“It’s all about the syrup you use.” Rick tapped the bottle emblazoned with his own name.
“Or do Lily’s pancakes make your syrup taste better?” Hope teased.
“All right, all right,” Joy cut in. “Let’s agree that both the pancakes and the syrup are divine and make an excellent pairing.” She winked at Rick and Lily.
“Those are fair terms,” Lily said. “Let’s hope travelers think so too when we open the bed and breakfast at my grandmother’s place.”
“They will,” Sage said. “That place is gorgeous.” She clanked her glass of orange juice to Rick’s and finished it off.
“I like your family, Sage.” Ian had been all smiles throughout the entire meal as Sage’s family included him in conversations.
“They are great, aren’t they?” Sage said. “Even Rick.”
Rick balled up his napkin and tossed it at Sage. “Shut up, Brat One.”
Myah giggled. “Sage isn’t a brat. She’s a nice lady. My daddy wouldn’t like her if she wasn’t a nice lady.”
“Yeah,” Ian said. “She brought us cookies.”
“Ah, she bribed you with cookies,” Rick said. “That explains it.”
Sage held up a fist at Rick, but didn’t get to deliver a biting remark because the doorbell rang. Myah popped up from her seat.
“This has to be Daddy!” She scrabbled to the door and ripped it open.
Sage followed and the sight of Orion standing there in his T-shirt, cargo shorts, and work boots got her all fired up. Had there ever been a man who could do that to her?
Nope. Not one.
She barely noticed Jack step inside the house. Her eyes were still glued on Orion, but something wasn’t right. He wouldn’t look directly at her. Instead, he focused on Myah who upon opening the door, had squealed and raced toward him. She was trying to climb up him, so he bent down and scooped her up.
“Hiya, Daddy. You missed the best pancakes ever.” She nuzzled her face into Orion’s neck, and Sage wanted to do exactly the same thing.
Something kept her from taking a step closer though.
“Myah,” Orion said after kissing both her cheeks and smoothing her hair. “This is Mr. Benson.”
Myah turned her attention to Jack. “Hiya, Mr. Benson.”
“Hello, Myah.” Jack shot a quick smile to Sage, thereby proving she wasn’t suddenly invisible. That Orion must have seen her and was choosing to ignore her.
Interesting.
“Mr. Benson wants to ask you a few questions back at our house, okay?” Orion asked.
“Aw, Daddy, can’t we stay here for a little while longer? Sage’s family is so fun.”
At that comment, Orion did look at Sage, making her insides flare to supernova levels.
“Honey, we really—”
“Hang on, Orion.” Jack divided a look between Orion and Sage, appeared to have an internal discussion with himself, then said, “Maybe we have a quick moment. I’d like to catch up with Lily and tell her how fantastic her grandmother’s place is. It’ll make a superb bed and breakfast.”
“Lily is in the dining room,” Myah said as she squirmed free of Orion’s hold. “I’ll show you, Mr. Benson.” She reached for Jack’s hand and tugged him toward the dining room, leaving Orion still out on the front steps and Sage in the foyer.
They spent a long moment looking at each other. Finally Sage couldn’t take it anymore.
“Are you going to come in?” she asked.
Orion hesitated. He jammed his hands into the pockets of his cargo shorts and crossed the threshold. He leaned against the wall in the foyer, making Sage assume his leg was sore. He’d no doubt overdone it, but being dragged down to the police station would do that to an injured man.
“Thanks for taking Myah and Ian for me.”
“No problem. I loved having them and so did my family.” Why was this so awkward all of a sudden? Better to get to the meat of it. “So, what happened at the station?”
Orion gave her what she assumed to be the Cliff’s Notes version, going no farther into her house than the foyer.
“I’m sorry you had to deal with Scott. I’m sure another detective would have been more impartial.” She lowered her shoulders and wished she’d never gone on that stupid date with Scott in the first place. If she had known meeting Orion was right around the corner… but she hadn’t. How could she know? And why did she feel as if a huge barricade blocked that corner right now?
