“Hey, Mom.” Levi called from the doorway. “Jake asked me to help paint the playhouse today, so Grandpa dropped me off.”
Tony tore his gaze from Sabrina to her son.
Levi stepped across the room to stand in front of Tony. “Dude. You don’t look so good. Are you sick?”
Sabrina took Levi by the shoulders and turned him to the door. “Yes, he’s sick. Go on and find Jake.”
Tony’s eyes narrowed. Why the sudden panic in her voice?
Levi shrugged away from her and came back to face Tony, his hazel eyes wide with concern. “What’s wrong?”
Funny. He’d noticed Levi’s hazel eyes before, but now it struck him why. Green, with flecks of gold that lightened them. It was an unusual color. At least, that was what everyone said about his eyes. His breath hitched in his chest and his pulse raced. Could it be? Had Sabrina lied to him?
He stared at the boy. “I’m fine. Your mom is just a worrywart.”
“Welcome to my world.” Levi rolled his eyes and grinned, causing a dimple to deepen on his cheek. One dimple. On his left cheek. Exactly like Tony’s.
His heart went from racing to pounding. “Levi, how old are you?”
Tony’s grandparents burst into the room before Levi could answer. Abuela rushed over to him to place her hand on his cheek while Papa asked Sabrina question after question. Tony searched the room for Levi, but he had slipped out in all the chaos.
Sabrina averted her gaze and didn’t look at him. Her hands were shaking as she scribbled on a clipboard. She handed the notes to Abuela. “I wrote down all his vital signs for you. It might encourage them to take him straight back and not make you wait. I’ll call and let the ER know he’s coming.”
At last, her gaze flickered over to him. And he knew.
* * *
THE FAMILIAR SMELL of antiseptics and cleaning supplies enveloped Sabrina as she hurried down the hospital hallway. She’d been working with patients for ten years, but adrenaline shot through her system every time she stepped through the sliding doors of a hospital.
The closer she got to Tony’s room, the more her heart pounded. She had seen the moment it dawned on him that Levi was his son. His accusing glare said more than words ever could.
When Tony left ten years ago, he’d made it clear he never wanted to be burdened with the responsibilities of a family. But if she’d told him, would he have still walked away? No. He didn’t want responsibility, but he would’ve accepted it. Especially since he knew firsthand how it felt to be abandoned by a father.
If she had a lick of sense, she’d turn around and go home. And stay there. But she couldn’t run from this. Tony wanted her to believe that he’d left to make things easier on her. What were the chances he’d believe that she’d done the same thing? Her hand shook as she knocked.
Elaina, Tony’s grandmother, opened the door. When she saw Sabrina, a smile lit her face and she hugged her. “Sabrina.”
She hugged the tiny Hispanic woman back. “How is he? They wouldn’t tell me anything at the front desk.”
Antonio stood up from his post by the hospital bed and strode across the room to give her a hug, as well. “He’s going to be okay, thanks to you.”
Elaina settled Sabrina in the chair next to hers, still holding her hands. “The doctor said he rebroke his rib and the end of it almost punctured his lung.” She wiped a tear away from the corner of her eye.
“There, there, Mama.” Antonio patted her on the back. “His lungs weren’t punctured. Just bruised. Our Sabrina saved him.”
Sabrina stood next to Tony’s bed. He looked so pale. She resisted the urge to stroke his hair. “What does the doctor say about his recovery? How long will he be in the hospital?”
Antonio was the one to answer. “At least a week. I talked to his captain and they are extending his leave another six weeks.”
Elaina sniffed. “He’s not going back to San Antonio. He needs to stay here.”
“Mama.” Antonio shook his head. “You can’t do that to him. They are promoting him to detective. It’s his calling. There’s nothing for him in Salt Creek. You have to let him go.”
The words may have been meant for his wife, but they cut Sabrina to the core. She bit into her bottom lip. A promotion to detective. What did that mean? Would it put him in more danger?
