Southern Sunshine

by Natasha Madison

  "Will you put blueberry and lemon in them?" He mentions the pancakes I made yesterday, and I smile.

  "If you come back tomorrow, I’ll make the brown sugar spice ones,” I say.

  "Go home," Reed says. “And don’t come back." I laugh as I start making the pancakes. I feel him behind me now.

  "What are you doing?" I ask over my shoulder and feel him hug me.

  "I’m getting my sugar,” he says, and I laugh and kiss his lips.

  "Go dress Sofia, and I’ll cook breakfast,” I say and then roll my lips. “But wait until your sword goes down."

  He throws his head back and laughs. It takes him a good five minutes before he walks away, and I already have the first batch on the griddle. They polish off the twelve pancakes I make, leaving one for me and one for Sofia.

  "Okay, give your momma a kiss," Quinn says, pushing away from the table and taking his plate over to the sink. “Thank you for breakfast," he says.

  Sofia jumps from her chair, coming over to me. “Bye, Momma." She puckers her lips for mine.

  I push her hair away from her face, and her eyes are filled with happiness. “I love you, baby girl,” I say. “To the moon."

  "And back." She finishes the sentence for me. "Favorite Uncle Quinn,” she says, running, as I laugh and Reed groans.

  "He taught her that,” he says, getting up now and bringing his own plate to the sink. “Ass," he says, coming to me and leaning down. I smile and bring my hand up to his face. “See you later, baby," he says softly and kisses me with just as much softness. “Love you,” he says, and we both just stop moving. My mouth runs dry, and I look at Reed, who looks like he wants the floor to open up and swallow him. “See you later,” he says, turning and practically running out of the house.

  My eyes blink slowly as I hear his voice again in my head, love you. I get up, picking up my phone, and see I have thirty minutes to get to my meeting. I walk out of the house wearing the yellow sundress I had from high school. It’s a bit tighter across the top, but other than that, it fits. I lock the truck door and walk across the street toward the shop.

  When I walk in, I stop in my tracks. “Oh my," I say, looking around. She did not mess around. The last time I was here, it was an empty space. Now there is a long wooden counter and a big

  glass display case at the back of the store.

  The walls look like the inside of a barn, and toward the back are two brown barn doors that open to the kitchen. "Hey," Savannah says, coming out from the back with a smile on her face as big as I’ve ever seen. “Just in time. They just installed the ovens. Come and take a look." She motions with her head, and I walk into the back. A big stainless steel island sits in the middle of the room, and then two ovens are on one wall, and two more are on the other. Muffin pans and cake pans are all stacked on a shelf.

  "This …" I turn, taking it all in. “This is incredible."

  "I did get a little help from Olivia with my vision." She folds her arms. “But this really did turn out amazing."

  My heart beats in my chest as I think of the words to say. “I was wondering," I start to say, and then I put my hand to my stomach when I feel it lurch. “I was wondering if the offer was still on the table." I finally say the words I’ve been holding back for the past two days. I knew the day we told his grandparents that I wasn’t leaving to go back home. The minute he told me about Pops, I knew that the best thing for Sofia would be to stay here, surrounded by family and people who love her.

  “Are you joking?" she asks, and I blink away the big tears.

  "No,” I say. “But if we are going to be partners, it’s going to be fifty-fifty." My hand comes up to wipe away the tear. “I’m going back home next week to pack up our stuff and put my condo up for sale. The prices have doubled since I bought it, so I should have enough." I take a deep breath. “I also have some savings and a nice-size retirement cushion."

  "If you think,” she says, “that I’m going to let you touch your retirement, you have lost your damn mind. Why don’t we talk numbers tomorrow?” she says. “For today, let's talk about plans."

  "I can’t believe I’m going to do this,” I say, looking around. “I’ve never imagined being a business owner before." I smile shyly. “Half business owner."

  "Well, I can tell you it’s a pretty big accomplishment,” she says. “Now, look at these."

  She grabs the stack of papers, and by the time I look up, it’s already after three in the afternoon. “Wow," Savannah says. “We pretty much did all the paperwork, and I didn’t hate it." She laughs.

