Page 46 of Daybreak

Jake nodded and proceeded to lick it off the palm of his hand.

Nora rolled her eyes. “There’s a piece of noodle in his ear,” she said and dug it out with a napkin. “You never have to thank me for helping family. And you know how I feel about your youngest brother. He’s such a loner. I wish he’d find someone he trusted enough to give his heart to. As soon as we finish here, I want to go back to what I was doing before I lose my train of thought, okay?”

Asher nodded. “Sure thing. I’ll clean Jake and the kitchen, then bathe him so he’s ready for bed. We’ll watch some TV until he passes out. I’m home now, and you can be on your own time clock here.”

“We have to do fortune cookies first!” Nora said. “You can have my cookie. I just want to read the fortune.”

She cracked it open, pulled out the little slip of paper, read it, and then slapped it on the table in front of him.

“There you are! Wisdom straight from some dude who works at the fortune cookie factory.” Then she got up, blew him a kiss, and headed back to her office.

Asher picked up the fortune and read it. Perseverance will pay off.

He shook his head and began cleaning up the table and his son. That fortune teller, whoever it was, scored with that one. Nora always persevered.

Chapter 9

By the time Gunner was ready to go to bed, he had everything set up for unwanted guests and the security system armed. He made a big deal of turning out the lights in the house except for nightlights and making sure the last light to go out in the house was in his bedroom.

Then he turned around and walked down the hall in the dark and into the spare bedroom at the end of the hall, locked the door behind him, put his gun under his pillow, and slipped into bed in the dark.

Even if somebody got past the security system, or broke into the house to get to him, they would go straight to the room where the last lights went out. It would be all the edge he needed to take them out.

He wanted to call Holly, but it was too late. And at this point, he couldn’t tell her much about what was going on. He wanted Asher to know where he was, but it was too late to call him, too. Right now, the only people who knew where he was at were his dad and Pearl.

The last thing he thought as he was drifting off to sleep was, Whatever will be, will be.

* * *

As predicted, a thunderstorm came through in the night.

Burgess Dixon was awakened by the wind and thunder and turned on the TV long enough to make sure there were no tornado warnings, then turned it off and went back to sleep.

* * *

Gunner heard the wind and something rattling outside the window, then remembered he was in the spare room, and that had to be limbs of the lilac bushes slapping against the house.

He got up in the dark and went to the living room to turn on the TV for a weather check. Even if it was that time of year in Texas, this storm was all about rain. No tornadoes on the horizon tonight.

He went back through the kitchen, stopped to get a couple of cookies and a can of Pepsi, turned off the security, and went onto the patio. The weather was as unfettered as he felt, standing in the dark eating cookies and drinking pop—with the wind blowing rain against his feet and legs, and watching lightning flashes slicing through the storm.

It didn’t rain in West Texas as often as it rained here in Dallas, but when it did, the storms that rolled across the High Plains were wild and fierce—kind of like the people who lived there.

He glanced at the clock as he was finishing his snack. It was close to 4:00 a.m., but since he wasn’t going to work, it was far too early to stay up. He went back inside, reset the security alarm, then walked the perimeter within the house, looking out windows as he went, just to make sure all was well before going back to bed.

The next time he woke up, it was just after eight. He rolled out of bed and went to shower and shave. The blinds were open. The curtains pulled back. He was ready for the day.

He’d just finished cleaning up the kitchen when his cell phone rang. He saw Caller ID and thought how fortuitous it was that he’d come home, because it was the body shop.

“Hello.”

“Mr. Kingston, this is Bill from the body shop.”

“Great… Is my car ready?”

“It sure is. Do you want us to deliver it, or…”

“No need. I’ll get an Uber and head that way,” Gunner said.