“Maybe you can talk some sense into him, mija.” Elaina patted Sabrina’s cheek.
The warmth of her hand reminded Sabrina of the times her mother would cup her face. She fought to swallow the lump building in her throat. “I’ll try. But it never worked before.”
Elaina pressed a kiss to her forehead. “God didn’t bless us with lots of children, and when we lost Teresa we thought there was nothing left for us. Then Tony found us. I don’t know what we’d do if we lost him.”
Sabrina averted her gaze, her cheeks flaming red hot. By keeping Levi from Tony, she’d kept him from his great-grandparents as well. Her anger with Tony had prevented her from seeing the bigger picture. By disappearing from Salt Creek, she’d protected her pride and her heart, but she’d robbed her son of a loving set of grandparents.
She squeezed Elaina’s hand. “Tony’s lucky to have you.”
Light hazel eyes, so much like Tony’s, gazed right through her soul. “And Tony is lucky to have you. I’m glad you two found your way back to each other.”
Sabrina sucked in her breath. She’d be willing to bet that Tony didn’t feel that way.
“Bree?” A weak voice whispered from the hospital bed. Tony’s eyes were half open, his expression unreadable. “You’re here.”
Antonio took Elaina by the elbow. “Mama, let’s give them some time together.”
Elaina nodded and stood next to her husband. “We’ll be down in the cafeteria if you need us.”
She pressed a kiss on Tony’s forehead and the two of them shuffled out the door, leaving Sabrina alone with Tony.
Her chest constricted. She shouldn’t have come. He was still in a lot of pain and needed to rest. Could she make him understand why she did what she did? Should she bring it up? No. She’d wait for him to broach the subject. Until then, she’d play it cool.
She sat in the chair next to his bed, placing her elbows on the rail. “You look awful.”
“I feel like someone parked a truck on my chest.” Tony frowned. “Where’s Levi? Where’s my son?”
So much for playing it cool. She shifted away from the bed. “He’s at home with my dad.”
“So you admit it. He’s mine.” Tony shifted in the bed, adjusting so he could sit up. Each time he moved, his face twisted in pain.
“Be still,” she said. “You don’t need to move so much.”
“Now you want to act like you care?” Sarcasm dripped from his words.
She clenched her fist. “Since you were the one who walked away from me, that’s a little like the pot calling the kettle black.”
He gritted his teeth. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I tried. You sent my letters back without opening them and I didn’t even know where you were.” Yes, it’d been wrong not to give him a say in Levi’s future, but at the time, she didn’t feel like she had much choice. She wasn’t about to let him forget it. “And weren’t you the one who told me I’d have to play house by myself?”
Tony’s mouth dropped open. “That’s when I thought you were giving up college for me. I was trying to make you go to school.”
“And what if you’d known, Tony? Would it have made a difference?”
“We’ll never know, will we? You didn’t trust me enough to give me a choice.”
A wave of nausea hit her. Confrontations always made her sick. The urge to flee was overwhelming. “Only because you didn’t love me enough to stay.”
“I told you why I left,”
Tony snapped.
“So it’s okay for you to make a decision for both of us when you think it’s for my own good, but I can’t?” She stood up. “Believe whatever you want, but I wasn’t going to use a baby to blackmail you into staying. Especially after I found out how you really felt.”
“Where are you going? We’re not done talking.”
A weight dropped onto her shoulders. She swallowed the lump in her throat. “You believe I did this to get back at you. You don’t want to talk, you want to be angry at me and you have every right to be. I’ve been mad at you for ten years, so go ahead. But right now is not the time to talk about it.”
He snorted. “When is the best time? When he graduates high school?”
“Goodnight, Tony. We’ll talk when you’re out of the hospital.” Steeling herself, she turned and walked out the door. And she didn’t look back.
