Page 5 of Dallas

She started laughing. It was that, or she was going to lose her mind about how things had worked out. They were billionaires. The two of them had become that way through the same lottery winnings. Every time she thought of the fact that they were rich beyond anything that she’d ever known, it made her laugh to know that the Dixon family had done the same thing and had won as well. Amy was still laughing as they made their way out of the hospital and to his car. Her mom was going to have so much fun with the fact that the two families were meant to be together. Or that was what she was going to think.

~*~

Jamie hugged his parents and then his sister. He’d not been able to see Amy for a while now, and he wasn’t going to miss the opportunity to get as many hugs from her as he could. But the big man that was her mate, he was a little afraid of. The man was monstrously big but nice. His whole family was, as a matter of fact. But big. They were all big people.

“Why didn’t you bring the Carol with you?” He told his mom that she was on a trip with some of her friends. “Oh well. Maybe the next time you can bring her here. I’m so happy that you brought the kids with you. I miss them terribly.”

“Mom, you just saw them last weekend when you were in for a visit. You can’t have missed them that much.” Mom told him that she missed them when they were still in the parking lot after leaving them. “I don’t remember you missing me that much. When you dropped me off at college, you didn’t come back for a visit for nearly two months, if I remember correctly.”

“That’s different. These are my grandbabies.” He laughed. There was no arguing with grandma logic dad was forever telling him. “What is Carol really up to, Jamie? You know that you can’t lie to me. What’s going on?”

“There was never any fooling you. She’s pissed because there was a dinner last night that I didn’t want to go to. It was her friends, and I don’t care for them. I told her to go without me, and that didn’t make her any happier with me.” He kissed his mom on the cheek. “It’ll be fine, Mom. Carol is just having a rough time thinking that we won’t win the next election, and she’ll have to move out of the House.”

“You think you’ll lose? I don’t think you will if my opinion matters to you.” He told her that hers was the only one that did matter. “Thank you for that. But we both know that it’s your dad that you go to for advice. But I see you as a shoo-in for the next election. You tell me why she doesn’t think you’ll win.” He wanted to change the subject badly.

“To be honest with you, I don’t know why she thinks that.” He glanced over at his sister sitting with Dallas. “He and his family are good people. They’re straight-up business people. The family donates a great deal of their time and energy to the kids around town. And for as much money as they have, they all still go to work every day. Their mom clips coupons. And Mr. Dixon donates a great deal of his time to the local clinic, giving good care to anyone that comes there who can’t afford to have good health care anywhere else.”

“Right before you got here, they told us that they’re the ones that won the lottery when Amy did. The mother brought the ticket.” She looked at them, too, Dallas talking to Carrie, Jamie’s daughter. “He said that he’d not make her do whatever he wants. I believe him. I’m not so sure your sister does, but they seem to be all right together. Did you have them looked into?”

“You know that I did. Amy is my baby sister, and I don’t want anything to happen to her. The youngest brother, Cullen Dixon, is a decorated officer in the Navy. I had to dig hard to find out that he’s on special missions all the time and hard to get in touch with. No one knows that he’s a shifter and that he keeps in touch with his family all the time.” She asked him about the rest of the family. “Jayden, the second oldest, teaches high school literature. He has been doing it for some time now and ends up being teacher of the year at the local high school all the time. Waylon works as a clerk at the hardware store. Few people know this, but he actually owns the place with his grandfathers. They’re all alive, too, both sets on both sides. Booth teaches Spanish. And when needed, he can step in for both French and Latin if necessary. It’s said that he has a good ear for languages. He can pass as a native if he has to talk to someone in those languages. Falkner is a nurse, but he has gone back to college to become a doctor. I think that I read he has about eight months to go before he’ll graduate. And he’ll do so with a high grade point average, too. He’d be someone that I’d go to if I needed to have a doctor, too. He’s that good. Then there are the older two. They’re not actually related to the family at all. They were Mr. Dixon’s first wife’s children when he married her. When she passed away from cancer, it was thought that he’d married her so that her children would be well taken care of and not have to go to their father. He’s been a good father to them all. They were only married about a year when she passed away. I’m still running checks on the other two, but they all seem to be just what they seem. A large, happy, good family with some slight connections to each other.”

“You’ve been busy.” Jamie told Mr. Dixon that he was sorry, but he had to know. “Of course you did. And I would have done the same thing had I been in your position as President. I’ve only known your family for just a little while, but I have a feeling that your sister wouldn’t be very happy with you if she found out you’ve had our family looked into. Am I correct?”

“That would be an understatement. She’d be very ticked off at me.” He looked to where the couple were. “She’s hard on people. Even before I ran for president. When I started talking about my political career at fifteen, she decided then that she wanted nothing to do with it. The next thing I knew, she was changing her last name and moving into the family home.” He looked at Mr. Dixon. “It’s gone now, I heard.”

