His Dakota Bride (Book 5 - Dakota Hearts) (7 page)

Wade dragged his fingers through his short-cropped hair.

With a heavy sigh, he said, “It doesn’t have to be a fantasy anymore. I’m right here.”

“That’s the problem. I don’t know how to separate the two anymore. It wasn’t fair to Jay for me to be thinking of you when I was in his arms. I don’t want to be in your arms and remember what it was like with Jay.”

“It won’t be that way with us.”

She took a step back toward the kitchen door and just stared at him. Every feature of his face had haunted her for years.

“Are you sure about that? Everything about my time in South Dakota is filled with all these memories that didn’t include you. I can’t piece what we had together overseas to fit my life here. How can I be with you and not have Jay intrude on what should have always been just us. Look at what it’s like with Alex. Jay never wanted to be his daddy but he’s still here in Alex’s life even if he’s not physically here.”

“Don’t we owe it to ourselves to try?”

“What we had was beautiful. It was special. So much so that it ruined my marriage to Jay. I don’t want the ghost of my life with Jay to turn what we had ugly like that. And I’m so afraid it will. There are too many things I can’t wipe from my mind. That’s why I have to leave. You belong here, Wade. Not me.”

She turned and ran into the house before he could reach for her again. She knew that Wade would. And when he did, he’d win her over. At least for tonight.

# # #

They’d spent the week trying to be “normal”. But it quickly became apparent to Skylar that normal was never going to be a part of her life again. At least not while she was in Rudolph.

She’d finally gotten up the nerve to call her college roommate, Cara, and to her surprise, she learned that Cara had gotten married over Labor Day weekend. Although happy for her friend, Skylar couldn’t deny the twinge of jealousy she’d felt when she’d learned that the man Cara had married was an old friend who’d reappeared in her life after seventeen years apart. She listened to her friend talk about their romantic and “odd” reunion that Cara’s mother had orchestrated. But in the end, Cara realized her mother had been right and Devin Michaels was the only man that Cara had ever loved.

Skylar understood exactly what Cara was saying.

She was happy for her friend. But now the idea of staying in Boston for a while would need to be revisited. At least for a little while.

She and Wade had fallen into a routine of seeing each other at the diner when Wade would eat meals there and then on the days when Skylar would pick up Alex and Keith from school. Skylar found that she looked forward to seeing Wade, even though she didn’t like feeling that way. She tried to keep their time together all about Alex. But she couldn’t deny that Wade, in his charming way, was getting under her skin.

And when she was alone at night in her bed. She’d think of him again until memories of her time living there with Jay would intrude on her mind and she’d force thoughts of Wade into the past.

The next Friday, Wade wasn’t at the school when she picked the boys up. She tried to squash her disappointment as she looked around the parking lot. But when Alex and Keith got out of school and it was clear Wade wasn’t coming, she piled the boys into her car and drove over to Logan’s ranch. She was surprised to see Wade’s car sitting in the driveway.

After parking the car, she climbed out of the driver’s seat and opened the back door so the boys could get out. Logan came out of the house with an armful of camping supplies in his arms. Wade suddenly appeared from Logan’s barn carrying several fishing poles and a tackle box.

“What’s going on?” she asked.

“We’re going on an overnight fishing trip,” Wade said.

“Where?”

“We’re going camping?” Keith asked, running over to Logan.

“Sure are. Right here in the back of the ranch. There’s a nice level spot near the river. I finally had a chance to clean out all the debris from the storm. We’ll have ourselves a nice campfire and roast marshmallows.”

“And make S’mores?” Alex asked.

“He’s got your sweet tooth,” Wade commented. “Is it okay with you if he camps out with us?”

Alex glanced up at her with pleading eyes.

“Of course. It sounds like fun. But I don’t have any of your clothes.”

Logan dropped the camping gear he’d been carrying into the back of his truck. “He’s the same size as Keith so he can wear his clothes. I have extra sleeping bags. He’ll be fine.”

Feeling a little disappointed that she wasn’t going to share in the fun activities planned, she said, “I guess I’ll spend the night packing and cleaning.”

