and the lack of flights, every flight was jampacked. There was also a big long list of people waiting to see if a seat opened up.
Generally, it had been confusion at the airports. More so than usual.
Dallas was bouncing back and forth on his butt, but the expression on his face was thoughtful. In Houston’s experience, with the little bit of time that he got to spend with his brother, Dallas thought better if he was moving.
Unfortunately, Houston thought better if he was sitting still.
But since he’d already been thinking about this, and Dallas needed to get things straightened out in his brain. Houston pushed up, threw his body out, and landed in the creek.
“Come on. Let’s look for crawfish while you think about it.”
Dallas didn’t need a second invitation. He was jumping off before Houston even finished talking. Splashing through the creek, he went over to the other side where the bigger rocks were.
“Help me with this one. It’s too heavy for me.”
That was probably too heavy for crawfish to be under, but Houston didn’t say that. He just went over and stuck his hands next to Dallas’s. “Pull on three, okay?”
“Sure,” Dallas said. “One, two, three.” They groaned and strained, and finally the rock popped out.
To Houston’s surprise, there were three crayfish underneath it.
How could that be? The rock was so heavy they could barely lift it, and yet there were three crayfish under there.
He had to be quick, grabbing them right behind the front pinchers.
“I’ll get this one.” He pointed to the biggest one.
“I’ll get the other two. Both hands,” Dallas said, his word sounding snippy almost, but it was because he was excited. He scrunched down, both hands raised over the crawfish. “I think I can do it. And you think that’ll bring Mom?”
“I don’t know.” That was the iffy part of his plan. His mom didn’t like to travel. She did it for the company, but she was adamant about never going back to Missouri. He’d asked. Pretty much every time he went to Switzerland. It was nice and all, but if he could choose, Missouri was where he wanted to be. With his mom and his dad.
It’s where his grandparents were.
His other grandfather, Mom’s dad, was in Switzerland. But he wasn’t any fun.
Dallas’s hands shot out, each one snatching a crayfish.
Houston bit his lip and thought about the angle that his hand would have to come down to hit the back right behind the pinchers.
“Even if she doesn’t come, it’s going to take a while before Dad can get another flight. I heard Mom talking before I left, and it’s possible that all the airlines will shut down, and nobody will be getting any flights. Maybe, if you miss one, there won’t be another one.”
Houston could see Dallas liked that idea. He smiled and bit his tongue. Then his hand shot out, and he snatched up the last crayfish. “Yes! Got him.”
“Actually...” Dallas squinted at the crustacean. “It’s smaller than I thought it was. I think it’s a girl.”
Houston wasn’t sure that size had anything to do with it being male or female, but he didn’t want to get sidetracked into a discussion about crayfish just yet.
Dallas held both crayfish at chest level while his eyes sought Houston’s. “Do you really think it’s that bad? You don’t think I’ll be able to get another flight? You think we’ll get to stay here, like, a long time?”
“Maybe we can figure out another plan to get Mom to come, if this doesn’t do it.”
“But we don’t need Mom. If there aren’t any flights, she can’t come anyway. But if you and I are together, it doesn’t matter if Mom’s here.”
Houston didn’t want to wait for Dallas to put everything together. He would, eventually. But he needed to take the time to think about it. And Houston didn’t have that kind of time. They needed to make plans.
“If Mom comes, maybe she and Dad will decide that they still like each other, and she’ll stay.” He stared at Dallas, trying to get Dallas to understand the importance of what he had just said.
For once, Dallas went totally still. They stared at each other, their mouths open. Then Dallas’s mouth curved slowly into a smile. It mirrored Houston’s.
Houston wrinkled his nose and nodded, and Dallas imitated him.
“I gotcha. Mom and Dad...need to fall in love.”
Chapter 3
Reid hated this part.
He stood in front of the long line of chairs at the airport terminal, his arms wrapped around Dallas, fighting