Weather the Storm: Episode 7 (Rising Storm) Read online

  Weather the Storm

  By Lisa Mondello

  Rising Storm

  Episode 7

  Story created by Julie Kenner and Dee Davis

  Weather the Storm, Episode 7

  Rising Storm

  Copyright 2015 Julie Kenner and Dee Davis Oberwetter

  ISBN: 978-1-942299-07-3

  Published by Evil Eye Concepts, Incorporated

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, places, characters and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination and are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or establishments is solely coincidental.

  Book Description

  Weather the Storm

  By Lisa Mondello

  Rising Storm Episode 7

  Secrets, Sex and Scandals …

  Welcome to Storm, Texas, where passion runs hot, desire runs deep, and secrets have the power to destroy… Get ready. The storm is coming.

  Bryce Douglas faces a crisis of faith when his idyllic view of his family is challenged with his son’s diagnosis of autism. Instead of accepting his wife and her tight-knit family’s comfort, he pushes them away, fears from his past threatening to undo the happiness he’s found in his present.

  About Lisa Mondello

  New York Times and USA Today Bestselling Author, Lisa Mondello, has held many jobs in her life but being a published author is the last job she'll ever have. She's not retiring! She blames the creation of the personal computer for her leap into writing novels. Otherwise, she'd still be penning stories with paper and pen. Her book The Knight and Maggie's Baby is a New York Times Bestseller. Her popular series includes Texas Hearts, Dakota Hearts, Fate with a Helping Hand and the new Summer House series. Writing as LA Mondello, her romantic suspense, Material Witness, book 1 of her Heroes of Providence series made the USA Today Bestseller List and was named one of Kirkus Reviews Best Books of 2012. You can find more information about Lisa Mondello at lisamondello.blogspot.com and sign up for her newsletter to receive new release information at http://eepurl.com/xhxO5.

  Also From Lisa Mondello

  Click to purchase

  Dakota Hearts Series:

  Her Dakota Man

  Badland Bride

  Dakota Heat

  Wild Dakota Heart

  His Dakota Bride

  Dakota Wedding

  His Dakota Heart

  Dakota Cowboy

  One Dakota Night

  Texas Hearts Series:

  Her Heart for the Asking

  His Heart for the Trusting

  The More I See

  Gypsy Hearts

  Leaving Liberty

  His Texas Heart

  Fate with a Helping Hand Series:

  The Gift

  All I Want for Christmas is You

  The Marriage Contract

  The Knight and Maggie's Baby

  My Lucky Charm

  Summer House Series:

  Moment in Time

  Moment of Impact

  Moment of Truth

  Standalones:

  Nothing But Trouble

  Material Witness

  Part of the Rodeo Knights series:

  Her Knight, Her Protector

  Foreword

  Dear reader –

  We have wanted to do a project together for over a decade, but nothing really jelled until we started to toy with a kernel of an idea that sprouted way back in 2012 … and ultimately grew into Rising Storm.

  We are both excited about and proud of this project—not only of the story itself, but also the incredible authors who have helped bring the world and characters we created to life.

  We hope you enjoy visiting Storm, Texas. Settle in and stay a while!

  Happy reading!

  Sign up for the Rising Storm/1001 Dark Nights Newsletter

  and be entered to win an exclusive lightning bolt necklace specially designed for Rising Storm by Janet Cadsawan of Cadsawan.com.

  Click here to subscribe.

  As a bonus, all subscribers will receive a free

  Rising Storm story

  Storm Season: Ginny & Jacob – the Prequel

  by Dee Davis

  Table of Contents

  Book Description

  About Lisa Mondello

  Also from Lisa Mondello

  Foreword

  Family Trees

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Rising Storm

  Teaser for Thunder Rolls: Rising Storm Episode 8 by Dee Davis

  1001 Dark Nights

  Special Thanks

  Family Trees

  Allen Family

  Alvarez Family

  Douglas Family

  Grossman Family

  Johnson Family

  Moreno Family

  Murphy Family

  Prager Family

  Rush Family

  Salt Family

  Chapter One

  A bad night for EMT Patrick Murphy was when a call turned into a DOA. Since Mrs. Lewis survived her heart attack, and would hopefully live to see her fiftieth wedding anniversary, it was going down on record as a good night for him and his partner. Yet, Patrick wasn’t feeling so triumphant.

  Morning light was just coloring the sky when he drove through the center of Storm, Texas, past the gazebo and Storm Oak, the big oak tree that anchored his hometown. The lights in Cuppa Joe’s Bakery weren’t on yet. No doubt Marisol would be pulling up to the bakery any minute to get started on the morning rush. But the Bluebonnet Cafe had some activity. Maybe he could grab a cup of coffee and wait. For what he didn’t know. He could spend his life waiting for Marisol. He’d given her an ultimatum—acknowledge what was happening between them or walk away. The ball was in her court.

