Autumn Wish

by Netzel, Stacey Joy

  Clearly, everyone in the family knew the story.

  “Believe me, I intend to.” He gave his niece a smile and was rewarded with another toothless grin as her chubby little hands reached for his face. His heart swelled. This. This moment made it worth each sleep-deprived night that had already passed and the ones sure to come.

  “How do ya like your new house?”

  Butch’s question came as lightning flashed outside and thunder rumbled. The lights flickered and a chorus of oh’s sounded over the drumming of rain on the roof and outside deck. After a glance around, Sam returned his attention to the older man.

  “Still settling in. It’ll take a little longer now, but we should be okay.”

  “You found yerself a nice neighborhood there.”

  The best, if he considered his next door neighbor.

  Mark’s wife, the red-headed Janelle, had come to stand behind Butch’s chair, and she put her hand on the old man’s shoulder. “Weren’t you on Bob’s route over there last week?”

  “Sure was. He took the family out to Yellowstone.”

  “Grandpa is a retired mailman,” Derek explained from where he was sitting on the floor with one of the twins. “But he still fills in every once in a while.”

  Last week, huh? Is he the one responsible for the mixed up mail? Sam wondered. He didn’t ask the question out loud, though. He didn’t want to make Santa feel bad about a mistake in front of his family.

  The lights flickered again, followed by a clap of thunder that drowned out the voices inside the house. Sam wondered if he shouldn’t take a peek at the weather on his phone when Marissa called everyone into the kitchen for cake. Eric raised his hands for quiet as she lit the candles.

  “The radar says this cell is just about passed, and then we’ve got about an hour before the next one rolls through. Let’s have some cake, and then you all can head home before the worst hits.”

  Little Savannah stared in wide-eyed wonder at the flickering candles just out of reach. Sam imagined Ella in her place in about nine months and hoped she’d still be with him for her first birthday celebration.

  After everyone sang Happy Birthday, Heather and Reese handed out pieces of the marbled cake topped with large scoops of ice cream. Sam stood by the raised island counter that separated the kitchen from the large, open living room. He managed one bite of his dessert before Ella started getting impatient with being held.

  Once he found the pacifier and started a gentle rocking motion, she calmed down. He was slowly getting the hang of caring for her, and each success boosted his confidence. This was a big win in a room full of people who clearly had a lot of experience with kids.

  As he took a second bite of cake and melting ice cream, his gaze unerringly located Nikki at the kitchen table, standing between her nephews’ booster seats. She leaned forward to run her pinkie finger along the edge of the cake tray where a line of frosting had been left behind. Twisting one way, then the other, she dabbed some on the nose of each toddler. The boys exclaimed and swiped at their faces while she and the two older girls laughed.

  Then Nikki lifted her hand and stuck her finger in her mouth to suck off the rest of the frosting. It was a completely innocent act, yet the sight of her glossed lips closing around her finger sent a spike of awareness straight to his groin.

  “Nikki’s got a way with kids.”

  He did his best to cover the jerk of his hand at the unexpected sound of Eric’s deep voice at his left shoulder. He set down his fork and wiped off the frosting that ended up smeared on the corner of his mouth. “She’s got a way with everyone.”

  That assessing gray gaze made Sam wish he’d kept his mouth shut. Afraid Eric would guess the direction his thoughts had taken a moment ago, he used Ella as a shield, angling his body ever so slightly so she blocked the other man’s line of vision.

  “You appear to be managing your niece pretty well.”

  “It’s still an adjustment, but we’re getting there.”

  “Good.” Eric took a bite of his own cake and took a moment to chew. “Glad you stayed, by the way. Mark seems to think you’re all right.”

  “Just Mark?”

  He shrugged, smirked, and walked away.

  Sam stared after him, swung his gaze to Nikki, then focused on the baby in his arms.

  What the hell was he doing here with this big happy family?

  The longer he stayed, the more he might start to want one of his own, and that wasn’t going to happen. People didn’t stick with him. Not his father. Not his mother. He’d come to depend on Nikki in the past week, and now she was back with her ex.

