Coming Home (22 page)

She feared he was right. In not trusting him, she
had
betrayed him. She hadn't trusted him years before, when she accepted the words of others as truth, even though she knew in her heart that Wyatt really loved her. And again today, she hadn't trusted him enough to know that he was too good a man, too good a person, to ever put his own anger and resentment ahead of the well-being of a child. Especially his own child.

"I should have told him right away," she said aloud after she heard his truck pull away from the house.

Justin approached her and patted her shoulder awkwardly. "It's pretty messed up, Mom. But I think it can work out. I know you didn't mean for any of this to happen."

"I haven't lied to you, Justin," Nicole said, wanting him to understand that she hadn't intentionally deceived him. Particularly now, knowing what her mother had done, she wanted to be sure her child didn't believe she'd lie to him. "All these years, whenever you've asked about your father, I truly believed I was telling you the truth when I said he abandoned us."

"I know," Justin replied. He allowed her to slide her arm around his waist and they walked together into the kitchen. "I guess, when it comes right down to it, we abandoned him."

Nicole paused, staring at the boy who had changed that afternoon, whose face now hinted at the man he would become. He was the kind of son who would make any mother proud.

"I guess we did, baby," she finally admitted.

And that was probably what broke her heart more than anything.

Nicole stayed in the kitchen when Wyatt arrived to pick up Justin. She did the same thing every morning for the next few days. Wyatt never came to the front door. Justin sat on the porch and waited for his father, as if knowing Nicole and Wyatt weren't yet ready to see each other.

Though she was utterly miserable, Nicole recognized her son's happiness. Daily, before her eyes, Justin changed. His skin tanned quickly in the Florida sun. His clean slacks and pressed shirts were soon replaced with ragged tee shirts handed down from his father, and raggedly cut-off khaki shorts. He had a perpetual grin on his face as he told Nicole and his grandfather about the long hours spent exploring the Four C. He told them Wyatt took him to the beach, and to an alligator farm. He sang the praises of every horse in Wyatt's stables, and instructed Nicole on the history of the Clayton family. The only negative thing the boy had ever said about his time spent with Wyatt involved Brady.

"He's a real loser, Mom. He looks at me like I'm from another planet, like he can't really believe I'm around. I don't know why you ever went out with him."

"Young and stupid, I guess," Nicole muttered as she blew on her tea. They sat in the family room, watching a movie Wednesday evening. Josh and Maria had both gone to bed, but Nicole had let Justin stay up late, wanting to spend time with him since he'd been gone so much.

"He's not nearly as smart as Wyatt. Or as fun. Simone is about the only one he's nice to. Of course, anyone would be."

Nicole heard an unusual tone in the boy's voice and glanced at him. He averted his eyes, suddenly captivated by the boring monster flick he'd talked her into renting.

"Simone’s very nice. And pretty," Nicole said, wanting to see her son's reaction. The boy actually blushed. Nicole sipped quickly at her tea, not wanting to embarrass him further.

"So, when are you coming out to the ranch to check Winnie? I've been keeping an eye on her, and her stitches have dissolved nice and clean. But you probably ought to check her out again."

Nicole stiffened. The last thing she wanted was to go out to the Four C and have to come face to face with Wyatt. It wasn't just worry about how she'd face him. She honestly didn't know if she was ready to see Justin and Wyatt together. It was bad enough listening to her son extol his father's virtues night after night. She didn't want to watch in person as Justin slipped away from her, bit by bit.

Nicole knew she was being selfish. But it was hard to adjust to the fact that Justin now had another parent, a man he could turn to, share things with that he would never have discussed with his mother. She was happy for him. Thrilled. Ecstatic.

And, she had to admit, just a teeny, tiny bit resentful.

The ringing phone startled her. She glanced at the clock, wondering who would be calling so late at night.

"That's Wyatt," Justin said. "He said he was going to call tonight, to talk to you about something."

