Chapter 14

14

M averik Young looked toward the mountains, wishing he held a fishing pole or carried a backpack. Since meeting Gray Hammond a couple of weeks ago, he'd been fishing with the man and his son twice now, and Mav suddenly knew what he could do with all of his time in Coral Canyon.

Gray took all of his kids if they wanted to go, so he hadn't objected to Mav bringing Boston. Beth had deemed fish "yucky," and she'd stayed home with Dani.

"Is it ready?" Tex called, and Mav focused on his task instead of daydreaming about fishing in crystal clear mountain lakes.

"Yep," he yelled back to his brother. Having everyone in the band in town had been a blessing in his life, and Otis and Morris were currently staying with him in the house on the western highway. Trace and Luke had opted to stay here, with Tex and Bryce.

Tex had asked them all to help him around the ranch, and today, they were setting the last of the fences he'd taken out to get the fields and pastures and land cleaned up.

Mav could admit his brother knew how to work hard. He'd done amazing things with this ranch in only six or seven weeks, and he barely recognized it from the first time he'd come to see it. The grass had come back, and that alone had changed so much.

Tex had put on a new roof, installed new windows, and had the house painted a great shade of blue that didn't sting the eyes but didn't speak of robins either.

"Comin' down," Tex called, and the cha-pop! of the nail gun filled the air. As he secured the final top rung in place, the other brothers stepped out of the way and headed back to the house, comments of ice water and lemonade drifting to meet Mav's ears, who stood way down on the end.

Tex reached him last, and with the final nail in place, he smiled at Mav and started laughing. Mav loved his oldest brother's laugh, and how very happy he seemed here, and he chuckled with him. "You sure are a different man," he said.

Tex switched on the safety on the nail gun. "Am I?"

"I think so," Mav said, turning to face the house. "And look at Morris walkin' side-by-side with Luke and Otis." That really brought a smile to his face, and he couldn't look away to judge Tex's reaction.

"It's pretty incredible," he said.

"Heard from Blaze?"

"He'll be here this weekend," he said. "He and Jem are flyin' in together."

"Are they staying here or with Mama?"

"Mama," Tex said, lifting himself up onto the top rung. "Listen, I wanted to ask you about something."

Mav turned away from the other brothers and faced Tex. "Yeah? What?"

He looked left, toward the farm and house next door. Mav did too, but he couldn't see Abby. He did find well-tended-to barns and stables, a pretty substantial chicken coop, and plenty of hay almost in need of a harvest.

"Abby," Tex said.

Mav boosted himself up onto the rung too and took a moment to find his balance. "I haven't sat on a log fence in forever," he said, half afraid he was about to tumble off. "What about Abby?"

"Bryce said something the other day I can't stop thinking about." Tex took off his hat and wiped the sweat from his forehead. "Something about how I could marry her, and we could start a family, and it would be like me starting over." He frowned and brought his gaze back to Mav. "I didn't like that. I told him I didn't need to start over, and that he would be my son no matter what."

Mav nodded. "And?"

"And I think he feels like a burden, or like he doesn't belong." Tex sighed. "Corrie said some real cruel stuff before he moved in with me. He knows she didn't mean it, but…I don't know. I think it got inside his head, and he sees me with Abby, and he thinks he's in the way. That his mama doesn't want him, and for me to have the life I want, I'm gonna need to ‘start over.'"

Mav exhaled, trying to put himself in Bryce's boots. "I don't know what to tell you, Tex."

"Yeah," Tex said with a sigh. "I just thought, you know, you dated with kids. You and Dani both had a child."

"They're far younger," Mav said. "Beth just finished kindergarten, and when I picked her up on the last day of school, she told her teacher she was going to live with ‘her other mom' for the summer."

"Well, that's good," Tex said.

"Dani's great," Mav said, his heart still filled with insane love for his wife. "So is Abby. She won't let Bryce feel forgotten."

"Yeah," Tex said. "I just…I don't think he hears me when I tell him he is my son, and I will always love him, no matter where else my life takes me." He shook his head. "It's my fault," he said quietly. "I should've quit the band when he was younger, the way you did for Beth."

"Hey." Mav put his hand on Tex's back, but his brother didn't look up. "You can't change what you did, brother. It was the right thing for you at that time. There's no sense in beating yourself up about it."

"Yeah." Tex didn't sound convinced at all, and Mav suspected he hadn't heard him the same way Bryce didn't hear Tex when he told him he was loved and wanted right where he was.

Franny barked, and that startled both Mav and Tex. "Hey," Tex said, his voice suddenly hard. He jumped to the ground. "What are you barkin' at?" He scanned the land in front of him. "She never barks."

She took off running, really sprinting, and Tex yelped. Mav slid to the ground too, sudden urgency in his bloodstream too. "Let's go see what she's doing."

"She better not maul some newspaper boy or something," Tex said, his long legs striding after the dog.

Franny was mighty fast, and she disappeared around the side of the house where the steps came down. Mav had hated those steps as a child. He'd always thought he was going to trip and fall to the gravel below.