“It is. I don’t know that I would have allowed her, even if it would have pissed her off, allowed her to live there after seeing the condition the place was in. Not her home; it was about as neat and tidy as I’d ever seen. But from the outside? Well, it was scary to think that she’d been living here all alone. It’s small wonder that she’d not been hurt before now.” He agreed with the older man. “Also, you should know that Dallas doesn’t just work for the zoo. I’m sure you’ll find out if you’ve not already, but he operates it as well as part owner. He runs the primate department just the way it should be, and he’s done a good job of bringing the place up to a good standing where people from around the world want to visit.”

“Yes, since he’s been in charge there, there has been a very noticeable amount of visitors that now go there. Also, you might too know that he’s been instrumental in getting other animals—ones that are bringing more in daily—to be there as well.” He said that he’d noticed that when he was looking into things. “Good. I’m glad to hear that.”

Jamie mingled with the families. He did get to talk to his sister a few times, and she was being as stubborn as ever about things going on. Having her by his side, just being there with him, would mean a great deal to him. But she was just as stubborn as their mother, and he was sure that if it came to which one was more so, it would be Amy, hands down.

“Where is she?” He looked up at Amy when she came into the room. “You fobbed off, Mom, about a women’s trip. Tell me what’s going on, or I’ll have Mrs. Dixon dig into it and figure it out for me. Carol doesn’t miss family gatherings. She’d want to be the center of attention, and we both know she can’t be there if she’s not here.”

“She’s leaving me.” He leaned back in the chair he’d been sitting in for the last hour, thinking about what Carol had said to him this morning. Amy sat down next to him and told him to tell her. “Nothing much to tell. She’s been unhappy for the last five years, and it’s not gotten any better with her. I told her that I was sick of her taking her anger at me out on the kids and she was going to have to seek help, or I’d publicly embarrass her by filing for divorce. I’ve had enough.”

“I bet that went over well.” He shook his head. “I can just imagine. I’m not going to tell you that I told you so. But what can I do to help you? You know that I will.”

“Come to DC with me—as my sister and be with the kids for a couple of days. Believe it or not, or you probably already know, they’re not happy with their mother either. You were right when you told me that they pick up on everything.” She said that he had to say that again, that she was right. “You were right. In just about everything. About her not being happy while in DC. Not liking all the analysis of her life while my wife. Hell, Amy, she’s not happy with you either, and you’ve done nothing wrong.”

“Let me guess. She’s unhappy with me because I’m not sitting the kids for her when they’re home in the evening. Or is it because she doesn’t like being seen with her children because they date her, and I’m not there for her to push them off on me as my own children, so she appears younger. Am I close yet?” He said that she got all of it correct. “Thank you for that again. I told you, Jamie, that I didn’t want to raise your children when I’m trying to get myself out there as a photographer. I don’t want to live in the White House with the four of…well, I’d not mind if it was you and the kids, but we both know that Carol has disliked me—if not hated me for a long time. I’m finished.”

“Yes, I know that now. I wish, with all my heart, that I’d listened to you better before running for office.” Amy leaned back and regarded him. Then she asked him if Carol was having an affair. “Yes.”

He didn’t say anything more as he really was embarrassed. Not only had she taken up with most of his staff, but she’d black-mailed most of them into their little affairs because she threatened to tell him about them. Like he didn’t know everything already. Jamie asked what he was supposed to do now.

“I can take care of her.” He asked her how she was going to do that. “Do you trust me? You do know that I have your best interest at heart. Can you trust me to do what’s right for you and the kids?”

“I do.” She hugged him and then walked out of the living room. “Amy, what sort of things are you going to do to her? You’re not going to have blood on your hands, are you? Amy? I’m speaking to you.”

Chapter 3

Dallas was still at his office at eight that night. He’d been putting off working in favor of watching over Amy. Now that she was doing much better, he thought it was time to get settled on a few things that he’d been working on before she’d come into his life.

The dinner with Amy’s parents had been a good thing. He liked her brother and father and thought that her mom was a hoot. Jamie’s kids, both of them, seemed to like the freedom of the back yard, and he had to admit, he did enjoy being around them. They gave off an energy that he’d not felt in a while. A good kind of energy.

“I was wondering something.” Amy stood in the doorway of the office he’d been using. They were staying at his parents’ home for tonight since his apartment had been overrun with newspaper people when they got a glimpse of James Parkerson in town. “I have a house that my grandmother left me. I completely forgot about it until Jamie reminded me. He has one, too, but I think he’s going to be selling it so he can live in DC after this election.”

“Your mom said that he thinks that he’s going to lose the election because of his wife. Do you know what’s going on there?” She said that Carol was unhappy, which she always was, and she’d been having affairs with some of the staff there with the threat of telling her husband. “She sounds like a peach pie. What’s he going to do to her? He strikes me as a man who doesn’t like to be backed into a corner.”

Source: www.allfreenovel.com