Noah got up and ran to the kitchen eating area. Sophie marveled at how much Wade had learned in this short time, and how natural of a father he seemed.
“Want a sandwich, Sophie? I’ve got PB&J sandwiches down pat.”
“All right, but I’ll help.”
“You can pour milk into a sippy cup.” Wade laughed. “I never expected that word to be in my vocabulary.”
Sophie smiled, remembering Emmett’s early years. “I know what you mean.”
Wade gave her a paper plate, lifted Noah into his highchair, and pulled a chair out for Sophie.
She brought the milk and glasses to the table and poured some into Noah’s cup then milk into the glasses for she and Wade. “Thank you.” She took a bite of her sandwich. “Mmm, grape is mine and Emmett’s favorite kind of jam.”
“Mine too,” Wade replied.
“Me too,” Noah muttered with food in his mouth. He tried to giggle but then choked.
Sophie jumped up and took care of the situation. “Don’t laugh with food in your mouth, honey.”
Wade settled back in his chair. “Thanks. I didn’t know what to do.”
“Guess you better learn. Put a thinner layer of PB on the sandwich. You might have to stick your finger into his mouth to clear food.”
“I don’t think so.”
She rubbed Noah’s back. “Then he chokes. Don’t you stick your finger into a horse’s mouth sometimes when you put a bridle on?”
“It’s different.”
“Yeah, more slobbery. You’ll figure it out. I can’t believe how well you’ve adapted in such a short time.”
Wade frowned. “I’m not an idiot, Sophie.”
She laid her sandwich on the plate and sat back. “Of course, you aren’t, but you’re a new dad and picked it up in no time.”
“So, what are you saying? You think I had help? I did. Gracelyn and Judy. Not Cynthia. They helped me pick out what I needed. Gracelyn threw in a baby book.”
“I would’ve helped if you hadn’t…” Oh, shut up, stupid woman.
Wade laid his palm over her hand. “Let’s start with putting that night behind us. Some of it. Not the before part. I never want to forget the night in the lady’s rest room.”
She raised her eyes to his bright orbs. “Neither do I.” And she never would. Sitting here with him like this was enough to ignite the glow inside. In truth, it had never gone out. The glow that told her how much she wanted to be with him. The attraction hadn’t left. “What time does Noah go to bed?”
“When I do, I guess. He falls asleep on the couch before we go up, after he cries for his mom. Want to stick around tonight? We can go get Emmett. You didn’t tell me how he’s doing.”
“I haven’t told him everything about Noah, but he does know he exists. He’s playing video games with my dad this evening. Dad gave him dinner. If he’s still awake when I get home, I’ll tell him everything is going to continue with us… I mean, if it is.”
“It is, Sophie.”
She smiled, a heavy weight lifting from her shoulders, and her heart beat at a faster pace again. “When is Cynthia coming back?”
Wade flicked his gaze upward. “Um, I’m not sure. Friday night, I think. No, I’m not picking her up—”
“Wade?”
“Huh?”
“It’s all right. I get it now.”
He stared at her a moment as if reading her eyes. “She’ll come to get Noah to keep until she leaves in less than a week, and then my house will be empty again. Then he’ll be all mine. I promised I’d share him with his grandparents and his aunt while she’s gone so there’s that.”
“It’s only fair.”
“What about Emmett?”
She explained to him about Emmett’s knee injury and the diagnosis after the arthroscopic surgery.
“Wow, it’ll be tough to keep your boy down.”
“They can’t do a major repair until his growth plates stop growing.”
Wade got up to clear the table. He ran his hand over the top of Noah’s head. “How you doing, buddy?”
Noah smiled up at him and Wade winked back, which got a giggle started.
Sophie smiled. “He’s a happy child. His mom has given him a good life so far to make him so cheery. Y’all are lucky, Wade.”
“Yeah, but it’s a major life change for me. I should’ve known about him.” Wade sighed. “How’s Emmett taking the news about his knee?”
Sophie got up to wet a paper towel and wiped off Noah’s face and hands. She lifted him down. “There you go. Run free.” She chuckled. He ran into the living room and plopped down on the floor by his toys then rolled around.
