Weather the Storm: Episode 7 (Rising Storm)

by Lisa Mondello

  Therein lay part of their problem. It was hard to set an example when everything you believed to be true got blown to smithereens. Not that it couldn’t be righted. But to do that, she needed her husband on board.

  On occasion, though, Tara had allowed Danny to crawl quickly inside the cave after Sunday services. She only let him sit there for a few seconds, looking out at them and laughing. It kept him occupied and out of trouble while people lingered to talk to Bryce after services.

  But this evening Danny wasn’t there. Tara’s heart leapt to her throat. “Danny?”

  “Back here!” she heard Bryce call out to her.

  She ran behind the church and found Danny with his father. Bryce was standing with one of the members of the church by the back door. Colin Duarte was a new member of the church who had just moved to Storm from Dallas. Bryce wanted to welcome him and his family. But when Bryce turned and cast a glance in her direction, Tara knew that he was frustrated.

  No, embarrassed. Appearances were everything to Bryce. And now Danny was wailing in Bryce’s arms in front of a new church member. Danny was still upset about losing. When Carol beat him to the dinner table, or when she bested him in any way, he was inconsolable. Danny didn’t do well with disappointment or what he considered failure.

  The fact that he’d run to his father and upset the apple cart of Bryce’s domain as head of the church was one that she knew would eventually be her fault. She hadn’t been watching him carefully enough. She was too soft on the kids and didn’t discipline them with firm enough direction. Bryce was a loving father, but it was true that he was a better disciplinarian than she was. Finding that balance between love and discipline wasn’t something Tara was used to. And now there was so much more they had to learn. Danny needed specialized help and they needed classes, or maybe the support group the doctor had mentioned. But mostly Danny needed his father. Tara sighed. She missed the easy way life had been in the family she’d grown up with.

  “He wandered off while I was making dinner,” she said with a smile to Colin.

  Bryce tried to untangle Danny from his body and hand him to Tara, but Danny would have none of it.

  “It’s time to come with Mommy, Danny,” she said.

  “I want Daddy!”

  Her heart twisted for her son. It was often so hard to reach him. And now that he was actually reaching out for one of them, it seemed wrong somehow to deny him.

  “I have to get back to the house to finish dinner.”

  “Listen to your mother, Danny,” Bryce said. Danny’s arms and legs started flailing.

  Colin looked uncomfortable with the situation, as did Bryce. And Tara wished she could make it right for all of them somehow.

  “You seem to have your hands full,” Colin said. “I can come back another time. I’ll bring my wife and the kids so you can meet them.”

  “That would be wonderful,” Bryce said, trying his best to keep Danny from kicking.

  “It was nice to see you again, Tara.”

  “Likewise.” She didn’t wait for Colin to leave before getting back to Danny. “Danny, listen to me. I want you to use your words. Tell me what you’re upset about.”

  Danny continued to cry.

  “Just take him back to the house. Please.” She could hear the edge in Bryce’s voice and recognized it as more panic than anything else. His fear would only feed Danny’s tantrum.

  “I will as soon as he calms down. You know if I drag him back to the house now, he’ll fight me the whole way. Danny, use your words.”

  “I…I….” He sobbed and punched at his father’s shoulder. Bryce’s hand automatically moved to soothe his son, and Tara found herself relaxing slightly. But he still hadn’t said anything.

  “You know how you feel. Tell me with words.”

  “I hate Carol.”

  “You’re angry with Carol?” Tara asked, redirecting him the way Sara Jane had suggested.

  “Yes.”

  “Why are you angry with her?”

  He tightened his hold on his dad and started kicking again. Bryce held him firmly, his eyes closed as he fought his own demons.

  “I’m sorry, but I can’t help you unless you use your words,” she said, using the calm voice that Sara Jane had suggested, wondering who she was really trying to calm, her husband or her son. Bryce never talked about his childhood or his mother. But she knew it had been very bad. Very, very bad. And Danny’s diagnosis had brought it all up again.

  “I don’t want to lose,” Danny said. “Carol made me lose.”

  “I understand that you’re upset about the game. Is that right?”

  Danny buried his head on Bryce’s shoulder. Tara reached out to see if Danny was calm enough to come to her. He shook his head.

  Bryce’s gaze met hers as he stroked his son’s head.

  “You know that when you play games,” she continued, “someone will win and someone will lose. But when you play again it may be different.”

  Danny hid his face, but he was no longer wailing.

  “I’ll bring him back to the house,” Bryce said.

  Tara shook her head slightly so Danny wouldn’t notice and said, “Did you throw the game on the floor, Danny?”

  Danny said nothing.

  “Use your words and answer me.”

  “Carol wouldn’t let me win,” he said in a muffled voice against Bryce’s shoulder.

  “It’s not fair that Carol should pick up the game if you threw it. If she threw the game on the ground, would you like it if you had to pick it up?”

  He shook his head.

  “No, I know you wouldn’t. I wouldn’t either. Let’s go back and pick up the game so you and Carol can help me make dinner. Would you like to do that?”

