Baby, Come Home (20 page)

Authors: Stephanie Bond

A
t the sight of his son on the side of the road, Kendall was almost weak with relief.

Amy started crying in earnest.

He reached over to squeeze her again. “Told you we’d find him.”

She covered his hand with hers. “Thank you.”

Kendall swallowed hard. Why was she thanking him when it was his fault in the first place that Tony had run? But for the moment, he just wanted to let her enjoy the fact that her son was okay.

And let his own heart rate get back to normal. Even though he’d been in some jams, various overseas skirmishes that he’d had to shoot himself out of, this was the most terrified he’d ever been. The fact that Amy dealt with this kind of parental stress day in and day out proved how amazing she was.

And he was ready to help shoulder that burden if she would let him. The talk with his brothers hadn’t been nearly as hard as he thought it would be. They were disappointed that he was pulling out of the Sweetness project, but they understood the fact that he had higher priorities now.

As they drove closer, Tony turned toward them and stuck out his thumb. Kendall put on his signal and slowed. At first Tony smiled, but when he realized who was driving, his smile faded.

Kendall pulled the truck alongside him. Amy zoomed down the window, then jerked her thumb toward the extended-cab seat. “Get in.”

“Mom, I—”

“Get in the vehicle…
now
.”

He frowned, his mouth jutting. “How long am I grounded for this time?”

“Your children are now grounded,” she said.

Kendall had to turn his head to smother a smile.

Tony climbed in and settled in the seat behind them, still not making eye contact with Kendall. “I was trying to do you a favor,” he said to his mother, then cut his gaze to Kendall.

“Don’t you do me any favors,” she said. “I raised you, remember? I can take care of myself.”

“But he makes you cry!” Tony said, lurching forward in his seat.

“Your father can make me cry because…” Amy said, looking at Kendall. “Because I love him.”

Kendall’s heart swelled with hope that maybe he hadn’t burned every bridge with Amy.

“But I heard you tell him you were going back to Broadway and you wanted to forget about him.”

“I tried that once before,” Amy said. “It didn’t work.”

Tony grunted. “I don’t know what that means.”

“It means,” Amy said, “that I’ve changed my mind. How would you feel about you and I staying in Sweetness with your dad and being a family?”

Kendall was so happy, he had to slow down to take it all in. But he was holding his breath for Tony’s answer.

“What about your big job?” Tony asked Amy.

“I have a job in Sweetness—sidewalks. And whatever else needs to be done.”

Tony frowned, finally looking at Kendall. “Are you going to marry her?”

“I don’t know,” Kendall said, then he looked at Amy. “Will you marry me?”

“Yes.”

Kendall grinned, then looked back to Tony. “Yes, I’m going to marry her.”

“When?”

“As soon as your uncle Porter gets a church built.”

Tony stuck his head between their seats. “Does this mean you’re going to start having sex again?”

Kendall glanced at Amy, then back to Tony. “It looks that way.”

“Can I have two brothers? No sisters, just brothers.”

“We’ll take that under advisement,” Amy said.

Tony looked back and forth between them. “And does this mean we can all be Armstrongs now?”

Kendall decided to let Amy take that one.

“Yes,” Amy said. “After we’re married, I think we should all be Armstrongs.”

“Tony Armstrong,” Tony said, testing the sound of it. He nodded. “I like it.”

They were on the long approach back into town, when they came up on a sign that read, Welcome to Sweetness, Georgia.

Kendall reached over to squeeze her hand. “Welcome home, baby.”

She leaned over and kissed him. Kendall didn’t think it was possible to be so happy. He made a vow at that moment that he would do his best to make her that happy, too.

ISBN: 978-1-4592-0763-9

BABY, COME HOME

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