As they walked, the kids ran up ahead. Clay and Amelia could still see them, but it gave the adults a chance to talk in private as they walked up the mountain.
"So, have you heard from your little brother yet?" Clay asked, referring to Ian going off to college.
"Yes. He's actually called me a couple of times in the last week. I think he might be getting homesick now that he's figured out how college life works. Small dorm room, bad food, no money. He was always the one that was the closest to me, kind of like my baby."
“I’m sure he appreciates everything you’ve done for him. You’re the only mother he’s ever really known.”
“I wish it wasn’t that way. My mother was great.”
“I’m sure she was because she raised an amazing person in you, Amelia.” She blushed at his comment. “I’ve traveled all over the world with my career, and this is the first place I’ve ever come to where people are all buzzing about one person. Your neighbors love you, and I can see why.”
“Clay, I…”
“I know, I know. You hate compliments.”
“No, I was going to say I appreciate you saying that to me. It’s been a rough road for twelve years, and I know it must seem like I’m ungrateful or have a stick up my rear end all the time. I used to be this fun-loving girl, but I had to grow up almost overnight. It took away all of my twenties, and I guess I’m being far too serious now that I’m thirty and see my life slowly ticking by.” As soon as Amelia said it, she felt sorry. Here she was complaining about her life ticking by to a man who’d lost his young wife. “Oh, God, I’m sorry, Clay. I didn’t think…”
“Amelia, you don’t have to watch your words around me. I wasn’t thinking you were being ungrateful at all. I understand, and I admire you for what you did for your brothers and sister. Now it’s your turn, and you deserve it.”
“You should write poems or greeting cards,” she said laughing. Clay joined her in laughter.
“Well, if this chef thing doesn’t work out…”
“Speaking of which, when you are you going to cook something for me, Mr. Celebrity Chef?” she asked before thinking. Had she just asked him to cook her a meal? Really?
“You want me to cook for you?” he asked with a shocked look on his face.
“Well, I feel like I’m missing out on something,” she said. “What’s the best dish you cook?”
“I can cook anything.”
“Pretty sure of yourself, huh?” Amelia said chuckling.
“I have to be in my profession. What’s your favorite food?”
“Hmmm…. Well, I don’t have just one favorite. I love pizza…”
“Pizza. Anyone can make pizza,” Clay said shaking his head.
“Okay. I love steak.”
“Next.”
“Chicken Marsala…”
“Now, that I can do!”
“You’ll make me Chicken Marsala?”
“You bet. I’ll make you the best Chicken Marsala you’ve ever put in your mouth,” he said reaching over and shaking her hand. Amelia could have sworn she’d felt a spark.
“Looking forward to it,” she said as they continued to walk. The kids were up ahead giggling and singing some crazy hiking song they’d made up. Amelia loved feeling like she was a part of a family - mom and dad with two kids in tow. Only, this wasn’t her family and he wasn’t her husband.
“Can I ask you a personal question?” Clay said, breaking the silence.
“Sure,” Amelia said not altogether sure she’d want to answer it.
“Did you ever know your father?”
“I knew him, but he was never really in my life much. He and my mother divorced when Ian was about two months old. Their relationship was really dysfunctional. My father was a heavy drinker, which is the reason I don’t drink much. I was almost twelve when he left, and he never came back. No calls, no cards, no visits. Never got a birthday or Christmas present. Never came back when our mother died. His sister, who passed away a few years ago, told me he just wasn’t ‘cut out’ to be a father. Nice of him to figure that out after fathering four children,” she said.
“Wow. I’m so sorry you went through all of that. Why didn’t anyone else take the kids in since you were in college?”
“Let’s just say my extended family really let me down. They aren’t great people.”
“Well, you’ve done a great job with your siblings, it seems.”
“I thought so…” she said softly.
Clay detected that something was amiss about Amelia’s relationship with her brothers and sister.
“You thought so? You’re not sure?” he asked.
“I can’t believe I’m telling you all of this. Wouldn’t you rather talk about something more interesting, like the weather or trees?” she asked with a laugh.
“I find you to be the most interesting thing out here.” The gruffness in his voice sent a quiver up her back, and Amelia tried to shake it off.
“Thanks,” she stammered. “My only sister, Christy, isn’t my finest accomplishment. While Brian went off to work at a great job in Kentucky and Ian is now in college, Christy has been the bane of my existence, unfortunately.” Clay was surprised at her honest expression of emotion.
“I’m sorry to hear that. Mind if I ask what she did?”
“She stole my fiance, married him and had his baby.” Clay tripped over a rock and just caught himself before falling.
“What?” he said hanging onto a tree trunk.