  "Thank you,” I say. “For the opportunity." She comes over to me and gives me a huge hug.

  "Thank you," she says softly, “for having faith in me."

  I walk out of the shop with a swing in my step. I arrive back at Pops' house to find it empty. Picking up the phone, I call Reed, who answers me right away. “Where have you been?" he says. “You haven’t called me all day."

  "I …" I start to say. “Where are you guys?"

  "At the barn," he says, and I hear water in the back. “We are giving Caramel a bath."

  "I’ll be right there,” I say, rushing out of the house, and when I pull up to the barn, I see them at the side of the barn in the little closed area on the concrete. Reed is behind Sofia as she sprays the water on Caramel. His shirt is off, and he's wearing big rain boots.

  "You always start at the feet," he says. “Like that, you don’t scare her, and then you go up slowly." I don’t move because all I can do is watch her with him. From the minute he found out Sofia was his, he was all in. He didn’t blink an eye, didn’t tell me it couldn’t be. He wasn’t in my face about a DNA test. I mean, even if he did, I have been with one man my whole life, and that’s him. "Nice and slow,” he says, guiding her hand with the water as he moves up. She listens to every single word he says, and when he hands her the glove and picks her up, he tells her how to wash the horse. "Look at how amazing you are." He kisses her neck. “You can do anything. You know that, baby girl?"

  "I know," Sofia says.

  "He’s good with her." I jump when I hear a man’s voice and turn to see Casey coming to stand with me. “I didn’t mean to scare you,” he says, stopping beside me. “I never thought I would see the day," he says. “To be honest, I never thought he would come back home." I smile at him. “You saved him,” he says, his voice choking. “He was dead inside and didn’t even know it, but you," he says, wiping the tears from his eyes, “and that little girl made him live again."

  "I don’t think it was all us," I say, not wanting him to feel bad.

  He laughs and shakes his head. “Watching him every single day with her is like him seeing life from her eyes. It’s like he’s reliving his childhood, and for the first time, he isn’t angry about it." He puts his arm around my shoulders. “That's all you." Reed must feel our eyes on him because he looks over and smiles, waving his hand in the air at us. “As a parent, it doesn’t get better than this." He drops his hand now and walks toward them, watching Sofia giggle when he calls her Caramel Sunshine. I know that the decision I’ve made to stay here is the right one. I just hope Reed also thinks so.

  Chapter 31

  Reed

  "Do you want to go and put her to bed?" Hazel asks as she gets up from the table and takes the plates away. “She looks like she’s already half asleep." She motions with her head toward Sofia, who holds her head up with her hand.

  "Yeah,” I say, looking over at Hazel, who has been quiet all night long. Actually, she was silent all day long.

  "Do you need me to help you clean up?" I ask, and she just shakes her head, her eyes not even meeting mine.

  "I’m fine,” she says nonchalantly.

  "Okay, my girl,” I say to Sofia, clapping my hands together. “Time for a bath and bed."

  I hold out my hands. “Okay, Daddy,” she says, and her eyes can barely stay open. She stopped calling me Uncle Daddy Reed and then just went with Daddy. I swear to God I thought my knees would give
out, and I would fall into a heaping mess while I sobbed like a baby.

  I walk with her to the guest bathroom. "Bath or shower?" I ask as she puts her head on my shoulder. "How about we do a nice hot bath?” I say. "And then you can climb right into bed."

  Turning on the water, I set her on the toilet, and her head falls forward. “Dad, do I have to take a bath?"

  I peel off her socks, and dust comes out of them. “Yes,” I say and stand her up. The bath is as fast as I can go, and when I tuck her into bed, she’s asleep before I walk out of the room. I leave the door ajar and turn on the night-light I put in the hallway for her.

  When I walk back into the kitchen, it’s spotless and very, very empty. I look around and then find her sitting outside on the back porch. “Hey," I say, pushing open the door. "I was looking for you."

  She looks over her shoulder. “Just watching the stars." She looks up. “Is she sleeping?"