Fear clutched her stomach. "About what?"

"Don't worry," Justin said, noting her stricken expression. "He wants to talk to you about a trip we’re planning.”

"Trip?" she asked, wondering if this was Wyatt's first attempt at taking Justin away for good. Her son just grinned and hurried across the room to answer the phone. She heard his part of the conversation, watched him smile with pleasure as he spoke.

He already loves him
, she realized. Justin loved his father.

Well, why wouldn’t he? Wyatt was very easy to love.

Justin slid the receiver against his chest and looked steadily at her. She saw the pleading look in his eyes. "Mom, please just promise me you'll say yes, all right? Promise me."

She could tell how much it meant to him. How could she refuse? She'd taken countless vacations with Justin, how could she deny him a trip with his father?

Nicole shrugged and crossed the room, nodding in agreement. Justin didn't release the phone immediately. "You promise? You absolutely agree to this trip?"

"Justin, unless your father is proposing to take you on a tour of bordellos in Amsterdam, then yes, I will agree."

Justin snorted a laugh. "It's just a weekend of boating."

"All right." She sighed as she reached for the phone.

Justin narrowed his eyes and extended his right hand, tucking his thumb and first three fingers into a fist. He stuck out his little finger. "Pinky swear, Mom."

Groaning, all too familiar with Justin's written-in-stone swear ritual, Nicole extended her own little finger, wrapped it around her son's, and shook his hand. "Pinky swear," she agreed.

Nicole took the phone from him and tentatively lifted it to her ear. She watched a satisfied grin cross her son's face as he sauntered out of the room with a wave goodnight.

"Hello, Wyatt. The answer is yes. The boating trip is okay with me."

A short silence ensued. Then, slowly, Wyatt replied, "All right, Nick. If you're sure, I guess I can go along with it. You and Justin be ready to leave Friday afternoon by three."

"Me and Justin?" she squeaked. Nicole didn't think she'd heard him right.

"Yeah. It's a two hour drive, and I want to be on the water before dark. I can pick you up at your Dad's Friday afternoon."

Nicole felt her heart begin to thud against her chest. Somehow, some way, she was included in this boating weekend. She glared toward the door through which her sly son had just exited. No wonder he had exacted her promise without giving her any details about the trip! She wasn't a bit surprised when Justin's hand appeared around the side of the door, and he waved his pinky at her. Nicole bit the inside of her mouth to stop a laugh.

"Uh, Wyatt, let's back up here. Justin didn't give me much info. Exactly where is it we're going? And, uh, who is going?"

A pause. Then Wyatt said, "He didn't even tell you, did he? You had no idea what you just agreed to."

"No, I didn’t.”

"Smart kid," Wyatt replied, sounding amused. "I told him I'd take him out on my sailboat this weekend down in the Gulf. He said he didn't feel right about leaving you overnight, and he wasn't too comfortable being out on the open water. So, he said if you didn't come, he wouldn't."

Considering the fact that Justin had been yachting with Nicole's mother from the time he could walk, she had trouble believing he'd been nervous about being on Wyatt's boat. As for spending the night away from her...it was possible he was feeling guilty for being gone so much in the past week.

It was also very possible that her son was doing some matchmaking.

Nicole didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Her son wanted his parents to spend some time together. How could she refuse?

"I'd hate for Justin to miss out on the trip,” Nicole said. “So, I guess if it's all right with you, I'll tag along."

She didn't have to try to gauge from Wyatt's voice how he felt about the matter. He came right out and told her. "Look, I don't like this at all, Nicole. But it's obvious that Justin is anxious for you and I to make peace with one another. If this trip sets his mind at ease, then I'm willing to do it. I think if we can manage to be civilized for a weekend, Justin will adjust a lot better to the changes in his life."

Nicole winced as he casually talked about having to force himself to be civilized around her. He obviously hadn't relented one bit. For a brief second, she wondered if she was too late, if Wyatt had already hardened his heart to her completely.