  Patrick heaved a sigh as he turned away from the dark windows of Cuppa Joe’s and forced his gaze back to the park. The repairs on the gazebo had turned out nice. In a few days the park would be crawling with town folk celebrating Founders’ Day.

  He was just turning his eyes back to the road when something red and blue caught his eye. He pulled his car over to the side of the road. It wasn’t a parking space, but something about the little figure tucked behind the hay bales the Johnsons had delivered for the festival kicked his interest into overdrive.

  Climbing out of his car and slamming the door did nothing to disturb the figure crouched down behind the hay bale, so Patrick slowly walked over. The grass had a slight sheen of moisture on the top of the blades. As he moved forward, he could smell the scent of freshly mowed hay.

  Patrick continued to walk slowly until the source of the splash of color came into view. Fear kicked his gut.

  “Danny? Is that you?” His stomach clenched as he recognized his cousin Tara’s son.

  Five-year-old Danny Douglas, a little boy with red hair like his father, Pastor Douglas, sat on the ground in his pajamas. He wore no shoes or socks on his feet. In his hand, he held a little stuffed rabbit. He sat cross-legged and looked up at Patrick with wide eyes.

  “You’re a little early for the Founders’ Day festivities,” Patrick said.

  “I’m waiting to help Uncle Tucker.”

  Patrick gl
anced around. No one was nearby. “Did you come out here with Uncle Tucker?” He knew he hadn’t. Tucker Johnson wouldn’t have taken his nephew out this time of the morning and just left him on the square, even if he were only running to the Bluebonnet Cafe for a cup of coffee.

  Patrick and Tucker weren’t tight, but he knew his cousin wasn’t the kind of man to leave a kid outside on his own. Especially not one with issues like Danny’s. Patrick couldn’t be sure, but he suspected that Danny fell somewhere on the autism spectrum. Tara and Bryce—well, more Tara than Bryce, if he were being honest—were having tests run.

  “I helped with the hay.” The little boy broke into his thoughts, clearly proud of his accomplishment, patting the bale behind him.

  Picking the boy up from the ground, Patrick placed him on top of the hay bale where he hoped it would be warmer. “You did a great job.”

  As he took off his jacket, Patrick glanced around again to see if Bryce or Tara was nearby. This time of the morning, they probably weren’t even aware that their son had managed to sneak out of the house. He draped the jacket around the boy.

  Marisol’s car pulled up next to Cuppa Joe’s Bakery. She parked and climbed out before she turned and caught him staring at her. The dull ache in his gut grew as their eyes locked from across the square. Then her gaze dropped to Danny sitting on the hay bale and her expression turned to shock. She immediately ran toward them.

  “What happened? What is he doing out here this time of the morning?” Her chest rose and fell as she took in air after her run across the grass.

  “That’s what I was wondering. I found him here on my way home from work.”

  Relief washed over Marisol’s features as she sat down on the hay. “What are you doing out of the house, little guy? You know you’re not supposed to take off without Mommy or Daddy.”

  “Uncle Tucker wants me to help him.”

  Marisol wrapped an arm around Danny and glanced up at Patrick. Her gentle touch was what this little boy needed. She’d make such a good mother. Unfortunately, Marisol spent a great deal of time berating herself for how she hadn’t managed to be the perfect mother to her younger sister and brother after their parents had died ten years ago.

  “That’s what he told me,” Patrick said.

  “This isn’t the first time he’s done this,” she said quietly.

  Patrick felt a frown pull at his forehead.

  “They just got the test results this week. Turns out Danny’s autistic.” Marisol mouthed the words so Danny wouldn’t hear.

  Patrick nodded, the confirmation of his suspicions giving him no satisfaction. At least now they knew what they were battling.

  “Tara told you?”

  She stood, releasing the boy as she nodded.

  Marisol and his cousin were more than just best friends. They had been as close as sisters for as long as he could remember. Of course Tara would confide such a personal thing to Marisol. He wondered briefly if his mother—Tara’s aunt—had heard the news and just not said anything to the rest of the family yet.

  Patrick reached down and picked Danny up in his arms. “I think it’s time for me to take this little guy home.”

  * * * *

  Tara Douglas’s difficult day had started with Patrick discovering Danny on the square, and it wasn’t getting better. Now, she sighed as she dropped the phone back into the headset on the table in the foyer. The telephone conversation with her mother hadn’t gone well. Not that Tara had expected it would. Despite the fact that Alice Johnson loved her daughter, she had definite ideas about what they should be doing for Danny. Partially because she cared, and partially because she was the principal of Storm Elementary.

  Tara had a good idea how her mother had heard about Patrick finding Danny at the town square this morning. Patrick had probably told his mother, Sonya, at the breakfast table after he’d dropped Danny off at the house. Not that it mattered. She’d have told her anyway. It was just that all of this was so new. In the few days since the diagnosis, there hadn’t been time to plan or even to think.

