A Texas Bond

by Shannon Taylor Vannatter

  “Madison, watch out!” Mason shouted.

  A heart-splitting scream echoed through the air.

  Ross ran toward the sound, but somehow Stacia beat him to the little girl sprawled on the ground, cradling her left arm.

  “What hurts?” Stacia knelt over her.

  “She fell, but her arm landed on that prickly pear cactus.” Mason pointed at the paddle-shaped plant covered in needles.

  Stacia closed her eyes. “Let me see.”

  Ross knelt on Madison’s other side. Big tears rolled down her sweet little cheeks. He smoothed her hair away from her face as she showed them her arm. Multiple spines dotted the tiny wrist.

  “We’ll have to go to the doctor, Mad. He’ll get them out and everything will be just fine.”

  Whimpering softly, Madison nodded.

  “Keep your wrist from touching anything, so they won’t get mashed in deeper, and I’ll carry you.” Ross scooped the child up into his arms, then caught Stacia’s gaze. “Just get Mason into my truck.”

  As Madison curled into his chest, amazingly, Stacia didn’t argue. She climbed in the back between the two car seats, then helped Mason buckle his as Ross gently sat Madison in hers. Except he didn’t know where her doctor’s office was. “Where am I going?”

  “Bandera.”

  The longest fifteen-minute drive of his life, with constant moans and whimpers coming from the back seat. Mason was the quietest Ross had ever seen him.

  Ross caught his eye in the rearview mirror. “She’ll be okay, bud. I stepped on a prickly pear when I was a kid. It hurt like crazy, but the doctor got them all out, and I was good as new.” He spared the digging around with tweezers one at a time process Madison would have to endure.

  Finally, he followed Stacia’s directions and pulled into the lot of the Bandera Medical Clinic and parked, then flung his door open. By the time he opened Madison’s door, Stacia had her unbuckled. He picked Madison up and she wrapped her good arm around his neck.

  “It’s okay, sweet pea. You’ll feel better soon.”

  Stacia scurried ahead, opened the door for him, then signed Madison in while he settled in a chair. The child clung to him with her good arm as her tears dripped onto his neck. If the doctor didn’t get them in soon, he’d be crying too.

  Only a few other patients dotted the room. Maybe it wouldn’t be long. Stacia sat down beside him and Mason clambered into her lap. She leaned her head against Madison’s with her shoulder against his and murmured comforting words.

  The door to the exam rooms opened and a nurse scanned the waiting room. “Madison Keyes.”

  Keyes. Her name should be Lyles. He jumped to his feet and hurried toward the nurse.

  “Room 2.” She pointed the way.

  “I don’t want to go,” Mason said.

  Ross turned to check on Stacia. Both were still in the waiting room with Mason shaking his head.

  “Maybe Dad can get her settled, then stay with the boy and Mom can go in with Madison.” The nurse smiled.

  “We’re not married,” his voice blended with Stacia’s.

  Great, now the nurse thought they were shacked up, having kids together.

  “We share a niece and nephew.” He turned to Stacia. “Mason, just come back with us long enough to get Madison settled, then I’ll bring you back to the waiting room and stay with you.”

  Mason’s chin trembled, but he complied.

  “You can set Miss Madison on the exam table.” The nurse gestured to the room. “And we’ll take real good care of her. Let me see that arm, Madison.”

  The little girl bravely stuck her wrist out.

  “I had a fight with a prickly pear when I was about your age,” the nurse said. “It’s like a rite of passage for Texans.”

  “What’s a rite of passage?” Madison asked.

  At least the nurse had her mind off her pain.

  A small hand wiggled into his, gave a slight tug. He didn’t want to leave, but Mason was obviously holding him to his word.

  “We’ll be right outside. Text me. Keep me posted.”

  “I will.” Stacia nodded as the nurse tried to explain rite of passage to a kindergartener. “Will you let Daddy know what’s going on?”

