Mam to see them. Have you heard anything, Susan?”

  “Hardly. Have you?”

  “Not recently. How’s Cary?”

  “Cary’s just fine. He’s so fine, he’s never home. He’s so fine, he doesn’t return calls. He’s so damn fine, he told me to do something. I hate men, Maggie. I gave up my life for months for him, and I did everything humanly possible to make his life pleasant. I was there for him every hour of the day and night. Now he has this dog, and he has people over to his apartment all the time who are teaching him how to . . . how to cope. I wanted to do all that for him. He was so grateful until that bitch showed up and turned him against me. She did to me what she did to you, Maggie. She snatched Rand from you and . . . She just stirs up all this trouble in our family and then she takes off! She’s a slut, a tramp, and a no-good bimbo!”

  I will not let her ruin my day. I simply will not, Maggie told herself. “I assume the bitch in question is Valentine Mitchell,” Maggie said quietly.

  “Of course. Who else do we know who does the things she does? She’s always been jealous of us. Though we were good enough to pay her hundreds of thousands of dollars over the years.”

  “Maybe you should stop and think about what you just said, Susan. A few months ago you showed up on my doorstep with . . . what was it you said? Eighty dollars in your checking account? That’s bread-line, pauper level. You’re sitting on a velvet cushion now, thanks to Val. Give credit where credit is due. And don’t forget that she was the one who bailed you out the first time around, when your first husband did the same thing to you your second husband did. Maybe you should take a long, hard look at yourself, Susan. You know, I called you to see how you were. We’re sisters, and I care about you, but you are so bitter, Susan, so angry at everyone and at the world. You should be thrilled and delighted that Cary can do things for himself, that he isn’t so traumatized that he sits and sucks his thumb. Instead, you’re angry. Mentally, Cary is in a healthier place than you are right now. You think about that for a while, and if you want to call me back later with a smile in your voice, maybe I’ll talk to you. Good-bye, Suse,” Maggie said, slamming the phone down.

  “That was a mistake,” Maggie muttered as she filled the Mr. Coffee.

  “Froot Loops,” a tiny voice by her knees said. Maggie whirled about.

  “Shoclit bears,” a second tiny voice said.

  “No. Scrambled eggs. Toast. Juice.”

  The tots shook their heads wildly.

  “Oh, yes,” Maggie said. “Sit!”

  “No,” the girls chorused in unison.

  “Aha, well, then I’ll eat by myself. You go pick some flowers for your mother.” The twins watched, uncertain at the sternness in her voice. They continued to watch, thumbs in their mouths, as Maggie set one place at the table. “This is my plate,” she said. “Shooo, go get the flowers. Pretty ones.”

  “Froot Loops,” Katy said.

  “Shoclit bears,” Josie said.

  “Eggs,” Maggie said.

  They cried, at the same time, both their lower lips trembling.

  Maggie scooped some of the scrambled eggs onto her plate and sat down. She started to eat. The twins sobbed. Maggie ignored them. “Want some?”

  “Popsicle,” Josie said.

  “Cookie,” Katy wailed.

  “Eggs,” Maggie said.

  “Sugar bread,” Josie, the ringleader, pleaded.

  “Gummi Bears,” Katy hiccuped.

  “Eggs,” Maggie said.

  The twins looked at one another. They stopped crying at the same moment their thumbs came out of their mouths. As one they scrambled onto their respective chairs. They wiggled until they were on their knees. “Eggs,” they said.

  “I thought you’d see it my way.” Maggie smiled. The girls wolfed down their eggs and toast and finished their milk.

  “Cookies?”

  “Apples,” Maggie said, wiping their faces with a wet paper towel. “Let’s pick some flowers and make a lei for your mommy. That’s a necklace of flowers. We’ll have to work quickly before Mommy wakes up.”

  Darning needle and nylon thread in hand, Maggie led the twins out to the garden at the side of the house. “You pick them and I’ll string them.”

  Chubby fingers piled the fragile blossoms at Maggie’s feet. She worked quickly, stringing the sweet-smelling flowers on the thread. “For mommy.”

  “Daddy,” they chorused.

  “Okay, Daddy too.” Maggie’s needle worked furiously. “How about one for Josie and Katy?” Maggie kissed each of the girls as she placed the small leis around their necks. “Now take these to Mommy and Daddy and tell them to get up. Hurry.” She smiled.

  “Prize.”

  “When you get back I’ll show you the surprise.” She watched as they scampered off. What had she gotten herself into? Who cared? She was going to love every minute of it, if she survived.

  “They smell wonderful,” Sawyer said happily. “What a wonderful way to wake up. The girls said you made eggs for us. I’m starved.”

  “No. I made eggs for the twins. How do you like yours?”

  “Over easy. They ate them?” Maggie pointed to the plates on the table. “Look, Adam, they ate eggs.”

  “I’m no authority on children, but did you two ever stop to think about how much sugar those children eat? That’s probably one of the reasons they’re so wired-up all the time.”

  “Pepsi,” Josie said.

  “Pepsi,” Katy echoed.

  “Juice,” Maggie said.

  Sawyer watched, her eyes round, as the girls drank their juice without a fuss.

  “Prize?”

  “Just as soon as I make breakfast for Mommy and Daddy. Pick some more flowers for me.” Sawyer watched her children as they trotted off to do her mother’s bidding without a fuss.

  “Here you go,” Maggie said, sliding the eggs onto Sawyer’s plate. “I have to go now. Adam, you can push your own toast down, can’t you?”

  “Yeah, sure. What’s your hurry?”

  “I stayed up all night and built a sand castle for the girls. That’s the prize. There’s a lot of traffic Monday mornings, for some re
ason,” she called over her shoulder. “Maybe you better leave fifteen minutes earlier.”

  “And you were worried?” Adam scoffed, dipping his toast into his wife’s egg yolk. “When we come back for the terrors, they probably won’t want to go with us. In which case we could board them out here and visit on holidays.”

  Sawyer threw her napkin at him.

  “This is probably the best thing we could have done for your mother. Let’s take a shower together,” he said, leering at her, “wearing our leis.”

  “My dear, that is the best offer I’ve had since . . . God, since when?” Sawyer said, dashing off to the bedroom, her husband right behind.

  The moment Sawyer and Adam drove off, Maggie took the girls by the hand and led them around the side of the house and down to the beach. Josie, the more verbal of the twins, had laid claim to the sand castle. Now it was time to build one for Katy.

  It was almost noon when Maggie called a halt to the building. She had heard her name being called from the garage area. She never had visitors, and Addie was off today. She felt a flurry of panic and didn’t know why. It was probably the meter reader. She called out, “I’m down here.”

  He’s huge, Maggie thought. He was six-two, at least, with a crown of thick dark hair mixed with silvery strands at the temples. He was dressed in creased navy chinos, with a crisp white shirt open at the throat and sleeves rolled to the middle of his arms. His tan, if it was a tan, was a glorious bronze color. Dock-Siders adorned his feet, along with white tennis socks. Obviously, Maggie thought, whoever he was, he wasn’t trying to make a fashion statement. He looked comfortable in his clothes and with himself. From where she was standing, she thought him ugly, but as he approached with a smile on his face, she revised her opinion. She looked into warm, dark eyes the color of melted chocolate chips.