  Danny reached out his arms to her and she pulled him into an embrace. Maybe there really was something to the simple things Sara Jane had taught her today. This tantrum wasn’t that bad at all, and it amazed her how Danny had responded. She remembered not long ago when he’d thrown a tantrum for an hour. He’d been inconsolable.

  Of course not all of his behaviors were because of his autism. She knew that some of it came from just being five. But either way, it was time to step in and help her son. And if today had proven one thing to Tara it was that the strategies Sara Jane taught her had helped.

  “That was amazing,” Bryce said, his expression guarded.

  “Thank you.” With Danny secure in her arms, she smiled at her husband. “Dinner will be done in about thirty minutes. The kids and I would love to have dinner with you tonight.”

  The look on Bryce’s face was heartbreaking. He was a strong man with a good heart. She’d grown up in a family of good men so she knew what she was talking about. Right now, though, he looked defeated.

  “I’ll try to get out of here soon.”

  Try meant that he’d probably be late. As she turned away with Danny’s arms and legs wrapped around her, she decided they’d take their time finishing dinner. If it meant the kids would be a little late getting to bed, then so be it. She and Bryce could talk about her meeting with Sara Jane tomorrow.

  Chapter Four

  Planning for the Founders’ Day celebration was nearly complete. Dakota sat on a hay bale in the square, picking at a piece of hay that was sticking out from the bale as she listened to Marisol Moreno run down the list of things the committee still had left to do. From where she was sitting, she could see along Second Street past the Hill Country Savings and Loan where she worked as a teller, but couldn’t quite see the front door of Sebastian Rush’s campaign headquarters.

  Since her father had disappeared and she could no longer depend on him to give her money when she was short, it meant that Dakota was going to have to take on more hours at the bank. She knew for sure her mother wouldn’t give up a dime for her. Joanne wanted Dakota to be independent and stand on her own two feet.

  What a hypocrite! Joanne Alvarez drove her husband out of town and called back her oldest son to take care of
the family. Who does that? How could she have missed Marcus all this time when he was gone? Her older brother, who she once thought loved her as much as her daddy did, was just as bad as her mother. They didn’t understand. What the hell did they think she was doing living in her own apartment if not being independent?

  Dakota only barely listened to Marisol’s seemingly endless list. Locations for the booths, so they did not interfere with Senator Rush’s speech at the gazebo. Games for the children to keep them occupied during the speech and a few volunteers to head up the games.

  “Oh, and we need someone to volunteer to take donations for the rummage sale. All the proceeds will go to the library,” Marisol said, putting down the list and looking out at the few women who’d taken time out of their boring days to be here.

  Dakota glanced over at Second Street and saw Sebastian walking toward the square with a young girl and his mother, Marylee.

  Anger churned in her stomach just thinking about the way Marylee had treated her the other day. She had been at the campaign headquarters to help Sebastian with this reelection campaign and yet the senator’s meddling mother made her feel like she was intruding and didn’t belong. Where else did Dakota belong but by Sebastian’s side? And she would be by his side as his wife if she had anything to do about it. Payton was nothing but a tired excuse of a woman who knew nothing about what a man needed and wanted.

  As Sebastian made his way to the gazebo, Dakota sat up straight and stretched her legs across the hay bale. Despite her petite frame, Sebastian loved her legs and she was sure it would catch his eye and take his attention away from that twit intern who had been following him around like a baby duck. Instead of walking over to her, Sebastian stopped at the gazebo and said something to the twit.

  “Are we all set?” Joanne asked. “Everyone can drop off things at my house or at Pushing Up Daisies. But only after hours tomorrow. I don’t have room to house everything. And if anything doesn’t sell at the rummage sale, it’ll have to be donated to Goodwill.”

  Confused, Dakota suddenly listened to what was going on. “Did you volunteer to take in everyone’s donations for the rummage sale?” she asked.

  “Yes,” Joanne answered.

  “Daddy won’t like that at all. You know how he likes the house kept clean.”

  Joanne sighed. “Your father is not here right now. Besides, it’s only for a few days.”

  Dakota let out a low, guttural groan. “I’m not helping you with that stuff. You can get Mallory to help.”

  “Dakota,” Joanne said, glancing around at the other women who’d taken notice of Dakota’s outburst. “This is all for a good cause.”

  “Whatever.”

  Sebastian was looking at something across the square. Dakota’s attention was suddenly drawn to two people sitting on a blanket on the other side of the oak tree that commanded the center of the park.

  Ginny Moreno was laughing as Logan Murphy told some kind of story. They looked like they were having a good time all by themselves. Dakota glanced at Sebastian, who was staring in their direction. But he quickly pulled his gaze back to the twit who was busy jotting down notes.

  As Sebastian smiled and walked toward the group, Dakota’s heart leaped.

  “Good afternoon, ladies,” he said. “Are we all set for Founders’ Day?”

  Marisol stood up from the hay bale she’d been sitting on. “Almost. It should be a good day too. A lot of people have been coming into Cuppa Joe’s and telling me they’ll be attending.”

  “Good. I really appreciate all your hard work. See you then.”

  Dakota blinked as Sebastian turned away without so much as giving her a smile. Surely his purpose in coming over to them was to see her.