  “Sure.” Holding Mason’s hand, Ross trudged back to the waiting room. As soon as he sat down, Mason crawled into his lap and pressed his cheek into Ross’s chest. And even deeper into his heart.

  “Hey bud, it’s okay. She’s gonna be fine.” He texted Maverick a quick message.

  “I pushed her.” Mason’s voice was thick with unshed tears. “That’s why she fell into the pricklers.”

  “Oh bud, you didn’t mean to hurt her, did you?”

  “No. But we’d seen the pricklers. I knew they were there.”

  “Why did you push her?”

  “Because she’s faster than me. And it makes me mad. But I didn’t mean to hurt her.”

  “Of course you didn’t. And Madison doesn’t mean to be faster than you. It’s just the way God made her.” Ross stroked the child’s hair stirring up the scent of shampoo, sweat and dirt—all boy. “But as you get older, you might get faster than her. My brother was faster than me when we were your age, but in high school, I got to where I could outrun him.”

  “You mean our dad?”

  “The only brother I’ve got.” He hadn’t meant to go there. “Just remember this, the next time you get mad at Madison and you want to push her, she could get hurt and then you’d feel bad like you do now.”

  “Okay.”

  Maybe he’d managed to derail the conversation about Ron. If only Ron knew what he was missing.

  “Wanna see the new game I put on my phone?” Ross pressed a kiss on top of Mason’s head.

  A message icon popped up at the top of the screen and he opened it.

  They’re out.

  “See. Madison will be just fine now.” He breathed a sigh of relief and opened the game.

  * * *

  Holding Madison’s good hand, Stacia opened the door into the waiting room. Mason was sitting in Ross’s lap, enthralled with something on his phone. Ross looked up and smiled at Madison.

  “She was so brave.”

  “I’m sure she was.” The lines across Ross’s forehead faded away.

  “Did they get ’em all out?” Mason clambered off his uncle’s lap.

  Ross stood and met them midway.

  “We think so.” Stacia headed for the exit. “But the doctor gave us a prescription for antibiotics and ointment just in case. That way if there are any left, they won’t cause an infection. So we need to stop by the pharmacy on the way home.” Her least favorite place in the world. Where some of her worst memories and nightmares had begun.

  “How’d they get ’em?” Mason looked his sister’s wrist over as they strolled toward the truck.

  “They used a big sticky glove thingy. Just brushed it over my arm and the stickers stuck to it instead of in me.”

  “Cool.” Mason climbed up into the truck.

  “Remember not to get it against anything if you can help it.” Stacia took her spot in the middle of the back seat.

  “When I was a kid, they had to get them out one at a time with tweezers.” Ross helped Mason into his car seat. “I’m glad they’ve made improvements in the process. Where’s the pharmacy?”

  “Just a little farther into town.” Stacia buckled Madison in.

  “I’m sorry I pushed you.” Mason sniffled. “I didn’t mean for you to fall into the pricklers.”

  “It’s okay,” Madison mumbled.

  “Wait. You pushed Madison?” Stacia turned to her nephew.

  “We already talked about it,” Ross said from the front seat.

  She looked up, caught his gaze in the rearview mirror.

  “Mason knows now
that if he pushes Madison or anybody else, they could get hurt. And he doesn’t like feeling guilty, so he won’t do it again. Right, bud?”

  “Right.”

  “That’s good.” Stacia ruffled Mason’s hair. “But I knew that prickly pear was there. I should have taken the time to dig it up.”

  “It’s okay, Aunt Stacia. You’ve been busy.” Madison inspected her reddened wrist. “I wonder why God made cactus?”

  “Well they make pretty flowers. People in Mexico eat prickly pears and I think they have nutrients and vitamins that are good for you.” Digging up the prickly pear would have taken two minutes, tops. She shouldn’t have been too busy for that. “So if it gets really dry and everybody’s garden dies, cactus can still live and we could eat them.”

  “And get pricklers in our bellies?” Mason grimaced.

