A Second Chance in the Show Me State - Jessie Gussman Page 0,1

Dallas got older they’d probably butt heads because they were so much alike, but for now, Reid knew when he went to pick up Dallas, it would be an in and out, fast and furious kind of deal.

Whereas with Houston, he was much more likely to wait until the very end...

Yeah. He could see Houston now, walking along beside an elderly gentleman who had a cane in one hand and was waving a pointer finger with the other. Houston was looking at the older man and nodding solemnly.

That was Houston. A good audience for anyone. And just as slow as his brother was fast.

Very similar to how Emerson had been with Reid. Total opposites.

But they fit. Perfectly. And complemented each other with his weaknesses being her strengths, and vice versa.

When they’d first started dating, there had been several people who had said they were so opposite they probably wouldn’t get along, but that had not been true.

Their separation had nothing to do with their opposite personalities.

It had everything to do with Reid’s stubbornness.

And everything to do with Emerson’s aversion to risk.

Money played a part too.

“Houston!” Dallas yelled. So loud even jaded travelers lifted weary heads to see what the commotion was.

Dallas didn’t pay any attention, probably didn’t notice, but took off running for his brother. Emerson and he had been so successful at keeping them apart that it had been about four years since they’d seen each other.

They’d spent Christmas with Emerson and New Year’s with Reid. Emerson and he had agreed the separation for the twins after seeing each other had been too hard. And neither one of them wanted to go six months without seeing one of their children.

The discussion had been quite unemotional.

There hadn’t been a divorce, and they didn’t seem to have a problem being civil in their emails.

When Dallas got to where Houston was, he wrapped his arms around his brother, dragging him in a circle, with Houston letting go of his luggage and being careful not to bump the elderly man beside him. All the other passengers had gone on ahead, and he and that man were the last ones left.

Reid strode ahead, not technically supposed to be going that way, but figuring the twenty-five feet he was going to be walking wouldn’t get him into much trouble.

The boys were talking a mile a minute—Dallas was talking a mile a minute and Houston was listening with a huge grin on his face—so Reid stuck out his hand to the elderly gentleman, who looked up at him underneath heavy white brows, his brown eyes sharp and perceptive.

“I’m Reid Hudson, and that was my son, Houston.”

The man’s gnarled hand gripped his with a surprising strength. “He’s quite a young fellow. A seasoned traveler, so I hear. And a good listener.” The older man’s lips parted in a self-depreciating smile. “He listened to me run on about life on the farm when I was a kid growing up. He said you guys had a place in the southern part of the state.” The man looked at him expectantly.

“Yeah. We do.” Reid wasn’t sure how much longer he was going to be farming. He’d made a couple of really bad decisions, and he was on the verge of losing everything. Not even his family knew. He would have to tell them eventually, probably by the new year.

“Well, it’s probably a lot different than it was when I was a kid. We didn’t have electricity, we had to get water from the well, and we used horses, because we were too poor to afford a tractor.”

Reid nodded. It was different all right. Maybe not better.

“Your kid said you just put in a big new dairy barn, with all electronic equipment. But then something happened, and you don’t even have cows now.”

Reid just nodded, although the man was peering at him like he wanted an explanation. Reid didn’t have one other than he took a risk, lost a milk contract he thought he had in the bag, and was left holding a banknote to the tune of way more than he could pay.

Not something he wanted to hash out in the airport with a stranger.

“Dad!” a female voice from behind him called, and the older gentleman’s face wreathed into a smile, wrinkling up like the folds of an accordion.

“Excuse me,” he said, and he shuffled off.

Reid didn’t turn around to watch him leave. Instead, he took three steps to his boys and wrapped his arms around both of them, picking