A Second Chance in the Show Me State - Jessie Gussman Page 0,60

to their parents, wrapping their arms around both of them. Dallas tried not to jump up and down while he was doing it, because he knew that annoyed people, but he was just so happy he could hardly stand still, so he jumped off the porch, running around the house, shouting and screaming, until he made it the entire way around and came back up on the porch where Houston was still hugging his parents, and he gave him another hug.

“It worked! It worked! I didn’t think it was going to work. I thought we were going to be in big trouble. I thought Mom was going to be really mad, and then I thought Dad did something with Mom, but he didn’t, and it all worked out because they like each other again—” He broke off abruptly. His eyes widened. “You’re not going back to Switzerland, are you, Mom?”

Houston probably hadn’t thought of it either, because his head jerked back. “This means you’re staying here, right?”

One big boot landed on the porch. Uncle Deacon propped a leg on the porch and leaned an elbow on the top of his knee. “Hey, bro,” Uncle Deacon said, like he was getting ready to ask about the weather.

Dallas wanted to squirm. He didn’t want to talk about whether or not it was going to rain today or whether or not they were going to harvest corn. Although he was interested in that and did want to know, he had other things he wanted to know more, and he wasn’t ready to have a casual conversation that Uncle Deacon seemed to be starting.

“Deacon. It appears I owe you.”

Uncle Deacon didn’t drop his gaze but looked steadily at Dad. Dallas had the feeling that Uncle Deacon found something funny.

“You can name him after me,” Uncle Deacon said with a grin.

Dad pulled Mom tighter to him and squinted his eyes. “No way.”

Houston looked over, and Dallas shrugged. He had no idea what they were naming. Did they get a puppy?

His eyes brightened at the thought. “I want to name it.”

If they got a puppy, he wanted at least to have a say in the name. If Uncle Deacon named it, it would probably be named Moses or Hezekiah or something. That’s what preachers did. Name things weird names.

“I think that’s a good idea,” Mom said.

Houston looked over him again, and they exchanged another shrug. From the way she was talking, they had been considering getting a puppy.

“That wasn’t exactly what I was talking about anyway, bro,” Dad said, looking at Uncle Deacon. “I actually meant I owe you a night locked in your woodshed. But I can try to make sure Blair’s able to spend it with you.”

Deacon grinned. “Don’t forget I packed food, blankets, and a pillow. Plus I gave you a flashlight. I expect exactly the same kind of treatment. And you can lock Blair and me in the woodshed anytime you want to. As long as you keep Tinsley.”

“Maybe all of our cousins can come over, we can have a big sleepover, cookout, campfire, and we can play in the creek and in the barn and make an obstacle course and have lots of food.”

Houston nudged him with his shoulder, and Dallas snapped his mouth closed. He did have a tendency to say way more than he should. He knew he didn’t stop talking the way other people did, but he couldn’t figure out what was okay to say and when he needed to stop. Everything he said seemed important. He was interested in it anyway.

His dad looked down at him, with his arm still around Mom. “To answer your question, yes. Your mom is going to stay here, and both of you boys are too. We’ll all live together, and we’ll try hard to get along. All of us.” Dad grinned the grin that Dallas always thought looked like a seesaw, with one side of his mouth up and one side down.

His mom looked up, and she seemed to like that grin too, because she reached up and touched his cheek right beside his mouth.

Then Dad leaned down and kissed Mom, right on the lips. Which, Dallas figured, was probably a good thing, but it was a little bit gross. And then they didn’t stop kissing, and it got really gross, and this time when Houston looked at him, instead of exchanging shrugs, they exchanged horrified expressions. He’d seen kissing like that once or twice on TV, but he never thought