  “No silly.” Stacia gently tapped his nose. “You have to peel the outer part off and just eat the fruit inside. But don’t try it, they’re hard to peel without getting stickers in your hands. The pharmacy is just ahead.”

  “I see it.” Ross pulled into the lot, turned to face her. “I’ll stay here with the kids.”

  Her nerve endings went taut. The exact scenario Aunt Eleanor had pulled. And as soon as Daddy stepped inside the pharmacy to pick up medicine for his bronchitis, Eleanor had sped away. With Stacia and Calli in the car.

  “I’m not going anywhere.” Ross’s gaze locked on hers. “I promise. We’ll be right here when you get back. I want Madison to have her medicine and they both need all of their family members.”

  “Hurry, Aunt Stacia, I want to go home. My arm stings.” Madison leaned her head back, closed her eyes.

  “Okay, I’ll be back in a jiff.” Stacia patted Madison’s good arm, then gingerly crawled around her car seat to get out.

  Please don’t let this be a mistake, Lord. Let them be here when I get back. She hurried across the parking lot, looking back several times. Each time, Ross and the twins were still there.

  Inside, she prayed the entire time the pharmacist filled the prescriptions along with frequent checks at the window.

  Ten minutes later, she stepped outside. The truck was still there. Thank You, Lord. When she opened the door, both twins were sleeping. Instead of taking the chance of disturbing them, she quietly shut the door and got in the front.

  “Just call me the twin whisperer.” Ross shot her a grin and started the engine.

  “They’ve had a big day. Thanks for—” She didn’t really know how to say it.

  “Not kidnapping them?” He backed out, pulled onto the highway.

  “That. And for carrying Madison and helping with Mason at the doctor’s office.”

  “I love them too.”

  She believed him on that. It was both comforting and terrifying.

  * * *

  “It’s no fun here without Madison.” Mason stood just outside the open workshop doors, looking up at the sky, his shoulders slumped. “I’m sooooo bored.”

  Since Madison had stayed home from school, she was inside taking care of Maverick. It made Ross feel better to have them looking out for each other. But with school out now, Mason was at loose ends. At least the prickly pear was gone. Stacia had dug it up yesterday after they’d returned from the pharmacy.

  “Maybe you’ll learn to appreciate her.” Stacia chuckled. “And it’ll be church time before you know it.”

  “Do y’all have to work? Can’t we do something fun until church? I heard Uncle Ross say y’all are ahead on the order.”

  “He’s right. I did say that.” Ross looked up from the coffee bar he was constructing. “What do you say I take Mason somewhere? That way, you could catch up on painting. We can’t complete the order until everything’s painted.”

  Indecision wrestled in her pale aqua eyes.

  “Please Aunt Stacia. I’m sooooo bored.”

  “Okay.” She pinned Ross with an intensely fierce look. “Just tell me what you plan to do, where you’re going and when you’ll be back.”

  “What do you want to do, bud?” Ross waggled his eyebrows.

  “Can you teach me to ride a bike?” Mason ducked his head. “I mean without the training wheels. All the boys in my class can do it.”

  Ross caught Stacia’s gaze. Failure lurked there.

  “I’m not sure if that’s a good idea, bud. Your aunt Stacia or your grandpa might want to teach you that.”

  “It’s okay.” Her tone didn’t sound convincing. “Daddy and I have taught Mason lots of things and witnessed most of his and Madison’s firsts. I guess it’s your turn.”

  Wow. She was really trying to share the twins. Impressive. Had he finally managed to gain her trust yesterday? Don’t count on it. No falling for Stacia. She was the twins’ aunt and he was their uncle. That’s all. He couldn’t risk letting anything happen between them because deep down, she’d never fully trust anyone and his parents needed him in Houston.

  “I tell you what, I’ll work with Mason a bit and when I think he’s ready, I’ll give you a holler. Maverick too. That way we all can be a part of this guy’s big day.”

  “That sounds wonderful.” Something in her tone softened. As if he’d given her a rare gift.