* * *
THE TICKING OF the clock on her nightstand mocked Sabrina’s inability to sleep. It had been over a week since her conversation with Tony at the hospital and she still wasn’t any closer to deciding how to handle it. Time was up. He’d gotten out of the hospital two days ago and she wouldn’t be able to avoid him much longer. With a groan, she tossed the blanket off and crept through the dark house. The screen door creaked as she stepped onto the porch. The cold stone sent shivers up her legs, but she made her way to the swing and stretched out on it to stare up at the stars.
The constant humming of the cicadas during the day had been replaced by crickets. Somewhere in the distance, frogs joined in the chorus.
Sabrina closed her eyes. There wasn’t an orchestra on Earth that could’ve played any sweeter sound. It was like they were welcoming her home.
“Bree.” Someone shook her.
Her eyelids wouldn’t open. The swing tipped and fell on the ground with a thud.
Dad grinned down at her. “Good morning, sleepyhead.”
She stood. “What time is it?”
“Almost five.” He picked up the blanket crumpled in a mess at her feet. “Good thing I covered you up around two this morning or the mosquitoes would’ve eaten you alive.”
Her heart stuttered. He’d brought her a blanket? The simple action spoke volumes to her. “Why didn’t you wake me up?”
“I figured you had some pretty serious thinking to do or you wouldn’t have been up half the night. You worried about that boy?”
She stiffened. It was the same tone he’d used when she and Tony were dating in high school. “That boy isn’t a boy anymore, Daddy. He’s grown. Just like me.”
“You gonna tell him ’bout Levi?”
Her heart caught in her throat. “How did you know?”
He sat next to her on the porch swing. “It wasn’t hard to figure out.”
She rubbed her arms, chasing away the chill of the early morning air. “Yeah. Tony figured it out, too.”
“That explains why he’s been calling non-stop since he got out of the hospital. When are you going to tell Levi?”
“I don’t know. I’m hoping I can talk Tony into not telling him at all.” Her cheeks burned. It was one thing to think it. Saying it out loud made her feel like a heel.
“Why? Levi has a right to know.” Dad’s brow wrinkled.
“He’s a cop, Dad. He works with kids from gangs. He’s already been shot once. Do you know what it would do to Levi if something happened to Tony?” Not to mention what it would do to her.
“So you’re basing your decisions on what-ifs?” Dad lifted his chin.
“I have to protect my son.”
He raised his eyebrows. “That’s a pretty big what-if.”
Sabrina stared at the horizon. The rising sun painted the sky with pink and purple and already the hum of bees in the rose bushes by the fence could be heard. “So you think I should tell Levi?”
Dad stood, straightening the baseball cap on his head. “There’s an auction in Dublin tomorrow. I want to get down there this afternoon so I can inspect some of the farm equipment before the auction. I think I’ll see if Levi wants to go with me. It’ll do you good to have a night to think.”
Code for “go talk to Tony.” She stood, too. “Thanks, Dad.”
Without Tony popping into her office, the morning seemed to drag. Even the kids seemed quieter. By lunch time, Sabrina felt like screaming.
“Karen, I’m taking a longer lunch today. Dad and Levi are going out of town and I need to get Levi’s things ready.”
Karen waved at her as she headed out the door.
The branches on the rose bushes bent under the weight of the blossoms and the buzz of bees in the mimosa tree echoed in the little house. The thickness of the stone walls kept the oppressive heat at bay, but the humidity was impossible to escape. It was no wonder she’d resorted to wearing a ponytail just to keep the hair from sticking to her neck and back.
Time was running out. Soon Dad and Levi would go to Dublin. Then she’d go talk to Tony. Her insides quivered at the thought. She put a paper towel over the sandwiches she’d made for her boys and went to let them know lunch was ready.
Sidestepping cow patties, she picked her way along the path to the barn. The smells overpowered her. Fresh-cut hay, dirt, cows. Nothing smelled better. She found Levi pounding nails into a board at the back of the building.
“Where’s Grandpa?”
Levi pointed to the hayloft and went back to driving nails into the wood.