  His gaze skimmed from one smiling face to the next. He should’ve left, damn it. After deserting his own sister all those years ago, he was an idiot to want what these people had. Seeing the love and happiness they shared, he realized if Rae ever did come back to take Ella, he’d be left all alone. Again.

  And it’d be nothing less than he deserved.

  Chapter 13

  Nikki made one last trip around the living room collecting stray dishes. She carried them to the kitchen as her sister joined her now that she’d waved goodbye to the rest of the family. Sam had left with Ella almost immediately after the cake had been served. He’d seemed to get along with everyone, but with his abrupt departure, she wondered if he’d been uncomfortable all along.

  Marissa came up and leaned her elbows on the island counter. “So...let’s talk about Sam.”

  “Oh, great. I should’ve left with everyone else.” Despite the grumble, she couldn’t help but smile.

  “But you didn’t. First of all, let me say, I approve. Wholeheartedly. He’s nice, he’s great with Ella, and he is smokin’ hot.”

  “Better not let your husband hear you say that.”

  She waved her hand. “He’ll just think I’m talking about him. Besides, he’s upstairs putting the kids to bed. So, back to Sam. Tell me about that kiss the other night.”

  Heat flooded her face. “What makes you think I’ve kissed him?”

  “You’re blushing. And, Eric told me all about it when he dropped off the crib.”

  “What does he know?” Marissa’s you can’t fool me expression shot down her defensiveness. Nikki sighed. “Okay, fine, but it was stupid. We were joking about making Joe jealous—we’d seen him at the grocery store and he kissed me—”

  “Joe did?”

  “No, Sam did. I was upset about seeing Joe and Tanya, so he pretended to be my boyfriend.”

  “I’m liking this guy more and more.”

  “Anyway, back at his place later, I kinda tricked him into practicing”—she made air quotes with her fingers—“kissing me so I wouldn’t be taken by surprise the next time.”

  “Smart move.”

  “The thing is, it actually worked. Joe stopped by last night.”

  “What?” Marissa shoved upright from the counter. “What the heck did he want?”

  “A second chance. He said seeing me with Sam made him realize he still wants me.”

  Her brow creased. “Wants you, or loves you? There’s a big difference.”

  Nikki opened her mouth, then shut it. Her sister made a point she hadn’t realized until that moment. Joe hadn’t once told her he still loved her, only that seeing her with someone else made him crazy. She’d always admired his drive to be the best that made him such a success at work; wondering if it applied in this situation didn’t thrill her so much.

  “You told him to go jump in the lake, right?”

  She grabbed a dish and started scraping leftovers into the garbage.

  “Oh, come on, Nikki. You’re not seriously considering taking him back. Not after he left the way he did.”

  “We’re going to dinner tomorrow, that’s all for now. Just to see how things go.”

  Marissa made a disgruntled noise and came around to load the dishwasher. “And what about Sam?”

  She sighed and plunked the plate in her hand on the counter. “I don’t know. I thought
he was interested in me, but the moment Joe showed up last night, he was all about the plan to make him jealous. He even kissed me again in front of Joe and said, ‘Maybe this will help.’ Then this morning, when I told him Joe and I were going to dinner, he said he was glad it worked.”

  “Hm.” Marissa reached over and took the plate. “I don’t think Joe is the only one who’s jealous.”

  Nikki shifted to lean her hip against the counter. “You think so?”

  Her sister grinned. “He couldn’t keep his eyes off you tonight.”

  Heat flooded her face once more. Hope filled her heart. “Really?”

  “Really.” Marissa shut the dishwasher door. “I have to ask, if you’ve got someone like Sam interested, why in the world would you even talk to Joe again?”

  She paused to consider her answer. “We were together a whole year. I loved him—even planned to marry him. When he kissed me, there was some—”

  “Wait—when Sam kissed you?”