  Danny was autistic. Autistic. She wasn’t even certain she understood the full ramifications of what that meant.

  The sheer terror of seeing Danny in Patrick’s arms when she’d opened the door this morning still had her reeling. Spending the day going through the motions of being a mother and pastor’s wife hadn’t rid her of the feeling. But Danny hadn’t been the only reason for that phone call. The fact that her mother was now involved with not just Tara’s son, but her daughter Carol’s problems as well, only made the conversation she had to have with Bryce harder.

  He put so much into the idea of his perfect family.

  It didn’t matter to her husband that Danny and Carol were Alice Johnson’s grandchildren and that she was Tara’s mother. It was the meddling, the overstepping of boundaries that Bryce was upset about. Somehow, his picture of “family” hadn’t included her brothers and her parents. Or at least that’s the way it felt.

  She’d waited until after eating dinner and putting the kids to bed to approach him. She knew Danny had gone off to sleep right away. He’d been up very early that morning—she didn’t even want to think about how long he’d been on the square before Patrick had found him—and barely took a nap during the day. Tara knew because she hadn’t taken her eyes off him since Patrick had brought him to her door.

  Carol, on the other hand, had hemmed and hawed about needing a glass of water and wanting a snack because she was hungry. Tara knew she didn’t need either, but she gave her a glass of water anyway and told her it was too late for a snack. She made sure to hold her daughter in her arms good and long until Carol was the one to pull away and rest her head on her pillow. Tara had read the little girl’s favorite book aloud until her child had drifted off to sleep.

  Carol. Her dear, sweet little girl.

  Tara walked down the hall to her husband’s office. The dark wooden door was closed and there was no sound coming from inside. Even so, she didn’t need to see the slice of light filtering through the crack at the bottom of the door to know Bryce was inside.

  Lifting her hand to the center of the door, she tapped her knuckles against the wood and then gripped the handle and walked in before waiting for him to tell her to enter.

  She stood at the door, not wanting to disturb her husband, but tired of pretending that the problems facing their family didn’t exist. Nothing was going to change unless they worked at this. And even if they did work at it, some things were never going to change. They had to learn to accept that.

  Bryce turned in his chair at his desk and glanced up from his paperwork. Her husband was a hardworking man. Although his job as pastor didn’t require the manual labor that her brother and father did on a daily basis on the family ranch, it was just as taxing. There was so much on his mind.

  “What is it, Tara?” he asked.

  “We can’t ignore this any longer, Bryce. We need to talk.”

  * * * *

  “What has gotten you all fired up, sweetheart? Did the price of coffee go up? My favorite fruit cereal wasn’t at the market? Not enough volunteers to help with Founders’ Day set up?” His attempt at teasing fell flat when his wife gave him a heavy sigh. That happened a lot lately.

  Not that he didn’t understand her frustration today. Danny’s early morning jaunt had scared him, too. But Patrick had found him. No harm, no foul. Just a little kid with a mind of his own. But even as he had the thought he knew it was more than that. And that truth scared him to death. Too many memories of his mother. Of him and Kristin hiding in the closet.

  This was different but…

  He looked up at his wife, putting down the paper he’d been working on for the past thirty minutes. His sermon for this Sunday’s service.

  It always surprised him how he’d spend hours crafting his message. Changing words. Making a point. And then he’d stand at the pulpit and speak from his heart. Bryce had come to realize that he needed that preparation to be able to unde
rstand his own self in order to convey a concrete message.

  Lately, it had been different. After working through the scriptures, Bryce didn’t normally have trouble finding the right words to say to the congregation. But it had become increasingly hard to bring the shattered town back from the tragic loss of a young person so many people cared about. Words that made any sense were hard to come by.

  In the small Texas town of Storm, most everyone knew everyone else. If you didn’t know someone from birth, you knew them quick enough after moving here. Even the death of someone you only knew in passing was felt deeply by most and left behind a hole that needed to be filled.

  He was in charge of the filling. At least spiritually.

  But to lose someone as young as Jacob Salt and leave behind an unborn child who would never know his or her father, it was particularly harsh.

  And despite all of that, it was still easier to deal with the town’s loss than to acknowledge his own. Danny would never be normal. Never.

  Tara sighed as she leaned against the doorjamb leading to his office. “Mom called to let us know that she up a meeting tomorrow afternoon with Sara Jane Salt.” Sara Jane was the school’s special ed teacher. She’d only recently gotten her degree and come back to Storm.

  “For Carol?” he asked.

  “No. For Danny.”

  “School’s out for summer. And Danny hasn’t even started school yet, anyway. Why would she want to see you now?”

  Tara hesitated. “You heard what the doctor said. We’ve got to start working on a strategy for helping him cope.”

  Bryce quickly glanced at the calendar on his desk. With so many people using electronics to plan their days, he still preferred the old-fashioned daily planner where he could give it a quick glance and know exactly what he was doing.