Page 42 of Boston (Coral Canyon: Cowboys #12)
CHAPTER
TWENTY-EIGHT
T ex Young pulled up to the park, starting to feel too old to show up this early and sit in the heat for hours before the main event.
“Daddy, I’m locked in,” Pippa said from the backseat, and Tex moved his eyes from the fray of cars out the windshield to the rearview mirror.
He couldn’t quit attending the small town activities, because Pip was only eight years old.
She deserved to experience all the amazing things Coral Canyon had to offer, such as these big concerts in the park, with a pretty amazing fireworks show once darkness fell.
“Daddy,” Pip said again, this time with plenty of sassy whining in her tone.
“Hold your horses,” he said to her. “We’re not even in a space yet.”
Abby turned back to her. “No one’s getting out, little lady. Just hang on.”
Pip sighed like he and Abby were deliberately holding her back, and to be honest, Tex felt like he was.
He grinned out the side window, because out of his four kids, Pippa definitely had the surliest, sassiest attitude.
She’d inherited a lot of her mother’s redheaded stubbornness, and Tex reached over and took his wife’s hand in his.
Finally, the line of cars pulling into the dirt lot moved, and Tex followed the waving arms of the parking attendants and flowed into the next spot beside the black SUV he’d followed into the lot. When he put the truck in park, the doors unlocked themselves, and he said, “There you go, Pippy-Poo.”
“Don’t call me that,” she said, and she swung her door open first. “C’mon, Mel. Help me with my chair, okay?”
“Please,” Abby reminded her.
“Mel, will you please help me with my chair?” Pippa stood in the doorway and peered up at her older sister.
“Yeah, I’m coming.” Melissa sighed too, but it was because she had to put down her book to actually do something. She slid out of the truck on Pip’s side while Carver got down on the passenger side.
Tex joined his kids at the tailgate and opened it, then started handing out the things they’d brought to help them be comfortable and entertained for the next several hours.
Blankets, camp chairs, Abby’s enormous canvas bag. Mel’s backpack, then Carver’s, then Pippa’s. Tex started to sweat as he leaned forward over the open tailgate to reach the rest of the chairs.
His parents had been saving a plot of grass for the Fourth family get-together for years, but they couldn’t haul in all the chairs, tables, and food anymore.
This year, Adam and Joey, along with Mav and Dani, would be going over to Momma and Daddy’s condo to get all the equipment that needed to be brought over to the park.
Momma could still handle the big red umbrella, but Daddy didn’t walk well anymore, and she needed to be his crutch.
Tex expected them to be there ahead of him and his family, and he wasn’t disappointed.
No one else had arrived yet, and he tossed down the four chairs he’d brought to help Mav with the table.
Momma brought two now that the family had grown so much, and he moved over to where she stood talking to Dani and Joey.
“Howdy, Momma.”
She grinned at him with all the force of the sun, moon, and stars. “Mm, my tall son.”
He chuckled as he hugged her. “That’s what I am now? Your tall son?” He stepped back and grinned at her. “I seem to remember I used to be your favorite son.”
Momma laughed too. “You know that label rotates.”
“Still, tall seems like a long way to fall.”
“Go ask your daddy,” Abby said, and Tex turned toward the sound of her voice. She sometimes didn’t have as much patience with Pippa especially, and he found her talking to Carver this time.
The boy turned toward Tex, and he lifted his eyebrows. Before his son could ask him for anything, he nodded to the chairs. “Come help me with the chairs, son, and then we’ll go get the rest of ‘em.”
“I want to go over to the candy market,” he said. “I broughted my dollars for workin’ with Uncle Wade, and Momma said I could go.”
“Sure,” Tex said easily. “But we have to help Grams and Gramps get set up first. We have to have dinner first.” He glanced over to Abby, who’d probably already told him this. “The candy market is open until eight-thirty,” he added. “And you can’t go yourself anyway.”
Carver frowned and stomped over to the chair Tex held out for him.
“Hey, buddy, take a few seconds to think about what you’re doing.” Tex pulled the chair away from his son as Carver reached for it. Their eyes met, and Tex lifted his eyebrows. “If you act like this, I can guarantee your mother isn’t going to let you go over to the candy market.”
“Daddy, I worked real hard to save this money.”
“Yeah, I know you did, bud. And I’m not saying you can’t go. I’m saying you need to think about how you’re acting. How do you get what you want?”
Carver made a face like he’d swallowed dish soap. “I don’t know.”