  “No, Joe this time. He kissed me on the porch when he left last night, and there’s still something there.” Nothing as exciting as Sam, a little voice whispered in her ear. She sighed. “I can’t deny I’m attracted to Sam, like the guy could incinerate the clothes off my body, but...”

  Marissa caught her gaze. “But what? You don’t say something like that and then add a but.”

  Nikki swallowed hard and turned back to the dishes with a helpless shrug. “Everyone who was here tonight has someone. You’ve got families of your own while I sit and smile as each baby is born. And I love them, and I love all of you, but don’t begrudge me the chance to have that for myself. If it could be with Joe, then I need to find that out.” By the time she finished, tears filled her eyes, and her voice clogged with emotion.

  Marissa’s hands grasped her shoulders to pull her back into a hug. She rested her chin on Nikki’s shoulder. “You will have that. I know you will. I just don’t want you to settle, or end up with the wrong guy for the wrong reasons. You know I know what I’m talking about.”

  She leaned her head sideways against her sister’s. “Yeah, I know.”

  Marissa turned her around and held her at arm’s length. “Just...make sure you’re sure, okay?”

  “Easier said than done.”

  “Listen to your heart. It won’t lie to you.”

  Maybe not, but it was confusing the heck out of her right now.

  The thunder that’d been getting closer again rumbled loud enough to rattle the windows. As it faded, Eric’s boots thudded down the spiral staircase in the living room. He looked surprised to see Nikki still there.

  “You staying here tonight?”

  “No.”

  “Then I’ll help Marisa with the dishes. You should get home before it gets worse out there. Radar says it’s coming.”

  “Yessir.” She headed out of the kitchen and turned to give them each a hug at the door. “It was a fun night. Thanks for everything.”

  Eric paused with his hand on the door handle. “You know, I wasn’t too sure about Sam, but after tonight, I’ll admit, he seems like a decent guy.”

  Nikki smiled as she shifted her gaze to Marissa. He’d never once voiced any kind of approval for Joe.

  Her sister grinned and lifted a shoulder. “Think about what I said.”

  “I will. Good night.”

  They echoed her goodbye, then as she walked out the door, she heard Eric ask, “What’d you say?”

  “None of your business,” Marissa retorted.

  “I have ways of making you talk, woman.”

  “Give it your best shot.”

  Their playful banter was quickly drowned out by the rain and thunder as she hurried to her car. When she glanced back, they stood kissing in the open doorway.

  God, she wished she could have that. Fun. Laughter. Love. She wasn’t such a Pollyanna to believe it was always sunshine and roses, but for the times it was, it would be so worth it.

  ***

  Rain and wind buffeted her car on the five mile drive home. Sitting in the driveway, she peered through the storm at Sam’s darkened house. Had he really watched her most of the night? She’d done her own share of sneaking peeks, but only caught his gaze once or twice. Was Marissa telling the truth, or just trying to steer her away from Joe?

  Think about it.

  Shortly after ten p.m., she climbed into bed as the storm began to abate. She was tired of thinking about it, especially when persistent memories of Sam’s few kisses eclipsed every one of Joe’s from the past year.

  Drifting off to sleep, she wondered if that right there shouldn’t tell her more than enough.

  A deafening boom jerked her out of a dead sleep. Cracking wood, breaking glass, and a cold rush of damp air was underscored by a body-vibrating rumble of thunder and splash of rain.

  She sat up, then gasped in wide-eyed shock when a flash of lightning lit up her bedroom. Through a gaping hole in the roof of her house, tree branches silhouetted against the flash, dark tentacles reaching toward her to within a couple inches of her bed. Her racing heartbeat made it hard to catch her breath as the wind whistled through the opening that extended down the wall.

  Her stunned gaze cut to the alarm clock to see what time it was, but the red numbers were dark. Power must be out—and all her flashlights were downstairs in the kitchen junk drawer. She’d thought about putting one in her night stand, but that’s as far as it ever went, damn it.

  Another flash of light from the sky guided her off the bed even as it revealed the doorway was blocked by the tree. Holding her hands out in front of her, she gingerly made her way across the dark room while questions whirled without answers.