“He’s going to be fine,” Wade said.

“Oh, I know.” She looked at Wade for a long moment and then added, “Well, have fun.”

The boys were already climbing onto the back of the truck with excitement. She gave Alex a quick kiss and then waved to the boys as she climbed into her car and drove home. Alone.

* * *

The only thing to make this overnight complete would be to have Skylar and Poppy join them. But Wade wasn’t about to complain. He had some real time with his son and he’d hoped that their time together would be the start of a real father and son relationship that had been missing in Alex’s life.

They drove the truck out to the back of the property and found the perfect camping spot that Logan had cleared. It was far enough away from the water that they wouldn’t worry about the boys playing, but close enough that they didn’t have to walk far to go fishing. It was already too late in the season to swim.

They unpacked the camping gear, fishing poles and tackle box. But seeing that they were still missing one sleeping bag, Logan drove back to the house to retrieve it while Wade set up the tent. The boys were supposed to help him, but like all young boys, they soon tired of the details of constructing a tent and decided to go in search of worms so they could fish.

He’d just hammered the last stake into the ground that would hold the tent in place when the air around him became eerily quiet. The sound of little boy laughter had faded while he’d set up the tent and yet he hadn’t noticed until just then.

“Alex? Keith?”

It had only been a few seconds. But with little boys, that’s all it took. He glanced around the camp. The fishing poles were gone. The tackle box was open and new lures he’d bought to try out were gone.

“You two weren’t supposed to go to the river without us,” Wade called out as he hastily walked down the short trail toward the water’s edge. He shook his head as he saw the two boys on the trail ahead of him, running toward the large boulder Logan had said was the best spot for them to stand while fishing. Alex climbed up the boulder first, holding his fishing pole in one hand. Keith followed.

Wade couldn’t help but smile at the unbridled determination both boys had for this adventure. It reminded him of Hawk and himself when they were kids.

“Don’t go to the edge of the rock, boys,” Wade called out, keeping his voice steady so as not to startle them. “I don’t want to have to rescue you two if you fall in the water.”

Keith laughed, giving him a look that reminded him of his late sister-in-law, Kelly. Alex took an unsteady step back as he struggled with the fishing pole, making Wade’s heart jump in his chest.

“We’ll be careful,” Alex said, looking up at Wade with a wide smile. Wade saw the stick under Alex’s foot before he stepped on it. The stick rolled under Alex’s sneaker and made his already unsteady step more unstable, causing him to fall backward.

“Alex!” Wade yelled. But it was too late. Alex tumbled off the boulder onto the hard ground below. The fishing pole was still in his hand when Wade reached him. Terrified, Keith slowly climbed down from the rock to see if is best buddy was okay.

Alex was momentarily quiet, as if the shock of the fall was still stunning him. Wade pulled the fishing pole out of Alex’s grip and looked him all over to inspect him. Blood was already pouring down the front of Alex’s face, covering his cheek and staining his shirt.

Keith started crying before Alex did and when Alex saw the blood, he wailed. Wade scooped Alex up in his arms and started running.

“Stay with me, Keith,” he called out, looking over his shoulder to make sure his nephew was with him.

Relief filled Wade when he heard Logan running down the trail before he actually saw him.

“Get the truck,” Wade yelled to Logan.

The drive to the clinic was a blur. Keith stayed behind with Poppy as Logan drove Wade and Alex to the Hawk’s clinic. His mother and Skylar were waiting at the clinic when they arrived. When Alex saw Skylar, his wails increased. Wade didn’t want to upset Alex any more than he already was, so he stayed in the waiting room while Hawk examined the gash on Alex’s head. Skylar stayed with him to keep him calm while the wound was being stitched.

Wade sat in the chair, looking at the blood on his shirt, knowing it was his child’s blood and feeling guilty and helpless that he’d done nothing to stop Alex from getting hurt.

“Knock it off,” his mother said, settling into the chair next to him. “Why are you beating yourself up about this? You and your brothers have had a million scrapes like this. Hell, Hawk was getting to the point where he knew how to stitch himself up. It’s no wonder he became a doctor.”