“I guess I understand why any cop would suspect me,” Orion said. “I just wish I knew if Adriana is in trouble or is just causing me trouble.”
“We’ll get to the bottom of it.” Sage took a step closer, but Orion backed up. “Orion, what’s going on?”
“Nothing.”
“Liar.”
He ran a hand through his hair and scratched at the back of his neck. “Look, Sage, I… I think it’s probably best if we call a time out until this situation is resolved.”
“I see,” she said, folding her arms across her chest.
Orion rolled his eyes a bit at her response. “Think about it, Sage.” He paced away from her, shot a look to the dining room, then paced back, a slight limp pretty obvious now. “You’ve only known me a few days and in that period, you’ve wasted time visiting me in the hospital, you’ve had to assist in calming my father down—which you’re crazy good at, by the way—and you’ve had to babysit my father and my daughter so the fucking police could question me. Seriously. I’m not worth this much trouble.”
“Says who? You?” She stepped close enough now to rest her palms on his chest. His eyes instantly closed when she did so, and she knew he didn’t want to stop seeing her anymore than she wanted to stop seeing him. “Too bad you don’t get to decide what is worth my time and effort now, isn’t it? Those are my decisions to make, buddy, and I say you’re worth it.”
“Sage—”
“Shut up.” She covered his mouth with her hand.
His lips turned up against her palm, and his eyes darkened to a rich shade of blue. He peeled her hand off and said, “I suppose it would be impolite to argue with you.” He lowered his head so his lips were mere inches from hers.
“Completely impolite.” She snaked her arms up from his chest to clasp her hands together at the back of his neck. When she closed the distance between them and pressed her lips to his, sparks flew again. Kissing him jumpstarted her body like nothing else could. She never felt so alive as when she was in his arms, tasting him, exploring him, wanting him.
A throat being cleared made them both turn to look at the source of the sound.
“Can I help you, Rick?” Sage asked.
“Just wondering what had you held up.” He gave Orion a close once-over. “I see the situation now.”
“Rick,” Orion said, holding out his hand. “Nice to see you again.”
Rick shook Orion’s hand, but didn’t lighten up on the intensity of his gaze. “How’s the workshop holding up?”
“Fine. Great actually. Solid construction.” Orion ran his hands along his shirt as if wiping sweat off his palms, and Sage chuckled.
“All right,” she said. “I’m officially calling you off, Rick. This poor man has gone through enough today without you giving him the hairy eyeball.”
“What? I’m not doing anything.”
“Yeah, sure. You’re not doing anything you haven’t done to any other guy I’ve been interested in.” She stood between the two men and pushed Rick back a few steps.
“Umm, correct me if I’m wrong, dear cousin, but your experiences with men—”
“Okay, okay.” Sage held up her hands. “Fair enough, but Orion is… different.”
“Aunt Joy said you wanted me to check this guy out.”
For crying out loud.
“I changed my mind. I told you he’s different.”
“It better be good different.” Rick gave Orion a final look then returned to the dining room.
“He’s… protective.” Orion glan
ced toward the dining room.
“Sometimes he’s a complete ass, but he does look out for me,” Sage said. “You prepared to meet the rest of the gang?”
“Okay. Let me call Adam and tell him he doesn’t need to get Myah and my dad.” He made the quick phone call while Sage tidied up the kitchen a bit.
When he came up behind her at the sink and kissed the back of her neck, she said, “All set?”
“Yep. And Sage, I’m sorry.”
“For what?”
“For trying to make your decisions for you. I suck at this.” He waved a hand between them.
“You don’t suck at this. You just need practice.” Sage offered him a quick smile then pulled him toward the dining room. “Brace yourself.”
Myah immediately leaped from her seat next to Ian and grabbed Orion’s hand. “Daddy, this is Lily and Hope and Joy.”
Handshakes and how-do-you-dos circulated around the table, and soon Orion was seated in a chair between Ian and Myah eating his own plate of Lily’s pancakes doused in Rick’s syrup.
“Aren’t they the best, Daddy?” Myah asked.
“Yes, they are.” But Orion wasn’t looking at the pancakes or anyone else at the table.