Wade wrapped his arms around her from behind. “I can’t tell you how much I missed you. Sophie, I’m sorry. I don’t know where the crazy man came from that night. I have a lot to learn about relationships. I’m sorry for insinuating you’d be like the others when I know damn well you aren’t.”
Sophie turned and wrapped her arms around his neck. She peered lovingly into his eyes. “You’ll know in time. I don’t want no one else. You’ve been as worried about Rhett as I have about Cynthia. You didn’t want me to be called Mrs.”
He held her tighter. “It wasn’t because of that.”
“You know I can’t run back to Rhett because he’s gone. Cynthia…don’t get mad, but she’s a physical being.”
“And Rhett is an emotional being.”
True. It might’ve been harder to emotionally break away. It was different than walking away from a person in a break up. Rhett had been ripped out of her life as quick as a breath. Nevertheless, the breakup with Wade hurt as much. “Yes. I admit it, but I’ve accepted moving on. I’m setting all that baggage aside—”
“We don’t have to call it baggage, honey. It’s memories and feelings. You know I want us to go on.”
“Regardless, I’m not keeping Rhett in this relationship any longer. I can’t say the same for Emmett. His dad was a big part and an important aspect of his life.”
“I don’t expect him to stop loving his dad or talking about him or missing him. He needs that. And you can’t expect Noah to, either, when he grows up.”
“I know. Our kids have another part of them that will always be there, but we don’t have to dwell on what we know of ours. You’re all I need, and I’m thankful I met you. You have to believe that.”
Wade lifted her chin and gave her a soft kiss. She allowed herself to become oblivious to anything else around them and to absorb nothing except his mouth against hers, and to be thankful for her trip to the store tonight. His lips were tenderly hungry. When the kiss ended they stared into each other’s eyes—a special moment to her. She couldn’t hold it in any longer. “I’m in love with you. I want this. Us. I missed being in your life. Please, please, get that I love you. Please, put my words into your heart so you have no fears of me leaving.”
He nodded and kissed her again. He pressed his cheek against her hair, chuckling quietly. “We have an audience.”
Sophie turned to look. She gave a soft giggle. “Get used to it. Let’s go be with him. I want to take a picture of you two.” They sat on the couch and watched Noah play. Wade got up to put a movie in for him. “Gracelyn loaned this to me. I guess I’ll have to make a list of kid movies. Gone are the days of “R” and “MA” rated shows, I suppose.”
“I have lots of kid movies. Don’t worry, honey. They do sleep sometimes. Plus, you’ll be sharing weekends more than likely when she does come home. We’ll have our weekends.”
“Sounds good to me. I need to get him something more for dinner.”
“He’ll be fine. If he wants something, we can prepare it together. Would you like some all-night company on Friday?”
Wade widened his eyes. “Yeah, for sure. Come as soon as you can.”
“I have a half day. I’ll go home after work, take care of some bills, then get Emmett from school, and we’ll hit the road here.” Noah curled up on the loveseat beside Wade with hi
s blanket and a pillow. “It looks like he’s almost out for the night.”
“Are you hungry, Noah?” Wade got no response. “I’ll give him ten minutes then I’ll carry him to bed.”
“Are you making the upstairs his bedroom?”
Wade brought her closer to him. Sophie laid her head on his shoulder, her hand on his firm midriff. “Only for now. I’m thinking of giving him my bedroom, and I’ll take the loft. I’ll seal off the door to the deck and build it off the loft where it should’ve been, anyway.” He sat forward and made eye contact with her. “I don’t want to think of him being downstairs and me upstairs. I need him close to me so I can get to him if I need to.”
Sophie understood. He’d thought of the fire in his parents’ home. “Good idea.” Wade sat back, and she settled again into the crook of his arm.
“Listen, I’m going to jump ahead here with a hypothetical scenario. Bear with me, Soph. Maybe later, Emmett could have the loft. Noah can take my room up there, and we could have a downstairs bedroom. I’ll have to do some modifications to the bedroom up there to make it child-friendly, and to the downstairs master to make it…romance friendly.”