“You run inside and get cleaned up. Lunch is ready and you smell like manure.”
He hung his hammer up on the wall and dashed to the house.
“Dad,” she called up to the loft. “Lunch is ready.”
Levi was finished with his sandwich by the time she made her way back to the house. “I need to pack some clothes to go with Grandpa. What should I use?”
“I have an old duffel bag in my closet. I’ll get it for you in a second. Did you have fun riding around on the tractor with Grandpa this morning?” She turned on the faucet to wash dishes.
“Yeah. Grandpa said there used to be a lot more cattle here, but he sold most of them. How come?”
“Raising livestock is a big job,” Sabrina told him. “After I moved away, it probably got too hard for him to do it all by himself.”
“This place is great.” Levi poured himself a glass of water. “There’s so much neat stuff. Chickens, cows, fish. Why did you leave?”
“My Uncle Troy had a stroke and Aunt Patty needed someone to help her take care of him.”
Levi chugged the water and placed the glass in the sink. “I’m going to jump in the shower.”
She couldn’t resist reaching out to touch the soft curls that hung at the back of his neck. After tonight, would she have to share him with Tony? How would Levi react to the news that his father wasn’t an army staff sergeant killed in action, but Tony?
A few minutes later, the water in the shower started and Sabrina went to get the duffel bag from her closet. She opened the door and reached up to take the bag from the top shelf. She heard a thud as something fell when she closed the door. Whatever it was, she’d pick it up later.
By the time Levi got out of the shower, Sabrina already had his bag packed for him. She placed the bag on top of his bed and looked around the room, taking in the signs that he was growing up. The cartoon characters that used to decorate his wall had been exchanged for posters of muscle cars and bands. The action figures he used to play with sat untouched on the dresser, while an intricate design of building blocks sat on the floor at the foot of his bed. He was growing up too fast.
She went back to the kitchen to start washing dishes. What was taking Levi so long to get out of the bathroom? She glanced down the hall. The bathroom door was open. A noise from her bedroom alerted her to where he was. He was probably looking for her duffel ba
g.
At the door to her bedroom, she stopped short. Levi stood outside her closet, holding the photos, her treasure box at his feet.
Levi turned his gaze to her. “Tony’s my dad, isn’t he?”
Gripping the edge of the door, she tried to calm her skyrocketing pulse. “What?”
“You have a picture of him in your treasure box. It was dated the year I was born.” Levi held the picture out. “And he looks like me.”
Her heart raced. She entered the room and sat on the edge of her bed. Would her son ever be able to forgive her? “Yes. Tony’s your father.”
Levi’s brow furrowed. “Is that why we never came to visit? Because you didn’t want to see him? Or he didn’t want to see us?”
Sabrina sucked in a breath. “We were young and Tony hated living in Salt Creek. He got offered a job in Louisiana and left. By the time I realized I was pregnant with you, he was already gone.”
The muscles in Levi’s jaw twitched and Sabrina knew he was trying to mask his emotions. Tony used to do the same thing. “So he didn’t know about me?”
“No, he didn’t.” Her hands shook. “I never told him.”
Levi lifted his chin. “You lied to me. You made up a story about my dad being a war hero and the whole time he was alive?”
The pain in Levi’s eyes ripped her heart out. She blinked back tears. “It’s a little more complicated than that, but I was trying to protect you.”
She reached out to touch his shoulder, but he pushed her away. “I hate you.” He ran outside.
“What’s going on?” Dad met her in the hallway.
“Levi knows.” Tears streamed down her face. “He hates me.”
Dad shook his head. “He doesn’t hate you. He’s mad, but he’ll get over it.”
“I have to go talk to him.” She started for the door, but her dad pulled her back.
“Give him some time. He’s got a lot to think about.”
She pressed her lips together. “What am I going to do?”
“I’m going to shower, and then Levi and I are going to Dublin. You’re going to go talk to Tony, and tomorrow evening y’all are going to sit down together and work this out.”
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