Reawakened: The Unexpected Series

by Roberts, S. E.

  He’s off today and I worked the early morning shift at the bakery, so he wanted to spend a couple hours with me before I have to get the boys from school.

  “How do you not know where we’re at?” he asks with amusement in his voice. “You did live here, right?”

  I chuckle. “Yes, I did, but we didn’t get out much when I was growing up. Really until Miles, I pretty much went to school and played volleyball. Besides that, Grandma Rose didn’t take us out much.” I wave my hand in the air. “Don’t get me wrong. She did her best to give us a good childhood, but we lived in a gorgeous state and didn’t get to see much of it.”

  I immediately regret mentioning Miles, but when I chance a look at Caden, he doesn’t seem to think anything of it. If I’m being honest, I thought that I’d have to be cautious about what I talk about with him, but so far, he’s never made me feel that way.

  I can see the crease in his forehead, one of his telltales that he’s worried about something.

  “Can I ask about your parents?” He squeezes my leg, which, of course, causes goose bumps to erupt on my skin. I’m thankful I remembered to shave this morning.

  “Of course, you can, but there’s not much to tell. My dad left us when I was eight, and a few years later my mom took off. That’s why we ended up with Grandma Rose.”

  He shakes his head. “I’ll never understand how someone can leave their kids.”

  He’s told me about his ex and how she left him and his daughter, but I’ve never thought about how much I have in common with Mackenzie. I’ve never met her, but I’m really hoping I get her approval. My boys adore him, but I know that it can be much harder for a teenage girl to accept the fact that her dad is dating. I don’t want her to think I’m taking him from her.

  “Me neither. My boys are my world.”

  I see his sexy half smile. “I know they are. Kenz wants to meet you,” he says as he continues on our drive. His words surprise me.

  “Really? She knows about us?”

  “Yeah, apparently she overheard us talking. She totally ratted me out to my parents.” He chuckles.

  He pulls into a parking lot, and I immediately see the hiking trail that leads to an enormous rock.

  “Where are we?” This place is gorgeous with all the palm trees surrounding a lake. It has both a tropical and desert vibe.

  “Papago Park.” He points to the rock in front of us. “That’s called The Hole in the Rock.”

  “That’s no rock.” I stare at it in awe. “That’s a freaking boulder.”

  He laughs. “Stay put.” He opens his door and makes his way around the car to mine.

  “Thank you, kind sir,” I say as he reaches for my hand.

  He doesn’t let go of me as we walk toward the park. I can’t believe I lived here most of my life and never saw this beauty. It’s hot, so there aren’t many other people walking around, which makes it even better. Having some alone time with my guy is exactly what I needed today after a crazy morning with the boys and then a chaotic few hours at the bakery.

  “Do you want to go up there? I know it’s hot, so we can stay down here if you want.”

  “Let’s go.” I smile up at him. “I’ve got my water and walkin’ shoes on.”

  “All right then. Let’s go.” He agrees.

  We finally reach the top, and I have to stop to catch my breath.

  “Damn. I’m really out of shape.”

  His eyes roam up and down my body, which sends shock waves to my lady parts. If I had the energy right now, I’d probably jump his bones. I’m going to blame the heat for my absurd thoughts.

  “Could have fooled me.” He pulls me into his arms and despite the heat, I shiver at his touch. His mouth lands on mine in the next second, and I melt into him. There are a few other people up here with us, but I pay no attention to them. We haven’t done anything besides kissing and some groping, but this man has me needy every time he touches me. I’m not sure how much longer I want to go slow with him, but it’s only been a couple weeks. I should probably calm down.

  He pulls away and runs his hand through my sweaty hair. I’d usually be embarrassed but he’s got me so flustered, I can’t bring myself to care.

  “Want to go the rest of the way up?” He points to the one last step, if that’s what you want to call it, that leads to the big hole at the top.

  I’ve never been one for heights, but I want to do this with him. Plus, I bet the view is amazing up there.