Sophie smiled but had no response. She didn’t know what to say, but she liked the sound of them all living together. This wasn’t the time to talk about her military benefits and what would happen if she remarried or cohabitated, if in fact, that is what he’d meant. At this point, she had received a lump sum of money which had helped them to survive thus far, and she’d had a small insurance policy Rhett had taken out on himself, and Social Security.
She’d lose the social security benefits, but Emmett would still receive his. With her working as a teacher assistant with less money, most of her Social Security had remained intact. Once she became a teacher making more money, she’d lose a lot of it if not all.
Wade gave her a squeeze. “Hey, where are you? Did my scenario scare you off? I know you’d have to discuss this with your son and dad, but it’s out there now. I can’t pretend I didn’t say it.”
“I don’t want to forget you said it. All I did was go over a few financial things in my head.”
“Oh, I didn’t think. You’d probably lose all your benefits. Hmm… It could cause a—”
“No. My son is protected and keeps his benefits.” She explained about becoming a full-time teacher in the future. “What I have left in my savings is for emergencies and for Emmett. Now, with medical bills coming up for his knee, it’ll keep me from going broke.”
“I’m glad.”
Sophie scooted out from under his arm. “It’s time for me to go. I’m looking forward to Friday. We’ll make all this work. It’s easy to fathom a future with you now that I’ve had too long without you lately.” She smiled. “We’ll have our own little combined family but not like the TV show with the whole bunch on both sides.”
“Maybe we’ll have more. You might get pregnant again.” Wade smirked. “Maybe you are now? Now that I know a little about having a kid, I wouldn’t mind another one with you. You know, if it happened.”
“Wade—”
“Why not get another opinion?”
Sophie sat on the edge of the couch and faced him. “I’ve seen a doctor… We walked away from each other so easily without trying not to. We can’t let that happen again. Um—”
“It won’t. Don’t feel bad about our future. You have a child. If we happened to have one together, so be it. It isn’t a condition. I know you’re concerned about your son’s well-being. So am I.” Wade tipped his head back and closed his eyes a moment before he went on. “If you continue to only listen to the probable untruths in your head, then walk out that door, now, and never come back. Never call me again.” Wade’s hand balled into a fist—muscles strained in his arm. He strode over and opened the door. “It doesn’t flippin’ matter to me if you can have kids or not.”
Sophie fell back onto the couch and lowered her eyes to Noah as his little body jerked in his sleep. She placed her hand on his warm back then glanced at Wade. “I’m not going anywhere.”
Sighing, he closed the door and dropped down beside her, taking her hand. “Would you stick that into your head, please? It doesn’t matter. It’s you I want with or without the ability to get pregnant.”
She smiled then placed her other hand over theirs. “Whatever happens, happens.”
“I’ll keep giving us a chance if that’s what you want. Hell, I’ll part with some swimmers right now.”
She burst out laughing. Noah jerked again but didn’t wake. Sophie tenderly smoothed her hand over Noah’s back. His eyes opened then closed. She stood and leaned over him to kiss the lad’s cheek. “All right,” she said in a low voice to Wade. “Emmett and I will see you on Friday for our new beginning.” She picked up her purse. “If Cynthia’s flight is in the evening, would you rather I wait until she picks up Noah?”
“Nope. Come as soon as you can.”
“Okay. It’ll be right after Emmett gets out of school.”
“Good.” They strolled to the door hand in hand, and they embraced before she exited.
He silenced her words with a kiss. She held him, spreading her palms over the small of his back to bring him closer, letting the kiss go on and on as their bodies pressed tight against each other’s. He cupped her behind and pulled her up closer. Omigod, the night in the bathroom formed in her mind, and she wanted him now. His heart pounded against hers. The reaction pleased her senses, but the kiss ended with Wade whispering, “I love you, Sophie. We’re going to make this work. Come back soon, darlin’.”
She shuddered inside and smiled, saying breathlessly, “Friday. It’s a date.”
“Yeah, it is. Text when you get home?”
