Oklahoma Reunion

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“No. I’m pretty sure this conversation is over.” Swallowing, he straightened and glanced at his watch. “For now. It’s late, and I’m functioning on an empty tank. I don’t want to say something we’ll both regret.”

Kait nodded.

Arms crossed, Ryan met her gaze head-on. His eyes flashed cold and dark.

She shivered. She’d never seen this side of Ryan before.

“I want to get to know Jenna. I want to get to know my daughter.”

He turned from her and walked slowly to his pickup, head bowed with the weight of his burden.

“That’s what I want, too,” Kait whispered as he drove away.

Pointing the pickup toward Tishomingo, Ryan drove. The three-and-a-half-hour trip took considerably less. It was after ten when he pulled up the long dirt-and-gravel drive and parked outside the rambling farmhouse. Twilight had long since disappeared, and a dark blanket of a country night covered everything.

The tension that held his shoulders tight and his jaw clenched finally eased. He released a deep breath and got out of the truck. Stones crunched beneath his boots as he approached the porch. The creaking of a rocking chair accompanied a chorus of cicadas.

“You know what time it is?” His grandfather’s voice reached him.

Ryan glanced at his watch. “Way past your bedtime.”

“Guess I must have been waiting up for you.” Gramps glanced over at the truck. “You still driving that old piece of tin?”

“Gets fair mileage and keeps the women away.”

Gramps laughed loud and hard.

The small porch light was enough to detail his grandfather’s rhythmic motions in the chair. As usual, Gramps wore a clean white T-shirt and pair of well-worn overalls. His remaining tufts of white hair stood straight up on a shiny scalp. Nearing eighty-four, Harlan Lukas Jones never changed. Ryan thanked God for that. The man was his rock, his sanity in a crazy world.

“Everyone okay?” Gramps asked.

“Yeah.”

The older man lifted a glass of lemonade to his lips. “There’s more in the house. Help yourself.”

“I’m good.”

Gramps looped his foot around another rocker, the twin to the one he sat in, and pulled it close. “Then have a seat.”

Weariness settled on Ryan as he eased into the chair and leaned against the smooth slats. “Nice weather for the first week of October.”

“Bit of a breeze but nice. Frost coming soon. That’ll quiet those cicadas.”

Ryan nodded.

“Good chili-cooking weather, too, but I’m guessing you didn’t come out here to discuss the weather or cooking. What’s on your mind, son? You look like you’ve gone a few rounds with the devil tonight.”

Ryan inhaled, steadying his emotions. “She’s back.”

They were silent for a while, chairs slowly moving in unison.

His grandfather gave a thoughtful shake of his head. “Time changed her?” he finally asked.

“Not really.” If anything, Kait was more of everything that tugged at his heart and soul. As a woman, the emotions she stirred in him were more powerful than ever.

“What are you feeling?”

“No different.” He paused, relieved at the admission. “The trouble is, I’m not sure if I’m still in love with her because that’s all I know or because that’s all I want to know.”

“Little of both, I imagine.” Gramps set his glass on the ground. “She married?”

“No.” Ryan glanced down.

“Your folks never cared for Kait. You know that.”

“I didn’t let that stand in the way, Gramps.”

“You’ve never gone nose to nose with your folks, either.”

“I’m not a lawyer, am I?”

“This isn’t like choosing veterinary medicine over law school, son. If it’s change you’re looking for, you’re going to have to quit straddling the fence.”

Ryan shook his head. He knew his grandfather was right. He rarely stood up to his parents. It was too much trouble. He’d rather find the road around an issue and quietly do things his own way.

“There’s more, Gramps.”

His grandfather stopped rocking.

“She brought her daughter with her.”

“How old is she?”

“Seven. Almost eight.”

“Are you trying to get up the nerve to tell me you’re that little girl’s daddy?”

Ryan blinked. “You know?”

“Not a far leap, even for an old steer like me. I always wondered when she left so suddenlike.”

“I want to do the right thing, but I have to tell you, I’m reelin’.” Ryan gripped the chair, his knuckles white. He released a breath, once again fighting the desire to hit something or break down in tears. Neither was an option.

Gramps reached out a gnarled hand and touched Ryan’s arm. His deep blue eyes searched his grandson’s. “It’ll all sort itself out, son. Anger’s not going to do anyone any good, so you may as well put it away and save it for something more deserving.”

Ryan slowly nodded and leaned back in the chair. They rocked silently for a long time, until his grandfather spoke again. “Ha.” Gramps stopped the chair and slapped his knee. “Bet this put your folks in a tizzy.”

“They don’t know yet.”

“Ooh, boy. Wish I was a fly on that wall. Why, last time something like this happened was when your daddy and momma moved up the wedding date. They ended up eloping, you know.”

Ryan’s jaw slacked with surprise.

“You know what they say about people who live in glass houses,” Gramps said. He chuckled under his breath.

Ryan shook his head. “But they act so …”

“Judgmental? Well, your daddy wasn’t always like that, and I have to believe that deep down inside he’s the same man he was when he left this farm. Your grandmother and I raised him up right with a foundation based on the good Lord.”

“And Mother?”

“Aw, don’t go believing those highfalutin ways of your mother’s. I knew her when she was just a regular girl from Granby. She comes from a long line of simple folks.” His grandfather gestured with his hands. “Why, her granny and mine were friends when their husbands were roughnecks on oil rigs.”

Ryan grinned before his thoughts sobered again. “What should I do, Gramps?”

“Darned if I know. I’m old, but that doesn’t mean I know everything.”

“I always thought you did.”

“Not me. I cheat. I turn to the good Lord when I don’t know what to do. That’s your answer, as well.”

Ryan frowned.

“Pray, son. Pray like your life depends on it. Kait coming back into your life is nothing short of a marvel. A daughter, you say? Well, that’s doubly marvelous. Don’t let your folks stand in the way this time.” Gramps pointed skyward with his thumb. “He has a plan. Up to you to figure out what it is.”

Ryan took a deep breath. Gramps was right. It was time for some serious prayer. Time to ask for forgiveness for his mistakes and trust that the Good Lord would give him the wisdom and strength he needed for tomorrow.