“I should have been watching him closer. I didn’t even know they went down to the river.”

“Kids do things in the blink of an eye,” Kate said, chastising him for his reaction, not his actions. “You said yourself he was standing on the rock with Keith when you got there. He fell right before your eyes. So you tell me what you could have done to prevent it?”

“I don’t know. I keep thinking if I hadn’t noticed they were gone, he might have fallen into the water and drowned.”

“And a meteor can strike us all tomorrow.”

He looked at his mother, wondering what she was talking about.

“It’s the same thing. Don’t look at me like I’m an old, crazy woman. I raised five boys to adulthood. Stuff happens. Boys get into messes. They get scrapes and stitches and broken bones. Lord knows you all had enough of those. If you let yourself think back to how many emergency room visits I had to bring one of you to, then you’ll understand that this won’t be the last time either of those little boys gets into trouble. This is just the first of many. It’s call life.”

* * *

Silence had a way of healing. And sometimes, it had a way of hurting. Skylar looked at Wade while he drove her car back to the house. He’d left his car at Logan’s, but Skylar was glad that Wade offered to drive her home so she could sit in the back seat with Alex, who was still clinging to her after getting five stitches in his forehead. Hawk had been quite animated as he stitched up the wound, easing some of the trauma of it all for Alex.

For Skylar, it was a different story. Looking at the worried lines on Wade’s face in the rear view mirror as he drove, Skylar knew it was the same for Wade. It always is when it’s your child. And Alex was Wade’s son.

She hadn’t been fair to Wade. But life hadn’t been fair to any of them. She thought back to the conversation she’d had on the phone with her friend Cara. The one thing she’d taken away from that phone call was that Cara was happy. She’d heard it in the bubbly way Cara spoke. It dawned on Skylar that it had been a long time since she’d ever even considered that notion.

When they got to the house, Alex was so emotionally exhausted that he didn’t even argue with Skylar when she got him ready for bed and tucked him in. She went to the kitchen to grab him the glass of water he’d asked for and by the time she returned, Alex was fast asleep.

Wade was sitting on the sofa with his head in his hands. She was tired. Too tired to keep fighting battles she was creating. Walking up to him, she put her hand on his head and pulled him close to her so his head was nuzzled against her stomach.

“It’s not your fault.”

He lifted his head to look at her face. “Yeah? He never needed five stitches when you were watching him.”

She chuckled. “He gave himself a black eye on the coffee table right in front of me. For a week I felt like I’d been the one to give it to him. He’s had plenty of falls and scrapes. There’ll be more. Are you going to blame yourself for all of them?”

Wade leaned back on the sofa. “I guess not. It’s just, I spent all this time trying to protect the two of you. The one time I had him alone, he nearly loses an eye.”

Her mouth dropped open. “Quit being so dramatic! The stitches aren’t anywhere near his eye.”

“They could have been.”

Disgusted, she grunted.

“I should call Logan. He said he’d pick me up here.”

She took a deep breath.

“He already called. I told him not to come.”

“What?”

“You…don’t have to leave.”

Skylar could see Wade spark to life right in front of her. She quickly put up a hand to halt him from moving closer and taking her invitation the wrong way.

“Before you go getting excited about the offer, I’m talking about this couch, not my bed. It’s been a trying day and I can see how wiped out you are. There’s no need having Logan come out here and then having you drive all the way back to your house. So just stay here.”

His disappointment clouded his expression. She couldn’t help but laugh. She shook her head, and under her breath, she said, “You’ll never change.”

“Not where you’re concerned. You ruined me, Sky. I haven’t been with another woman since the last time we were together in Samoa.”

His blue eyes were beautiful as he gazed up at her. She remembered them so well. The sincerity of his words made them hard to ignore. She shifted uncomfortably where she stood unable to squash the flash of guilt that she felt.

“Don’t. This was my choice. Even after I learned you got married, I didn’t want to be with another woman. No one was you.”

“You had all the choices, didn’t you?”

“Not all. If I could have stopped Jay from touching you these last few years, I would have. It damn near killed me thinking about that.”