  “All right. Come on Mason. Let’s get this party started.” Ross shot her a wink and ushered the boy outside. “Where’s your bike?”

  “In the garage.”

  “Lead the way.”

  “You really think I can do this in one day?”

  “I sure do. You’re you and I’m me. We’ve got this.”

  “Did you teach my dad to ride a bike?”

  Ross’s heart sank. The one subject he didn’t want to get into. “No. My dad did that. He taught us both.”

  “Is he still alive?” Mason peered up at him. “My other grandpa.”

  Okay, make that two subjects. It was past time for his parents to be in the know. “He sure is. Your grandma too.”

  “Where are they? How come they haven’t visited us yet?”

  “In another part of Texas. I haven’t told them about you and Madison just yet.”

  “Why not? Don’t they like kids?”

  “They love kids, but your aunt Stacia and grandpa Maverick aren’t used to y’all having any other family members. I guess I was just trying to give them time to get used to everything. We’ll see them soon though.”

  Was Stacia on board with that? Yesterday, they’d seemed to jump another hurdle.

  Mason darted around the side of the garage attached to the farmhouse and Ross followed. Through the side door, he found the boy astride a red bike dotted with checkerboard winners’ flags.

  “Hop off and I’ll get those extra wheels off there.”

  “How will I ride without them?”

  “I’ll help you, don’t worry.”

  Mason climbed off, then squatted beside Ross as he loosened the bolts and slipped the training wheels off.

  “Okay, hop on.” Ross held the bike steady.

  The boy swallowed hard.

  “I won’t let you fall. I promise.”

  Mason grinned and climbed on. “I can’t wait to tell my friends at school.”

  “Just pedal, like you normally would.”

  They wobbled out of the garage.

  “I don’t know, Uncle Ross. This is hard.”

  “You just need a little practice.”

  Heavy on the right side, steady for a second, then Mason’s weight transferred to the left. Ross kept him stable, trotting behind. Back and forth, they went up and down the driveway—only stopping when store customers pulled in or left.

  After at least a dozen tries, Ross felt Mason’s weight balance and steady.

  “I think you’re ready.”

  “I do too.”

  “You felt that?”

 
“Mmm-hmm.”

  “Okay, let’s stop right here at the end of the drive and I’ll call your grandpa.”

  Mason stopped and put his right foot on the ground as Ross dug his phone out and tapped his address book, then strolled over to the open doors of the workshop. Stacia glanced his way and he gave her a thumbs-up, just as Maverick answered.

  “Hey, Maverick, can you and Madison watch out the window? Mason has something to show everyone.”

  “Sure.”

  The curtain moved aside in the family room. Madison waved at him and he could see Maverick sitting beside her as Stacia stepped around the side of the workshop so she could watch.

  “Here we go, bud.” Ross pocketed his phone and gripped the back of the bike with his heart in his throat. What if Mason fell or got hurt?

  “I’m kind of nervous with everybody watching.”

  “You’ve got this. We both felt it. Just do it again.”

  “You won’t let go if I can’t?”

  “I won’t. But if you’re doing it and I let go, don’t freak out. Just keep riding. When you get to the end of the drive, you can either turn and come back or stop. You ready?”

  “Yep.” Mason took his foot off the ground, put it on the pedal.

  “Here we go.”

  A little wobbling and then Mason found his balance. Ross let go, held his breath, as Mason kept going without him. All the way to the end of the driveway and then came to a flawless stop, then steadied himself with one foot on the ground.

  “Yeehaw!” Ross shouted as his chest swelled.

  “I did it!”

  “You sure did!” Stacia hollered, clapping her hands.

  Ross hadn’t felt such euphoria since he’d learned to ride when he was a kid. He turned to Stacia, picked her up and swung her around. With her hands resting on his shoulders, she laughed. As he set her down, her hands slid to his wrists. Their gazes locked.

  “Do you think I can come back by myself?” Mason asked.