  "Out before I even left the room,” I say, sitting next to her. I look down at my hands. If it was last night, I would have put my arm over her shoulder and pulled her to me. But today, telling her I love you was a mistake. Not that I regret telling her, but that maybe she wasn’t ready to hear it.

  "I have to tell you something,” she says softly, and I can feel her pulling away from me. My heart is starting to beat erratically as the thought of losing her becomes so much more real.

  "No," I say, my tone coming out a bit harder than I want it to. “Before you say anything." I look at her. My heart yearns to touch her, but I'm not sure she'll let me. This woman, who didn’t hold any grudges toward me for bailing on her when she needed me. This woman, who, without a doubt, saved my fucking soul when I was drowning, yet I didn’t even know. "I’m sorry about this morning."

  "What happened this morning?" she asks, confused.

  "I told you I love you." I repeat the words.

  "So you don’t love me?" Her eyes fill with tears, and the torture of seeing her in pain is too much to bear.

  "Of course I love you,” I say. “God, I love you so much, but I know you aren’t there yet." She holds her hand up to talk, but I shake my head. “I know it’s too soon. I know we just got back together and you probably aren’t ready for it. I mean, we weren’t really together before." My own tears come to my eyes now. “I want to remind you of what I said before. I’ll go wherever you go, whenever. I don’t care as long as you two are there."

  She puts her palm on my cheek. Her touch calms my nerves. I turn my head and kiss the palm of her hand. “Is that so?" she asks with a little smirk. "What if I told you that I’ve decided to stay here?"

  "What?" I whisper.

  "Being here with Sofia and seeing her flourish with all the love she has around her." I reach out to wipe a tear rolling down her cheek. “It would be crazy. Her not knowing what it’s like to grow up surrounded by her cousins. Her not knowing what Sunday really stands for. Everything I thought I wanted to run away from is exactly what I want to teach Sofia." She lowers her eyes. “I’m going to open a business," she says, her eyes lighting up, “with Savannah in town. A little coffee and bakery shop."

  "How?" I ask, shocked now.

  "She came to see me a couple of weeks ago, and I turned her down,” she says. “But then everything just fell into place, and I knew I couldn’t leave here. I know you always hated it here, and I was hoping you would maybe think of staying. But if you absolutely say you can’t, we can leave."

  "Where would we live?" I ask, wondering if she had all these plans. I also want to tell her that I’ll fucking live in a barn as long as she’s there.

  "We can live at Pops' house." She cuts in now. “I know it's smaller than this house."

  "If you want to live at Pops' house, we are going to have to renovate,” I say. “That’s nonnegotiable."

  "We can do that,” she says. “But it does have two bedrooms."

  "Exactly,” I say. “I don’t just want to live here with you. I want to grow a family with you. I want to have more babies with you."

  "Is that so?" She laughs, and I lean in and kiss her lips.

  "We made a pretty amazing one without even trying. Can you imagine if we put some effort into it?" I smirk at her, and she throws her head back and laughs. "So yeah, I want to have more babies." And I wait to break the next news to her. "The house needs to be knocked down and rebuilt."

  "It’s not that bad,” she says, rolling her eyes.

  "I can’t even stand in that shower. I would have to put my head to the side," I joke with her.

  "Fine," she huffs out. “We can add another bathroom."

  “And family room," I add. “And playroom."

  "Okay, okay." She puts her hands up. “It’s not ideal."

  "That’s my girl,” I say. Putting my arm around her, I pull her to me and hug her.

  "Reed.” She says my name as she buries her face in my neck.

  "Yeah, baby." My cheek rubs her head.

  "I love you, too.” She pulls her head out of my neck, and my gaze meets hers. “I was going to tell you this morning, but you ran out of the house like your tail was on fire."

  "I didn’t run out of the house." It’s my turn to roll my eyes. “I left." She laughs as she kisses my lips. “In a hurry."

  "Okay," she says. “Whatever you say."

  I stand and hold my hand out to her. “Let’s go to bed,” I say, and she looks at her watch.