Then she thought of what Justin had said that first afternoon in the barn. He'd accused her of giving up too easily the last time. And he'd been right. She wouldn't make the same mistake again. She wasn't going to let Wyatt go without making one more effort to get him back.

Squaring her shoulders, she nodded with conviction. "Okay," she replied. "For Justin's sake, I'll do whatever is necessary."

A short silence followed. Nicole held her breath, wondering if Wyatt was already having second thoughts. Finally, he said, "All right. I’ll see you Friday.”

After she hung up, Nicole leaned against the table and closed her eyes. She took a few deep breaths, wondering how she'd been able to sound nonchalant about the upcoming weekend, when she knew in her heart that her entire future depended on it.

She had to make Wyatt listen to her. More importantly, she had to make him believe her.

She loved him. She needed him. She wanted him. Now, she just had to convince him.

When she opened her eyes, she saw Justin peeking around the corner. His eyes sparkled and a small grin played around his lips. He slowly raised his hand, tucked his fingers into a fist, then wagged his pinky at her.

"I know, I know," she said. "I'm not going to back out."

Justin nodded his head, and Nicole could see his satisfaction. He knew what she meant. Her son knew that this time Nicole wasn't giving up without a fight.

Wyatt didn't know why he'd let his son talk him into spending two days on a small boat with Nicole. He was a hell of a long way from forgiving her, and the last thing he wanted to do was spend a weekend with her, having to stare into her beautiful brown eyes and wonder when she'd become so deceitful.

Then again, there was probably nothing Justin couldn't talk Wyatt into. The boy had wormed his way so firmly into Wyatt's heart that he couldn't remember the man he'd been before he'd known he was Justin's father. And the kid talked constantly of his perfect, his wonderful, his all-knowing, beautiful mother.

It had been hard for Wyatt to keep his mouth shut when Justin raved on and on about how terrific Nicole was. Wyatt wanted to spend time with his son, wanted to know him, to make Justin feel he could confide in him. So the last thing he could do was criticize Nicole. It had been torture listening to Justin tell him every intimate detail of his mother's daily life.

"She makes the best banana bread. I mean, for a woman as smart as Mom, who knows absolutely everything there is to know about horses, she's the best cook in the world."

Or, later, when they were bathing Winnie... "Mom sure did a great job on Winnie's stitches, didn't she Wyatt? If something ever happened to me, I'd rather go to my Mom than any other doctor."

Nicole was Justin's favorite topic of conversation. Still, Wyatt gritted his teeth and nodded and tried not to mind. Justin was defending his mother. That was exactly what he'd expect his son to do. If Justin's defense fell on deaf ears...well, the boy didn't have to know that, did he? Wyatt kept his mouth shut. Building a strong relationship with Justin was worth the effort. Maybe someday soon he’d even hear his son call him Dad.

But he didn’t expect it would be this weekend. Because, he greatly feared, their upcoming “family” trip was going to be a disaster. His son’s excitement, however, meant he wouldn’t back out. So, as promised, he pulled up outside Josh’s house on Friday afternoon at three p.m. precisely. Opening the trunk of his car, he watched as Nicole and Justin came out the front door.

"Are you coming for a weekend or a week?" he muttered when they emerged, carrying several duffel bags.

"We've planned for every contingency," Nicole said cheerily as she carried the luggage down the outside steps.

She looked sunny, happy, and beautiful. Wyatt felt the breath leave his lungs in a hot rush as he watched her bounce toward him, her dark hair pulled up in a springy ponytail, her face bright and clean of makeup. She wore a pair of yellow shorts, and a thin cotton tank top. He could see the lines of her bikini beneath the shirt. It was hell tearing his eyes away from her.

"Well, we're all ready,” Justin said as he helped pack the trunk. "And, Mom made some banana bread."

Wyatt tried hard not to laugh as his son wagged his eyebrows up and down suggestively. "I can hardly wait."