His eyes, Sage noticed, were looking only at her.
Chapter Eighteen
“But I’m not tired, Daddy.”
Myah had been bathed and was now wearing pink cotton shorts with black paw prints on them and a pink T-shirt with a single paw print in the upper left corner. Her wild hair had been tamed back into a French braid Hope had done for her, making her look a little older. Orion liked how more of her face was exposed and how big her blue eyes appeared with that hair style.
Sage’s mom had gone on and on about how beautiful Myah was, and Orion had to agree. Even if she wasn’t his own kid, he’d have thought she was made by angels or something. He knew once she hit high school, he’d have to fend off hormone-driven, teenage males by the hundreds. Maybe he’d erect a tower and lock her away from it all, but according to all the fairytales, the princes always found ways around the tower dilemma.
Maybe none of this would even be his concern if Adriana came back or the modification to the custody agreement didn’t turn out in his favor.
He hated worrying about this. Shouldn’t a guy just be able to enjoy the child he’d helped create? Why did Adriana forget that without him, Myah wouldn’t exist?
Because she doesn’t care that Myah exists.
That was true. Adriana hadn’t fought to get Myah because of a burning desire to mother her. Myah was a direct way to cause pain for Orion. Adriana knew how much he loved Myah, how much he lived to be her father, and thought taking her was the best way to slide the knife into his heart.
And keeping Ranger added a little poison to the blade.
If it hadn’t been for her attorney and judge friends, Adriana would have never succeeded in acquiring full custody. She knew exactly who to call though, who would support whatever she wanted, who would bend the justice system to her favor. Orion had foolishly shown up at court unrepresented, unprepared, and unaware that everything he loved would be ripped from his grasp.
Myah tugged on his shortened pinkie finger as she liked to do sometimes to get his attention. “Can’t I stay up a little later?”
“I think you’ve had a long day. You went to Sage’s, met all those people, ate all those pancakes.” He poked her in the belly and she let out a giggle, causing Ranger to abandon his position at the foot of the bed. “You answered police questions and Mr. Benson’s questions. You must be a little tired, Myah.”
She shook her head fiercely as Ranger stretched his whole body back on his hind legs then forward on his front legs. He shook himself out and sat at Orion’s feet, his thoughtful brown eyes staring at him.
“Even Gramps went to bed already.” Orion gestured down the hallway to Ian’s closed door.
“Aww, Gramps doesn’t stay up late.” Myah moved to the edge of the bed and let her legs dangle over the side where Ranger came over to sniff at her toes. Lowering her voice to a whisper, she said, “I’m too excited.”
“Excited? Why?”
She lowered her head, stared at Ranger, then met Orion’s gaze. “Because I’m with you, Daddy.” She threw her arms around his neck and squeezed.
He wrapped his arms around her and squeezed right back. “I’ve missed you so much, Myah.”
“I missed you more.” She burrowed a little closer, and Orion wouldn’t have minded staying right there with her for the entire night. Maybe longer.
Ranger poked his snout between the two of them, so Orion reached out a hand and scratched between the dog’s ears until a satisfied rumble sounded from the dog’s throat.
“So,” Myah pulled back a bit to look at Orion’s face, “can I stay up?”
He pulled on the end of her braid. “Okay. Let’s make some popcorn and watch a movie.”
Myah sprang from the bed and clapped her hands together. “You’re the best daddy ever.” She grabbed Muddie and gave the bear a squeeze too.
“Would you say that if I made you go to bed?” Orion stood and followed Myah down the hall, Ranger’s claws scritch-scratching on the hardwood floor behind him.
Myah waited until they were past Ian’s door before answering. “Of course I would, Daddy. At Mommy’s, I put myself to bed and way before I’m sleepy. I don’t always go to sleep right away, but I’d rather be in my room with Ranger than with her.”
Orion turned Myah to face him once they arrived in the kitchen. He kneeled before her and rested his hands on her shoulders. “She doesn’t hurt you, does she, Myah?” He never thought Adriana would do anything like that, but now he wasn’t sure exactly what his ex-wife was capable of.