  She licked her lips and pulled herself off the hay bale. Sebastian probably didn’t want anyone to notice him looking at Dakota. That must be what it was. How could anyone look at the two of them and not know they were in love? They had to be careful. Sebastian had said it many times. He was a powerful man who couldn’t afford gossip like the kind these women were capable of.

  But that was okay. She’d see him later. He’d given her his word at the cabin the other night that he wanted her and wanted desperately to be with her. She just had to be patient.

  She would be patient if it meant she would be Sebastian Rush’s wife.

  * * * *

  Bryce was late and missed dinner again, but Tara didn’t bother to show her disappointment. It happened so often lately that she wasn’t sure if she even had a right to be upset, and instead of examining his failings to the family, she examined her own. She needed to do better. She needed to make sure that Carol didn’t feel as if she were an extra in the house, someone whose needs were not as important as her brother’s. And Danny needed a different kind of attention that Tara had to learn. She was willing to learn. She prayed that in time Bryce would see the necessity for it as much as she did.

  The first step was creating a book. She sat at the dining room table and continued to paste pictures of random actions in a notebook she’d picked up at the Five and Dime earlier today after the Founders’ Day meeting. Sara Jane had given her a packet with strategies they could use for Danny to get him ready for school. Using a notebook with pictures cut out from magazines to help communicate effectively with Danny was one of those strategies.

  Starting the same strategies the teachers would use in school would make Danny familiar with them, and hopefully ease the transition for him. She heard the front door open and then close and knew Bryce was home. She glanced at the clock. It was nine-thirty. A few minutes later, he walked into the dining room.

  “You must have had a late dinner. I noticed the dishes on the counter. Are the kids asleep?”

  “I certainly hope so. They practically fell asleep at the dinner table tonight. Tucker had Danny digging holes this afternoon.”

  “Holes?” Bryce said, chuckling. “What for?”

  “No reason. I wanted to get to this notebook before I cleaned the kitchen. I figured I’d clean up after you have something to eat.”

  “I already had a bite to eat at Farm to Table with Kristin.”

  Tara looked up from the notebook. “Oh. I wish you’d said something. I made extra.”

  “I can bring it for lunch tomorrow.”

  “How is Kristin feeling?”

  “Good. Why do you ask?”

  “I saw her coming out of Prost Pharmacy the other day after hours. I figured she probably had a prescription she needed to get filled. Travis Salt let her in and then let her out.”

  “It was after hours?”

  She glanced up at Bryce and saw his lips twitch. Something had upset him. “What is it?”

  But then it was gone. He shook his head slightly. “She didn’t mention anything. I would have called you about dinner but I assumed you’d be having dinner at your parents’ house again since Carol and Danny have been spending so much time there lately.”

  His voice held a tinge of irritation. Bryce liked her family. He always had. In fact, he’d told her early on that it was one of the things that had drawn him to Tara. He’d had a disaster of a childhood with Kristin and their mother. He liked how Tara’s family felt “normal.” But lately something had changed. Every time she mentioned going over to the ranch, he seemed irritated.

  “I don’t like the kids being at the ranch without you being there. Danny has been wandering off so much lately. What if he wanders out into one of the fields without someone noticing? He could be gone for hours before anyone finds him.”

  “They’re watching out for him, Bryce. They care about him too. They know Danny wanders. That’s why Tucker kept him busy digging a hole. It kept him occupied and Danny was happy to do it for the ten minutes Tucker needed to keep him occupied. My mother thinks we should put locks high up on the doors where Danny can’t reach them. What do you think?”

  “I think it could be dangerous.”

  “How?”

  “What if there was a fire?
We wouldn’t be able to get out of the house quickly.”

  She chuckled. “The lock wouldn’t be high enough for us not to reach it, Bryce.”

  “Danny could stand on a chair and reach it.”

  He had her there. “Yes, but Danny’s still very small and we could put it high enough that he couldn’t reach it from a chair. And in the meantime, we can work on teaching him not to leave the house without supervision.”

  “I suppose you’re right,” Bryce admitted. Tara smiled. A small victory.

  Bryce inspected some of the pictures she’d selected Danny’s notebooks. “What’s all this?”

  “Homework,” she said. Tara handed him the packet that Sara Jane had given her. “This is what I got from the meeting with Danny’s teacher the other day.”

  Bryce pulled a chair out from under the table and sat down. He opened the packet and scanned it.

  “Your vestment is hanging up in the hall closet. I didn’t have time to bring it over to the church this afternoon. The Founders’ Day meeting went on a little longer than I expected with the addition of the new booths.” She picked up the glue stick she’d been using and smeared some glue on the page. “How was your day?”

  But Bryce wasn’t paying attention to her question. He was looking at what she was doing.

  “I don’t remember Carol ever having to have a notebook made. Is this something new your mother has implemented for the kids?”

  “This is just for Danny.”

  “Just for him? Why?”

  “Because he’s autistic, Bryce. It will help him adjust to school and help the people who are interacting with him handle him when he acts out. I have one for us, one for the school, and one for my parents’ house. My mother already talked to my brothers about it.