“I will. Night.” Sophie got as far as the edge of the driveway before she rushed back and fell into his arms again. He held her tight, and she snuggled into his broad, warm chest. “One for the road.” She dragged herself away and got in the truck and headed home.
Tonight, she’d tell Emmett about Noah being part of Wade’s life now—their life. Would he approve of having a little one around? Being an only child, he’d grown accustomed to getting all the attention. Another question. Would he be okay with spending the night at Wade’s? She was the adult here and the decision had been made. They’d stay and stay often. We’ll stay until we become “forever.”
Chapter 16
Cynthia’s flight had come in early. Now, he waited alone. He’d barely had enough time to get to know the kid, but it went well considering his age and missing his mom. Wade sat on the bench beside the front door carving from a block of wood—his rendition of a pickup truck for Sophie. Yeah, he accepted her husband’s truck would always be a reminder, but why wouldn’t it? It no longer mattered to him. Emmett needed pieces of his dad around him.
An unfamiliar old beater truck pulled into the driveway. An elderly—elderly to him—woman sat behind the wheel. What the hell now? He couldn’t have been more shocked when Clay got out of the passenger side. He looked well but had a limp when he rounded the front of the pickup.
“Where the hell have you been?” Wade stood, set the block of wood aside, and dropped his single-blade knife into his pocket. He kicked the shavings away.
“Mending. Do you mind some company for a few minutes?”
He had a long, uneven scar across his forehead. “No, but Sophie and Emmett will be here this evening. Who’s your friend?”
“Let’s say she’s my lifesaver. Without her, I would’ve died in the desert.”
Hmm. “Yeah, some people think you should’ve. Namely, me. Do you have any idea what you’ve done to your family?”
Clay diverted his gaze to follow a shaved piece of wood as the wind carried it away. “I hurt a lot of people. I’ve been keeping up, and I know what I’ve done to my sister and her boy. My dad. I swear, I didn’t know Emmett was in the truck that night.”
“He called out for you when you ran off. He said you turned back.”
“He n
ever called out for me. I swear I never heard him.”
“Emmett gave details about you running off.” Wade folded his arms across his chest and took a wide stance. “The sheriff is looking for you. Where have you been?”
“When I dragged myself out of the truck that night, my head was in a fog. I don’t remember what happened after I climbed out the window. I had a concussion. Maybe I did what he’d said. Will my nephew be all right?”
“He has a long-term injury to his knee.” That’s all he was saying. “Where have you been?” he asked for the third time.
“Damn, I would’ve helped the kid if I had known. How’d he get in the truck in the first place?”
“You’ll have to talk to Sophie about all that.”
Clay’s shoulders raised with a silent sigh. “I’ve been in jail and rehab. I deserved both so I turned myself in. Is that job offer still good?”
Wade thought it over for a minute. A flashback of his brother Heath standing there after another stay at rehab came to mind. “Ah, yeah, I can work something out with Jake. We have some repairs around the ranch needing to be done. The regular hands haven’t had time to get to them. You can start there.”
“All right. I want the job. I’m clean.”
“Stay that way and you keep the job. No funny business. No drugs or drinking on the job. Start Monday.”
“I’ll be there. Thanks, Wade. I’m not the same person I was.” He left, but Wade called him.
“What do I tell your sister? She might come around the ranch while I’m working.”
“Tell her I’ll see her there then. I need to tell her myself how sorry I am.” He got in the truck and the woman backed out.
“Well, how about that?” It was hard to believe he’d had success in rehab for the six or more weeks’ time he’d been missing. Clay’s eyes were clear, and he looked rested. Wade contemplated. He’d give him a full day on Monday then see if he’d come back on Tuesday before he mentioned it to Sophie. She’d go to the ranch to kick his ass, and he believed she could do it. Wade called his deputy friend, Steve, to ask some questions.
“If he did jail time it wasn’t here, Wade. The accident bordered this county, but it didn’t happen in this county. I’ll see what I can find out.”
Hooked By Sundown (Canyon Junction: Hearts In Love Book 3) Page 22