“No.” Her shoulders lowered as did her head. “Not with her hands anyway.” She studied her bare feet for several seconds then raised her head. “She says mean stuff to me. Tells me to stay out of her way and to shut up and to stop acting like a baby. I told Mr. Benson and he wrote it all down.”
“Good.” He hugged her tightly then. “I’m going to make this right, Myah. I’m going to make it so you and I are a family again.”
“I hope so, Daddy.” She stepped back and wiped her nose on the back of her hand.
Ranger licked Muddie in her other hand and let out a little whine, his tail swishing back and forth.
“Let him outside,” Orion said, “and I’ll get the popcorn going.”
Myah followed Ranger to the porch door and let him out. She stood in the doorway while Orion stuck a bag of popcorn in the microwave. “What do you think Sage is doing right now?”
Orion punched in the time and hit start. He went to the sink and peeked at the woods through the window. It was almost full dark now and the trees were thick with leaves so he couldn’t see any lights from Sage’s house. In the winter, he’d be able to. Knowing she was just through those woods made something warm up in his chest.
“I’d imagine she’s still cleaning up from the Pancake Olympics you had over there today.”
Myah stepped aside to let Ranger back in. “Maybe. Or she could be wondering what we’re doing.”
“Myah.” Orion retrieved the popcorn bag and dumped its contents into a large bowl.
“What? I’m just saying maybe she’s all alone and wishing she had some popcorn and two movie buddies.” She catapulted herself over the arm of the couch and tumbled to a spot in the middle of it, setting Muddie up to watch the movie too.
“Well, maybe I don’t want to share you with anyone else tonight. Maybe I want it to be just me and my princess.” Orion sat beside her, holding the bowl out of Ranger’s reach as the dog’s nose worked overtime sniffing the buttery fragrance.
“Okay.” Myah took a handful of popcorn and crunched loudly. “But tomorrow we call her.”
“Who put you in charge?” Orion grabbed the remote and turned on the television as Ranger gave up on getting any popcorn and sunk to his belly on the carpet in front of the
couch.
“I did. You’re in charge of getting me to live with you. I’m in charge of getting Sage to love us.” She nestled into the couch more and took the remote from Orion’s hand.
“Myah… I don’t know if—”
“Shh, Daddy. The movie’s starting.” She beamed a smile at him and grabbed another handful of popcorn.
Orion munched thoughtfully on popcorn while the opening scene of Tangled, Myah’s favorite movie, played. He’d saved it in his DVR just for her. Well, that wasn’t exactly true. Sometimes he watched it by himself, hoping she was watching it at Adriana’s too and that in some small way watching it at the same time connected them. It was completely lame, but it made him feel better.
Plus, Rapunzel was hot for a cartoon with her long blonde hair and big green eyes.
Just like Sage.
Interesting.
Shrugging that thought off, he settled in next to Myah, his left foot trapped under Ranger and his right leg elevated on the coffee table. He hoped he could share many nights like this one with his daughter and his dog.
And maybe Sage too.
****
When Orion awoke three hours later, the television was still on and Myah was sprawled across his lap. Ranger snored on the floor at his feet, and judging by the dry, slightly sore feeling in his own throat, he’d probably been snoring too.
Don’t remember sleeping that deeply in a long time.
He’d grown accustomed to sleeping rather lightly. He always had an ear out for signs that Ian needed him. His mind was always thinking about not seeing Myah. He was lonely at night with no one to share his bed. The list of reasons not to sleep well were numerous, but tonight, with Myah cuddled close, he’d conked out completely.
He shut off the television and scooped Myah and her teddy bear up into his arms. After carrying her down to her room and tucking her into bed, he snuck a quick peek into Ian’s room to find his father out cold. Who knew eating pancakes could tucker out a little girl and an old man so well?
Smiling, he shut Ian’s door without a sound and let Ranger outside one more time. As he stood on the back porch waiting for the dog to finish his business, he caught sight of Adriana’s car still parked in his driveway. How long was he going to have to look at that?
More Than Cookies (The Maple Leaf Series) Page 18