“Here’s a hint,” Tex said. “Stomping around and demanding that you get your way when you want it isn’t helping you.” He handed his son the chair. “Help me set up, and do it with a smile on your face.”
Carver took the chair and moved over to where Adam had set up several chairs. “Hey, buddy,” Adam said in a bright voice. He looked at Carver and then over to Tex, who followed with two chairs.
More people arrived, first Trace and his family of three little kids. Everly carried her niece, Savannah, and that meant Kassie and Reggie were only a few minutes behind them.
Dani spread out a blanket, and so did Georgia when she arrived. She gave a stuffed cat to Anaya and said, “Stay here for a few minutes.”
“Momma,” she said, and oh, Tex had heard that whiny voice from his kids so many times.
“If you ask me about the candy market one more time, I will literally light your allowance on fire.” Georgia gave her daughter a glare and turned away. “Whoever came up with this candy market idea has never had a child.”
Tex chuckled, because he agreed wholeheartedly.
Luke and Sterling arrived with their kids, and he got his two boys throwing a Frisbee to keep them entertained while Sterling set up a playpen.
She put their daughter, Mattie, in it, and then stepped over to Joey.
“Will you keep an eye on the kids? Luke and I have all the sandwiches still in the truck.”
“Of course,” Joey said, and she moved over to sit on the blanket with Anaya and Mattie.
Tex took Carver with him back to their truck, and they collected the last four chairs and headed back. “I’m smiling, Daddy,” Carver said.
Tex pulled his son right over to him and squeezed his shoulder.
“You’re a good boy, Carver. Remember, if you want things your way, you have to look at the big picture.
It’s not all about you. We’re all trying to make sure everyone has somewhere to sit, that Grams and Gramps are taken care of, and that we can all have a nice time. ”
“I know,” Carver said. “I’m sorry, Daddy.”
“You tell your momma when we get back, and you help out with anyone who needs anything, okay?”
“Yes, sir.”
When Tex and Carver returned to the red umbrella, Blaze and Faith had arrived. Harmony babbled with Mattie in the playpen, and Cash took a huge aluminum pan from Sterling and slid it onto the end of the table.
Gabe and Hilde had arrived with their crew, including Lynnie, who sat in the camp chair with a personal fan blowing on her. And Morris and his zoo of children had shown up too, and Leigh, in all her wisdom, and brought a big bag of punching balloons.
She sat on the edge of the blanket with a mob of children in front of her, and she spoke in a kind, calm voice as she said, “If you hit someone with your balloon, I will take it away. If you pop it because you’re going crazy with it, too bad.
If you’re bothering anyone at all, older or younger than you, then Uncle Morris will pop your balloon, and then, too bad for you. ”
Morris stood a few feet away, and he flicked open his pocketknife. “Ask Skip if she’s serious.”
“She’s serious,” Skip said. “Daddy popped my balloon when I hit it toward Ridge, even though it was a total accident.”
“Try not to get your feelings hurt,” Aunt Leigh said.
“Sometimes accidents do happen, and it’s a balloon.
It’s probably not going to hurt you.” She pinned Skip with a look.
“And Skippy, you did punch your balloon right at Ridge, while he was sleeping. You hit him in the face and woke him up. I’m sorry, my friend, but that wasn’t an accident. ”
Skip said nothing, and he glanced over to his father, who still had the knife out. Tex grinned to himself and nodded with his cowboy hat over to Aunt Leigh. “Go on. You can have a balloon.”
“I can help,” Carver said, and he set up the chair he’d been carrying. “OJ’s still helping, and I can wait until the little-littles have balloons.”
“How very mature of you,” Abby said, and she crouched down after Carver had set up his chair.
“I’m sorry I got a little snappy with you.
I just hate it when you ask me more than three times to do something, and I’ve given you logical reasons why we can’t do that thing right that second. Do you understand?”
“Yes, Momma.” Carver grabbed onto her and hugged her. “I’m sorry too.”
“If you can get someone who’s fifteen or older to take you, you can go over to the candy market whenever they can take you.” She smiled at him and swept a kiss along his cheek.
Carver nodded, then looked over to Aunt Leigh.
She’d been blowing up the first balloon, and now she had a big, blue orb ready to go. She finished tying it off and got to her feet. “Okay, let me show you the right way to have fun with your balloon.”
She moved away from the group, every eye on her. She gripped the thick elastic and started to bop her balloon away from her body. “See how I’m not punching it toward another person?”
“Yes, ma’am,” some of the children chorused back to her.
The balloon bobbled as she stopped. “See how it sort of gets a little crazy, but it’s not that big of a deal?” She held the balloon still.