  I nod and he pulls me behind him. He goes up first and then grabs my hand to help me. I take a sip from my water bottle, suddenly extremely thirsty. I definitely want to come back once it cools off some.

  “Wow!” I gasp at the breathtaking view.

  “I know. It’s really cool at night when you can see the city lit up.” His hand rests on my hip, and I momentarily forget about anything else.

  We walk further into the rock in silence. This place is unlike anything I’ve ever seen. I bet it’s absolutely amazing to be up here when the sun starts to set.

  We’re standing near the edge, looking out, when my phone vibrates in my pocket.

  “Sorry I have to take this. It’s Jayce’s school.”

  He rubs my arm before I pull away. “Of course, make sure he’s all right.”

  His words warm me, but I’m worried about my son. I think losing Miles has made me more of a worrier. I can’t help the anxiety I have every time they’re sick or hurt. I’m sure that’s just a typical mother response, but my fear of losing one of them is something I used to talk about with my counselor in North Carolina.

  “Ms. Greene, this is Mrs. Waters at Mountain High.”

  “Hi, Mrs. Waters. Is everything okay?”

  “Yeah, everything is fine. But Jayce was complaining of his ears hurting, so we took him to the nurse, and he’s starting to run a temperature. We’ll need you to come get him early.”

  “Yeah, okay. I’m about twenty minutes away, but I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

  I hang up and sigh heavily. I hate that my boy is sick, but I’m also bummed that I have to cut my time short with Caden.

  “Everything okay?” he asks, wrapping me in his arms, seeing the worry on my face.

  “Yeah, it just sounds like he’s coming down with something.” I rub at his shirt-covered chest, feeling the hardness beneath it. “Can you take me back to the bakery, so I can go get him?”

  He grabs my hand, and we start down the trail.

  “I’ll just take you so you can get there faster, and then I’ll drop you two off at home. I’ll have Anthony meet me at the bakery to get your car.”

  His kindness overwhelms me, but right now, I have to focus on getting to my little boy.

  23

  Caden

  It’s a little after six in the evening when I pull into Sierra’s complex. I dropped her and little man off this afternoon but then left once I made sure they didn’t need anything. I wasn’t sure if I should stick around or give her space while she took care of her son, so I chose the latter.

  We learned that Jayce is in the pre-school class that Kenzie helps in at her school. Small freaking world. When I asked him if he knew her, he wouldn’t stop talking about her until he passed out in my backseat. Poor kid was feeling really cruddy.

  I park in her designated spot for guests and then make my way into her building, my mom’s chicken noodle soup in hand. As soon as I told her that Jayce was sick with something, she insisted that I come over to get him some of her famous concoction. Still to this day, when Kenz is sick, she makes the stuff, and it seems to work miracles. So, I have my mother to thank for having an excuse to see her again tonight.

  Before I can even knock, Sierra swings the door open, looking haggard. She’s still beautiful as ever, but I can tell that she’s exhausted.

  “Hey.” She yawns into her hand. “Come on in. I was just getting ready to make the boys something to eat. Well, Auggie at least. Jayce is passed out on the couch.”

  I walk in
to the apartment and then pull her into my arms and kiss the top of her head. “My mom sent chicken noodle soup for squirt, but there’s enough for all of you.”

  Her face lights up. “That was so sweet.” I can tell that she’s not used to being taken care of, but I’ve made it my mission to make sure that’s never the case again. This woman deserves the world, and I hope that I can at least give her a little part of it. “Thanks for dropping my car off earlier.”

  “It was nothing.” I peck her lips before following her into the kitchen.

  Auggie is sitting at the table, frustration etched on his face.

  “What’s up, dude?” I ask as I ruffle his hair.

  He sighs dramatically. “Mom said I can’t play video games until I get my math homework done. This crap is hard.”

  I look over at his mom, and she rolls her eyes at his attempt to curse.

  “Want some help?” I take the seat next to him and look over the problems in front of us.