  Had a tornado come through? Was the worst over, or still to come?

  She paused, holding her breath to listen. The thunder sounded further away each time it rumbled, and the lightning flashes came less frequently. Cold rain still fell, enough to dampen her cami and shorts and send icy shivers along her spine she resumed pushing her way through the wet branches. Whether the storm was over, or they were in another lull, she needed to get downstairs.

  Except she couldn’t open her bedroom door past one of the larger limbs, not even enough to squeeze through while holding her breath. Down below, the faint ring of her cell phone came from the kitchen, and she realized she wouldn’t even be able to call for help. Now what was she going to do?

  Another crash from downstairs made her flinch, and she moved away from the fallen tree in case it shifted.

  “Nikki!”

  Sam’s alarmed voice filtered through the rustling leaves and raindrops. He shouted her name again, and she moved back to clutch the edge of the door, weak-kneed with relief.

  “I’m upstairs,” she hollered through the three inch opening.

  “Are you okay?”

  “Yes, except I can’t get out of my bedroom. There’s a tree blocking the way.”

  “I can’t get up the stairs either.”

  A broken-up beam of light shifted around on the hallway wall at the top of the stairs, then disappeared.

  “Do you have a ladder to climb out the window?”

  “No.” Embarrassing to say, a fire-escape ladder had gone the same route as the flashlights. Nothing more than a good thought. His mention of the window gave her hope though. She glanced in the direction of the one facing the street, even though she couldn’t see anything. “I could probably climb out onto my front porch roof and jump down from there.”

  “No, don’t do that! I’ve got a ladder in my garage. I’ll be back in a minute.”

  “Okay.”

  His footsteps thumped below as she thought of something else. “Sam—wait! Is Ella safe?”

  “She’s fine. Sound asleep in her crib with the doors locked.”

  “Okay, good.”

  “Hang tight and I’ll be right back.”

  Hands outstretched again, she felt her way over to the window and peered through the rain-spotted glass out into the inky blackness. Power must
be out through the entire neighborhood. The only light below was Sam’s flashlight bobbing toward his garage.

  It sounded like the rain had stopped, but the wind still gusted between the branches of the tree. The chill slid across her goose-bumped skin and left her entire body shivering in her thin pajamas. She should get dressed, and grab a bag for tomorrow, too, since she wouldn’t make it back up here until the tree was cleared out. Except, without any light, she’d need to wait for Sam.

  A loud thump outside preceded the rattle of metal when he clambered up the ladder to her porch roof. She opened the window as high as it would go and he climbed inside. He ran the beam down to her toes and back up to her face as her teeth began to chatter. When she blinked and raised her hand to shield her eyes, he lowered the blinding light.

  “Sorry. Are you sure you’re okay?”

  “I’m f-f-fine.”

  Her trembling continued as he reached out to pull her against his chest, tucking her head under his chin. His arms wrapped tight around her, enveloping her in a cocoon of warmth she wanted to snuggle into and never emerge.

  She slid her arms around his waist and hung on. The chill eased, allowing her muscles to relax. Until she thought of how close the tree had come to her bed. This time, a reactive shudder shook her shoulders.

  Sam rubbed his hands over her back. “You’re wet. You should get some dry clothes on.”

  “I will.” She didn’t move. He was too warm. “I can’t believe I slept through the storm until the tree came crashing down.”

  “It woke me up, too. When I saw where it landed, I ran over here right away.”

  It dawned on her how fast he’d run over when she realized her cheek rested against bare skin. He’d thrown on a shirt, but the damp material hung unbuttoned at his sides. She shifted, her thighs brushing the denim of his jeans, toes bumping against his bare feet. A discreet inhale filled her senses with his musky male scent.

  “Thanks for checking on me.”

  He lifted his arms and leaned back to frame her face with his hands, the flashlight still in his left. The light was bright enough to bounce off the wall behind her and illuminate his expression.