  "It’s six thirty," she says, laughing.

  "Well, I haven’t had dessert,” I say. “And then I want to make love to you and hope I put a baby in you."

  She puts her hand into mine. “Well, when you say it like that." She laughs, and I pick her up as she squeals with laughter.

  I carry her to bed, where I make love to her over and over again while I thank her over and over again for giving me everything I didn’t know I needed.

  Epilogue One

  Hazel

  One Month Later

  "That is the last box," Reed says, carrying in the last box from the truck and bringing it over to the side where all the other boxes are. “Told you it wasn’t going to be as bad as you thought."

  I put my hands on my hips. “That’s because I thought we would have to move everything." I look around the house, seeing the boxes everywhere. “How was I supposed to know it would be furnished?" When I put the condo on the market, I had no idea that there would be not only an offer but a bidding war within forty-eight hours.

  "We could have always kept the condo and used it as our vacation home,” he says, walking to the fridge now and grabbing a bottle of water. I watch him lean back against the white counter, his jeans and shirt dusty from unloading the truck that got here a couple of hours ago.

  I put my hands on my hips. “A vacation home." I shake my head. “Sofia didn’t even want to come with us to pack the condo. She said bring home my stuff." The minute I mentioned I was going back to our place, she got really quiet and thought we were leaving the farm. It cemented that my decision to move back home was the right one. I never thought she would like country life, but she has flourished. It was like she was born there. "If it’s up to her, she’ll never leave the farm."

  The door flies open, and I look over to see Sofia running in with her Rubber boots. “Momma, Grandpa Casey bought me a tractor, and it’s pink,” she says, wiping her hair from her face. I look down at her and then look up again to see Casey coming in with papers in his hand.

  "Did you actually buy her a pink tractor?" I ask even though I know he probably did.

  "She said please," he counters, and I look at Reed, who just shakes his head. "I’m here for two things," Casey says. “One to ask if Sofia can come with us fishing tomorrow?" I look at Sofia, who jumps up and down.

  "Can I?" she asks over and over as she jumps. The smile on her face is so big I couldn’t say no if I wanted to.

  "What is number two?" Reed asks.

  "Here is the deed to the house,” he says, holding up the papers. “Officially yours."


  "What’s officially yours?" I ask, confused. “What house?" I look at Reed, who knows exactly what his father is talking about but avoids my eyes.

  "This house," Casey says of the white house we’ve been living in. We agreed to renovate Pops’ house, but when the inspector came in, he found a crack in the foundation and termite damage. The only way to fix it was to demolish it. I spent the day cleaning out his room with Reed by my side. He made me see that Pops didn’t care about the house. He cared that I was here.

  "Why?" I ask, looking back at Reed, who still pretends he’s inspecting the ceiling all of a sudden. “Why would you give us the deed to the house?”

  "It’s on his work contract," Casey says, pointing at Reed. “Quinn got it when he took over his part of the farm, and now that Reed is taking over my part of the farm, he gets the house."

  "What job gives you a house?" I shake my head.

  "You can either take it now or take it when I die," Casey says, and I have to roll my eyes. What is it with everyone and dying?

  "I don’t want you to die," Sofia says, walking to Casey. “Can you not die?"

  He picks her up. “I’m not going anywhere." He kisses her neck. “Now, do you want to go and see Grandma Olivia? I heard she bought someone some nail polish."

  She squeals now. “Momma, I’m going now." She squirms out of Casey’s arms and runs over to me, hugging me, and then runs to Reed. “Dad, I’m going to glamify."

  "Glamify,” I repeat and look over at Casey.

  "She did not learn that from me,” he says and holds her hand while he walks out. The door slams, and I turn to glare at Reed.

  "I think you forgot to mention that you got a house with your job." I fold my arms over my chest, and he smirks at me.

  "Must have slipped my mind." He walks over to me and takes my hand, leading us to the bedroom.

  "What are you doing?" I ask as he walks past the bed and to the bathroom.

  "I need to take a shower," he says, letting go of my hand and walking over to the shower to turn the water on. “And I need you to wash my back."