  “Are you good at math? Because I’m terrible at it and have no clue how to do it the new way. It’s math, for God’s sake. Why do they have to make it so complicated?”

  I’ve helped Kenz a lot over the years, so surely I can handle second-grade math, right?

  Sierra goes to the stove and empties the soup into a pot before heating it up. I show Auggie how to do one of his problems, and while he’s busying himself with that, I stare at his mom like a perv. I can’t help it though. The way she works her way around a kitchen is mesmerizing. I don’t know why, but I enjoy seeing her do everyday things like this.

  We haven’t done more than kiss, but the thought of doing more is always at the forefront of my mind.

  “So…” Auggie says, pulling me out of my thoughts of his mother. He drops his pencil on the table and looks at me.

  “What’s up?” We’re far enough away from Sierra that she can’t hear us.

  He rests his head in his hand and raises his eyebrows at me. I don’t think I’ve ever been so scared of a seven-year-old before.

  “So, you’re my mom’s boyfriend?” He pins me with a stare. I assumed Sierra had this talk with him. What the hell am I supposed to say?

  “Uhhh…” I run my hand through my hair as I turn to look at his mom, willing her to give me the right words to say to him, but she’s lost in thought as she works on dinner.

  He taps his fingers on the table, impatiently waiting for my response.

  “Yeah. Is that okay?” Both boys have seemed cool with me, but if they think I’m going to take their mother away from them, they won’t feel that way for much longer.

  “You’re going to take care of her?” he finally asks, and I have to say, this kid is mature for his short seven years. It makes me smile knowing how much he cares about her.

  “Yeah, man.” I nod. “I’ll take care of her. You’ve got my word.” I hold my pinky out to him and he hooks his through mine.

  “Good. Then we shouldn’t have any problems,” he says matter-of-factly.

  He picks his pencil up and goes back to his homework, as if this conversation never happened. I stand from the table when I see that he’s good and walk over to my beautiful girl.

  “Hey.” She relaxes into me when I wrap my arms around her from behind. “What was he saying to you?” Oh, so she did notice. Little sneak.

  “You saw him interrogating me over there and didn’t bother to intervene?” I spin her toward me, feigning anger, which has her chuckling.

  “Oh, come on. You’re a big boy. You can’t handle a seven-year-old?”

  I get closer to her so only she can hear me. “Oh, babe, I’m far from a boy,” I growl out and immediately see the hunger in her eyes. I pull away from her, remembering that Auggie is nearby. “But you could have mentioned that you hadn’t told them that we’re dating.”

  She covers her mouth as her hypnotic laugh bursts through her sexy lips. “Is that what he asked you?”

  I put my hands on my hips. “Yes, and please tell me why you find that humorous?”

  She turns back to the stove. “I told them the other night when he asked, but he told me he was going to have a talk with you.”

  I stroke her hair from behind and whisper into her ear. “I’m glad you have them.” I kiss the side of her face. “As scared shitless as I just was, it’s nice to know you’re in good hands.”

  She snickers. “Oh yeah, I’m sure they could fight off the boogey man if need be.”

  “Why don’t you go check on squirt, and I’ll make up some bowls of soup?”

  She smiles up at me and then wraps her small frame around my big one.

  “You’re too good to us.”

  We spend the rest of the night lounging around. Sierra tends to little man, and I play an intense video game with Auggie. I thought the kid took his card games seriously, but this is a whole new level of competition.

  “Thanks for coming over,” she says as she plops onto the couch beside me after getting both boys to sleep.

  I pull her closer to me, my arm draped over her shoulder. I tuck a stray hair behind her ear. “You don’t have to thank me. I’m always happy to see my girl.”

  A big smile covers her beautiful face, and I love that I put it there. She leans into me and rubs at the scruff I forgot to tend to this morning. Now, I’m glad I did.

  Her eyes bounce between mine before pulling my face closer to hers. I can see the unshed tears in her eyes, so I pull back, grabbing her face between both my hands.