“Sorry. I probably shouldn’t have blurted it out like that. You almost broke your neck!” she said giggling.
“It was kind of a surprise.”
“Let’s see. Where do I begin? Christy is three years younger than me. I dated a guy in high school named Tate, and he was the love of my life. At least I thought so at that age,” she said with a half hearted smile. “Anyway, when my mother died, he was my rock. He came home from college too, and he was there for me in those first few years of raising the kids. We took them to the carnival together, bought groceries together, all of the things a young, married couple would do. But, we weren’t married. I finally told him, after three years of doing this, that I wanted to get married and provide a stable home for the kids. He was hesitant for some reason, but I didn’t know why.”
“I think I can see where this is going…” Clay said.
“By this time, I was twenty-one years old and Christy was eighteen. She decided not to go to college, but to stay at home and work to help me pay for the other two children. She went to work as a hair stylist at the local barber shop, and things seemed okay for awhile. Tate and I started arguing a lot, and he would then disappear most nights saying he was playing pool with friends or watching a movie with his folks. I always believed him because I had no reason not to. When Christy turned twenty, we went on a vacation to Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. It was all we could afford, and we rented a small cabin for the weekend. Long story short, they thought I went out to get groceries, but I’d forgotten my wallet, so I went back to the cabin…”
“And you saw them?” Clay asked, finishing her story.
“Yes. Thankfully, the other two boys were down fishing in the river and missed the drama. I walked into the bedroom I was sharing with Tate, and Christy was naked in bed with my fiance.”
“My God. I know you were devastated, Amelia. No wonder…”
“No wonder what?” she asked.
“Nothing,” Clay said shaking his head.
“Come on. I just bared my soul to you.”
“It’s just that you seem to keep people, mostly men, at arm’s length. Now I can see why. Your father failed you. Your fiance failed you. And that makes men dangerous, right?”
“Wow. You’re a regular Dr. Phil,” Amelia said with a smirk.
“Please don’t get mad. I’m not pretending to know you. I’m just saying I can see why you are the way you are.”
“Dad! I think I see the falls!” Riley called from up ahead. The kids were giddy with
excitement when they saw the huge, raging rapids shooting down from up above the rocks. “Come on!”
“I guess we’d better get up there before they do something crazy,” Amelia said as she started to jog up ahead. Clay followed her.
Chapter 9
Clay marveled at how easily Amelia dealt with his kids. After the long hike up to the falls, she had them playing games and undertaking intricate scavenger hunts in the surrounding woods. They ate lunch by the river, and by the time dinner was being prepared, the kids were ready to go to sleep.
“Dad, I’m tired! I don’t want to eat anything!” Sophia complained as they sat down to roast their hot dogs over the fire. The blue skies of daytime had turned to a dark, starry sky.
“Do you mind?” Amelia asked Clay, looking for permission to talk to Sophia. Clay nodded his approval.
“Sophia, can I tell you a secret?” Amelia asked her. Sophia grinned and nodded, and Amelia leaned over and whispered in her ear. As soon as Sophia sat back up, she started to eat her hot dog.
“What on earth did you say?” Clay whispered to Amelia. He got so close, he could smell her vanilla scented shampoo, and it made him tingle inside.
“Sorry, but that’s an insider secret. If I tell you, I’d have to kill you,” she said with an ominous giggle. Clay loved to see her laugh.
When the kids finally finished eating their dinner and a healthy portion of s’mores, Clay tucked them into their large tent. He would sleep with the kids, and Amelia had her own tent set up next door. As he crawled out of the tent, he could see her sitting beside the roaring fire looking up at the night sky. The moon was bouncing off the waterfall nearby, and the sound of it was a welcome relief from his kids being rambunctious and loud all day.
Clay crouched down for a moment to watch her. She was a beautiful woman, and she was the first to ever capture his attention since Molly. He’d been with Molly since they were kids themselves, and he had never felt this connection - this attraction - to another woman. He was intrigued by it, but also a little scared.
“Are you staring at me?” she said in a loud whisper when she caught him looking at her from across the clearing. Embarrassed, he walked toward her.
“What if I am?”
“It’s rude,” she said shaking her index finger at him with a smile.
“Not if it’s because I’m admiring the view,” he said, immediately realizing that he was now outwardly flirting with her. Clay sat down on a log next to Amelia, who, he was sure, was blushing.
“I’ve had a very nice time today.”
“Have you?”
“Yes. In fact, the best time I’ve had in years. It was nice to get away and not have to think,” she said looking down at her hot chocolate cup as she ran her finger around the edge of it.
“I’m glad you’ve had a good time because I have too. The last couple of years have not been the best, so it was wonderful to get a day away with someone I enjoy spending time with,” he said softly. Amelia began her trademark fidgeting at his remark and stood up.