Tex had made them stronger and wider, and he'd extended the little landing, where Mav had once nearly gotten the wind knocked out of him as all nine brothers tried to get in the house first, into a huge deck off the back of the house.

It wasn't done yet, as Tex and Bryce weren't building it, but it had been framed, and the area below it, which would be the covered patio, had been poured with concrete and the pillars set.

"Franny!" Tex bellowed, and the only response that came was a man's laugh. Tex's stride immediately slowed, and he said, "Oh, Ames is here. Of course." The two of them came around the corner of the house, and Ames lifted his hand in a wave.

Tex picked up his pace again, and Mav went with him. "I don't know how you get her to stay," he said to Ames as the two of them embraced.

Ames shook Mav's hand, his grin as wide as the sea. "She failed her test for a reason," he said. "Good to see you, Mav." He looked back to Tex. "I just came to get Chris, but he wasn't on the porch. I didn't even speak."

"Did you shower today?" Tex asked, chuckling. "Maybe she could smell you."

"From two hundred yards?" Mav asked while Ames also laughed. "Come on."

"Daddy!" Chris yelled from the front of the house, and Ames turned that way.

"Backyard, bud. I'm comin'." They all walked toward the house, and Franny frolicked ahead to greet Chris too. "How was it, bud?"

"So great!" Chris jumped up and gave Ames a high high-five. "I know how to hold the guitar now, and Bryce gave me a book and an instrument the right size for a boy like me." He held up the black case, his whole face lit up like an entire Christmas tree farm.

"Wow," Ames said, chuckling. "How much do we owe you for that?" He looked at Tex.

"Nothing," Tex said. "It's a student guitar, but it's great for beginners. Has a real rich sound." He nodded toward it. "I learned on one of those."

"As did I," Mav said.

Another man came around the corner, and Mav nodded to Ames. "Daddy," he said. "What are you doin' here?"

"Mama and I came for dinner," he said.

"They actually brought dinner," Tex said, coming up beside Mav.

"Bryce and Trace are bringing it in," Daddy said as Mav embraced his father. "Hullo, Ames."

"Mister Young. We'll get out of your way." He bent down and patted Franny. "You stay here, girl." The dog stopped and sat, still watching Ames until Tex went to her side.

"Come on, Franny," he said. "Let's go see Mama. You like Mama, remember?" The dog looked up at him as if she could understand English. "You're welcome to stay, Mav," he added. "I think Abby texted Dani."

In that moment, Mav's phone rang, and he answered the call from his wife as Tex, Daddy, and Franny headed for the house. His wife's razzle-dazzle ringtone came out of his device, and he answered it with, "Hey, love."

"Will you tell Tex and Abby that I can't come," she said, clearly frustrated. "I had both kids in the car, and then Boston said he was sick. I didn't really believe him, but then he threw up."

"I'm on my way home." Mav jogged toward the driveway.

"You should stay," she said, and it was clear she was still in the car. If Boston had thrown up…he didn't even want to think about Dani cleaning that up alone.

"I'm not going to stay and enjoy dinner while you take care of our sick kids," he said. "Leave it for me. I'll be home as quick as I can."

A few days later, Mav had just about had it with cleaning up after sick people. First Boston had come down with the stomach bug, and then Beth. He'd been spared, and he believed it was only because of his obsession with washing his hands, washing blankets, sheets, bedding, stuffed animals, and towels.

"I must've done thirty loads of laundry this week," he'd said to Dani. She'd smiled and gone back to disinfecting the kitchen. Exhaustion pulled through him every hour, but the kids seemed to be better now.

Then, he woke in the morning to the sound of Dani throwing up in the bathroom. "No," he moaned as he got out of bed. "Hon?" He went to help her, fetching a glass of cool water for her and helping her back to bed.

"I'm fine," she said. "Really."

"No, you're not," he said. "Go back to bed. I'll get you the tub and make sure the kids are okay." He paused at the door and turned back to her. "It's a twenty-four hour bug, so it'll pass soon."

She curled into the fetal position, and her eyes drifted closed. Mav sent up a prayer for strength to get through the day with two barely-well children by himself. He'd check on Dani in an hour or so and hope for a miracle.

Out in the kitchen, all was silent and still. The kids hadn't gotten up yet, and Mav started making coffee. He checked the fridge for milk, and thankfully they had some. Then he could feed the kids cereal, call for pizza for lunch, and as he spotted a loaf of bread, grilled cheese sandwiches came into his head for dinner.

His phone rang, this time a classical piece indicating his ex-wife needed him. "Hey, Portia," he said after answering the call.

"Good morning, Mav," she said. "I'm surprised you're awake."

"Then why did you call?" He leaned against the island in the kitchen, his own stomach not feeling great.

"A couple of reasons," she said with extreme patience. "I wanted to check on Beth and see how she was feeling. Is anyone else there sick?"

"Yeah." Mav wrinkled his nose at the scent of the coffee as it started to drip into the pot. He normally loved his morning brew, especially with the hazelnut cream. But today, it made his stomach rumble and roll. "Dani's not doing great this morning, and honestly, neither am I."