  “What’s wrong?”

  She shakes her head. “Nothing,” she chokes out. “I just never thought I’d get another chance at being this happy. Caden Harris, you make me so damn happy.”

  Instead of responding with words, I capture her lips with mine to show her that I feel the exact same way. She pulls away, standing to her feet and grabs my hand. I join her, gathering her into my arms as I look down at her.

  “Come to my room with me,” she whispers up at me.

  I smooth her hair back and kiss her forehead. “I don’t want to rush you into anything.”

  She shakes her head. “You’re not. Not one bit. Just come snuggle with me.”

  As much as I want this woman, all of her, holding her sounds amazing right now.

  We walk to her bedroom and we do just that. We lie in silence, my arm around her as my thumb rubs circles on her shoulder. She has me wanting things I never expected to have, but now I can’t imagine not having her in my life.

  “I’ve been thinking,” she whispers into my chest, and I almost don’t hear her.

  “What about?” I kiss the top of her head.

  “I think I’m ready to tell you about Miles.”

  I sit up on the bed, bringing her with me as I look down at her.

  “Are you sure? I don’t want you to have to talk about something that will only upset you.”

  She shakes her head. “No, I think I’m okay now. You make me okay.”

  I give her a light kiss, letting her know that I feel the same.

  We lay in silence, her staring straight ahead at nothing. I can tell she’s trying to gather her thoughts, so I don’t interrupt her.

  “We got married right after graduation, and he left soon after that. I was so furious at him for leaving me, but I knew that he’d never be completely satisfied with his life unless he was serving our country. His dad was also in the military but died the year before I met him from a heart attack. I think he felt like he needed to join so he could make him proud.”

  She inhales a deep breath. I only listen as that’s all she needs right now.

  “He was deployed for the second time right before Auggie was born. When he came home, I got pregnant with Jayce, and he was so excited to be having another boy.” She smiles sadly at the memory.

  “We weren’t perfect, but we were damn happy.” She sniffs, and I can tell that she’s now starting to cry. I hate seeing her upset, but I know that she needs to tell me this. I think it’ll help her feel better about moving on. “That
night, Claire and Ryke had Auggie. We hadn’t gone out in a while, so we couldn’t pass up the offer.” She pauses, gathering herself. “He had run to the store to get me something, so I decided to take a quick bath. When I was in the tub, I started to smell something burning, so I got out and grabbed a towel before walking out to the hallway.”

  “It’s okay. You can stop now,” I whisper into her hair, but she continues as if she didn’t hear me.

  “When I opened the door, I could see flames coming from the kitchen so I sprinted toward the back door, so I could get out. When I got outside, I saw Miles’s car sitting in the driveway.” She shakes her head. “I hadn’t even heard him come home, so I had no idea he was in the house.” She wipes her nose on the back of her hand. “He was up in the attic for whatever reason, and it was too late. He was stuck up there.” She stares into space again but then goes on.

  “I wasn’t even in the house long, but it was long enough to cause me to go into labor that night.”

  “Beautiful,” I whisper. “I can’t even imagine the pain you went through that day.”

  She sits up straighter and rubs her eyes. “I don’t know why I needed to tell you that, but I did.”

  I pull her tighter into my side, and she looks up at me and smiles, tears still in her eyes. She is the strongest person I’ve ever met.

  The rest of the night, no words are spoken as I run my hand through her hair, eventually soothing her to sleep.

  24

  Sierra

  “How’s everything going with Romeo?” Avery asks as she takes a sip of her lemonade. She invited me and Claire over this morning, and I couldn’t tell her no. I’ve been busy as hell over the last couple weeks. Between Jayce being sick and staying insanely busy at the bakery, I haven’t had much time to breathe. As much as I love my boys, I was about ready to yank my hair out. But that’s the plus side of having your own business. You can open and close as you please. I guess, it doesn’t help much for business, but right now, my sanity is more important than the few cupcakes I might have sold this morning.