“Well, I guess I’d better get some sleep since we have to hike back out of here in the morning…”
“Amelia, please don’t go. I’m sorry if I made you uncomfortable. I realize I’ve been getting awfully personal today. I won’t push anymore, okay?” he pleaded. “Besides, it’s only nine o’clock and you’re not ninety years old.” He smiled up at her, hoping that she would sit back down.
She hesitated for a moment and then sat back down. “Okay, then, my turn.”
“Your turn?”
“To ask some personal questions. Where is your family?”
“My mom and dad live in Nevada, but I rarely see them as they are always traveling around the world. My sister, Sue, lives in Paris with her stuffy French husband, a pastry chef and royally obnoxious pain in the butt.”
“Sounds like you don’t have a lot of family support for you and the kids.”
“No one expected Molly to die. Even on the day she died, we were all hoping for a miracle. When she died, my family eventually went back to their lives. Life goes on, I suppose.”
“But not for you, right? You never get a break from being the only parent your kids have now,” she said, with an understanding no one else around him seemed to have. He nodded. “You’re all they have when they get sick. You’re all they have when it comes time to pay for college. You’re all they have when they need to learn to drive a car or do algebra homework or wrap a gift. It’s a lot of pressure on one person.”
“Are you sneaking around inside of my head, Amelia Devin?” he said with a smile.
“I know how it is. I know what it’s like to have the person you love most in the world die right in front of you, and there’s nothing you can do about it. And their every burden, good or bad, is now on your shoulders.”
“Amelia…I…”
“Oh, jeez, Clay, I’m so sorry for going all gloom and doom on you there. I guess the night air is doing something to me,” she said putting her arms around her.
Clay jumped up and ran over to his tent to retrieve an extra blanket. When he returned to the fire, he placed it around her shoulders and sat down beside her.
“Thanks.”
“You’re welcome. Thanks for understanding, Amelia. No one else really seems to understand what I’ve been going through. All they see is the flashy lifestyle they think I have because of my TV show. That old life is gone, and now I’m just a working single Dad. I wish my family could see I’ve needed help for the last eighteen months.”
“I wish my sister could have understood me too. Sometimes family members are a let down,” she said shaking her head.
“Do you ever speak to her?”
“My sister? Not in years, actually. I’ve heard through my brother, Brian, that she just had Tate’s baby a few months ago. Other than that, I haven’t had any contact with her in a long time. She never apologized.”
“Seriously? After all that you did for her? Raising her?”
“She says I didn’t really raise her since she is only three years younger than me, but Christy was a wild child in her teens. She took more energy from me than my brothers combined.”
“Well, here’s to new beginnings,” Clay said holding up an imaginary hot chocolate cup.
“New beginnings,” she whispered back.
***
As the night wore on, Amelia and Clay continued enjoying each other's company around the campfire. The kids were fast asleep, and they talked about everything under the sun from their childhoods to now. Clay had never felt this kind of closeness with a woman other than Molly. It was a little bit unsettling and encouraging at the same time.
"Well, I think I'm going to hit the sack now. I really am tired, and we have a long hike down in the morning," Amelia said as she stood up and handed the blanket back to Clay.
"No, you keep it."
Amelia wrapped the blanket back around her and started walking toward her tent.
"Amelia?"
"Yes?"
"Thanks for tonight. I had a great time talking to you," Clay said with a smile.
"Me too." With that, Amelia crawled into her tent and zipped it up. And Clay was left wondering what to do now.
Chapter 10
After the hiking trip, Clay and Amelia were closer than ever. She continued keeping his kids each day, and they continued having dinner together most evenings. It had become their little ritual, and Amelia was glad to have some routine back in her life.
Her real estate business was slow going, although she had gotten a couple of listing appointments just outside of town. She had taken one listing, and the prospects were good that she was getting an offer on it soon.
One afternoon, as she was waiting for Sophia and Riley’s bus to arrive, Amelia heard a knock at her front door. She ran down the stairs thinking that maybe Clay had gotten off work early and was coming by to visit her. He’d done that once or twice, much to her surprise.
As she opened the door, howe
ver, she wasn't prepared to see the person who was standing there. Her sister Christy, stood on the porch holding a small baby in her arms. The look on her face was one of complete desperation, and Amelia felt a fleeting sense of sorrow for her sister. Her eyes were puffy, her dark brown hair was matted into a messy ponytail and she looked like she had lost a good ten pounds.
"Christy?"
"Hi, Amelia." Her voice was soft and almost haunting.
Finding Love (A Mill Creek Crossing Romance) Page 5