"Do I need to come get Beth and Boston?"

The fact that she'd offered to take Boston told Mav how good of a person Portia was. "No," he said. "Literally all of my brothers are here."

"I thought Otis and Morris had gotten a hotel."

"They did," Mav said. "But they can take the kids. Or Tex will. He's got Luke and Trace and all the kids at his house. Blaze and Jem got in on Saturday too." The only brother who wasn't currently in Coral Canyon was Gabe, and Mav was still working on getting him there.

Not today , Mav told himself. He could barely stand upright.

"Okay," Portia said, and he yanked his eyes back open. "Mav, there's another reason I'm calling."

"Sure," he said, moving around the island to the barstools.

"Jackson proposed last night, and I said yes." She delivered the statement in an even, unemotional tone.

Mav smiled, because she'd been dating him for over a year. "Portia, that's amazing," he said. "Congratulations."

"Thank you." Her voice did carry a smile then, and she added, "Maybe not as fast as you and Dani, but we finally got there."

"There's no race," he said.

"No, there is not."

Mav's wave of nausea passed, and he got to his feet. "So when's the big day?"

"Christmas," she said. "We'll be married here in Jackson, and of course I want you and your family there."

"Sure," Mav said. "Tell me the date, and I'll get it on our calendar." Someone knocked on the garage entrance, and he turned that way as Dani's mother entered the house. She carried a couple of grocery sacks and a smile.

"I brought—oh." She closed her mouth when she saw him on the phone, and Mav waved her in.

"December twenty-first," Portia said, and Mav scrawled it on the whiteboard that hung on their fridge.

"Got it," he said. "Dani's mom just walked in."

"I'll let you go."

Mav put his phone down, the chime telling him Portia had hung up.

"I brought bagels and cream cheese," Dani's mom said, the food already on the counter. "You don't look well, Mav."

"Dani's down too." He looked at her with pure hope. "Could you take the kids to your house?"

"Of course," she said, glancing into the living room. "They must not be up yet."

"They aren't," he said. "I'll help you." The next twenty minutes blurred as Mav tried to hold onto the contents of his stomach while he packed a few things for Boston and Beth to spend the night at their grandparents' house.

"I'm sorry," he said to Susan. "Take them to a movie today. Whatever you have to do to get through the day."

"We'll have fun," she said brightly, beaming down at the kids. "Come on, guys. Let's go surprise Daddy Don."

Thankfully, neither Beth nor Boston caused any problems or raised a fuss about going with Susan, and Mav skipped the coffee and took a bottle of water into the bedroom he shared with his wife.

She looked over to him as he entered. "I'm feeling a lot better," she said, sitting up. "You don't look good."

"I sent the kids with your mother," he said. "Portia's engaged. I'm going to puke." He dashed into the bathroom to do that, and this time, Dani brought him a glass of water, stood by him while he brushed his teeth, and helped him back to bed.

"Portia's engaged?" she asked as she tucked him in. He breathed in and out, trying to feel normal when he knew he couldn't.

"Yeah," he said. "I put the wedding date on the fridge. She wants us there." He closed his eyes. "She said she'd take the kids."

Dani swiped her fingers across his forehead. "You're burning up."

"I'm just going to go back to sleep," he said. He wasn't sure if she said anything else or not. He wasn't sure how much time had passed until he woke the next time, but his stomach growled at him.

He tried to sit up, noting how dark the room was, and his body felt so weak he fell back to his pillow. "Dani," he croaked, but her side of the bed was empty. He reached for the bottle of water on his nightstand and guzzled, thinking that probably wasn't a great idea.

His stomach bubbled, but he didn't need to run to the bathroom. He looked for his phone, and Dani had plugged it in for him. He wasn't sure he could get out of bed, as weak as he felt, so he texted his wife, noting that it was a full twelve hours after he'd sent the kids with Dani's mom.

She came into the room, flooding it with light as she opened the door. "You're awake," she said.

"Yeah," he said. "Sorry. I didn't mean to sleep all day."

She handed him a single graham cracker. "Try eating this and see if you can keep it down." She offered him a kind, loving smile, and Mav took a bite. He chewed slowly, the taste of honey and cracker one of his favorites.

"You're not sick," he said.

"Not really." She turned and opened the curtains, and because it was summertime, there was still plenty of light left in the day. She faced him again and said, "Mav, I was sick this morning because I'm pregnant."

Mav swallowed, but his hand had frozen with the graham in his hand. "You're pregnant?"

A beautiful smile filled her whole soul, and Dani nodded slowly. Joy burst through him, and as weak as his body felt, his mind and soul couldn't contain his excitement and happiness. "Come here," he said, and she flew into his arms. He held her tightly, stroking her hair. "Oh, I love you. I love you so much." He pulled back and searched her face. "Are you happy?"

"Yes," she whispered, her hands cradling his face. "I'm so excited."

"I want to kiss you, but then you'll have the stomach flu on top of your morning sickness."

"I'm willing to take the risk," she said, touching her mouth to his and kissing him. Mav touched everything he loved and wanted as he held Dani's face lightly in his hands and kissed his wife.