Rachel Laine (The Women of Merryton Book 3) (9 page)

“It’s
just, I’m going through something, but I can’t talk about it right now.” I
hoped I said that low enough for only her to hear.

She
gripped my hand tighter and leaned toward me. “You know I’m here for you.”

I
nodded. “I know.”

She
left it at that. That’s why I loved her so much.

I
left that day to get Drew and thought it was a good thing I was the boss, or I
would have had to talk to myself about my lack of productivity the last couple
of weeks, and especially the last couple of days. I even decided to skirt my
motherly duty of cooking that night. After football practice, we swung by Drew’s
favorite pizza place and grabbed a pizza and some of their homemade bread
sticks before we made our way back home. I was looking forward to a night of
vegging out on the couch with my favorite guy and watching mindless TV. And I
wasn’t talking about baseball. During my lunch hour, I had picked up a movie
newly out on Blu-Ray that Drew had been asking for. I was hoping to bribe him
to stay away from game four. The last thing I needed tonight was to see Andrew
on the screen kissing more blondes.

I
thought I had the perfect plan in place for my Friday, but it all blew up in my
face. There was a black Yukon in my driveway when we got home.
Why?

Drew
didn’t care why, he jumped out of the car and made a beeline to his dad, who
stood there waiting for him with a big grin on his face. This time, though,
they didn’t high-five or fist-bump. Andrew embraced him, dirty uniform and all.
I felt my heart stop as I watched from my car through the windshield. As Drew
reciprocated, Andrew looked up at me and smiled as he held onto our son. All I
could do was stare at the scene in front of me. I had too many emotions running
through me, from sadness to anger. I couldn’t settle on one, and feeling them
all was overwhelming, so I tried to feel none. I failed.

Andrew
released Drew.

“We
got pizza for dinner,” Drew informed him.

I
took that as my cue to get out of the car.

Andrew
approached me and relieved me of dinner. “I know I should have called, but I
really wanted to see Drew … and you.”

“What
about the game?”

“You
have a TV.”

I
rolled my eyes. So much for my quiet movie night. “We’re fresh out of blondes.”

His
smile faded. “Rachel Laine—”

I
began to walk toward the house. He reached out and grabbed my hand. “Hey, I
thought a lot about what you said today.”

I
looked up to him. “And?”

His
face broke out in that smile of his. “And I’ve decided it’s brunettes from here
on out.”

I
pulled my hand away and stalked off.

He
came after me laughing. “Come on, Rachel, I’m kidding.”

I
let us all in the house and instructed Drew to run up and jump in the shower. I
also instructed his dad to park in my garage. All I needed was more talk.
Andrew complied with my request. He still wasn’t ready to come out of the
closet, per se. I headed to the kitchen to deposit the pizza. I thought I
should at least make a salad, especially since I had an uninvited guest.

Andrew
came back in and joined me in the kitchen. He leaned against the counter and
watched as I pulled out the ingredients for a harvest salad.

“Rachel,
can you stop for a minute?”

I
turned toward him, holding pears and balsamic dressing from the refrigerator.

He
came and took both out of my hands and set them on the counter. He focused back
on me, and I leaned back against the now closed refrigerator. He stood across
from me, leaning against the granite countertop.

He
smiled and cocked his head. “You really are beautiful when you’re annoyed.”

I
narrowed my eyes at him. “I don’t need your sarcasm tonight.”

“That
was a compliment.”

“I
don’t need those either.”

“Rachel.”
He inched forward. “I know how difficult this has been for you, and I’m sorry I
wasn’t a good example to our
son last night.”

My
heart hiccupped to hear him say
our
.

He
inched forward some more. “I’m not used to worrying about anyone but myself.”

I
frowned at him. “If you want to be his father, that’s not an option anymore.”

“I
know and I’m trying to change that. Can you forgive me? I want another chance.”

He
looked at me with those eyes, just like Drew did when he was trying to get out
of trouble. They looked so sweet. I had to avert my own.

Without
warning, Andrew closed the distance between us and wrapped his arms around me.

A
flutter erupted in my midsection. “Um … what do you think you’re doing?” I
stood stiff as a board.

“This
is called hugging; it’s what people do when they’re making up.” He squeezed a
little tighter. “Come on, Rachel, you have to reciprocate.”

“I
don’t have to do any such thing.”

“Well,
I guess we’ll have to stay like this until you do.”

I
shook my head against him. I couldn’t believe this guy was for real. He was a thirty-six-year-old
kid. I tried to keep from smiling.

“Come
on, Rachel Laine, wrap your arms around me and say you forgive me.”

A
small giggle escaped. Darn it.

He
was delighted by my reaction. “A laugh?”

I
gave up and brought my arms up and did a quick couple of pats on his back. I
figured that was sufficient.

He
didn’t agree with my assessment. “You can do better than that.”

“Do
you behave like this all the time?”

He
didn’t respond to my inquiry. “Okay, it’s your choice. I don’t mind standing
like this all night, but our son may find it awkward.”

“Fine.”
I wrapped my arms around the idiot before Drew came down.

He
pulled me closer against his cashmere sweater and whispered against my hair. “I
really am sorry.”

Why
did that give me goose bumps? I dropped my hands and pushed against his rock
hard chest.

He
was too quick. He grabbed my hands against his chest and smiled down at me with
those eyes of his. “You don’t like physical affection, do you?”

I
felt the heat rise to my cheeks. What a thing to ask. “Of course I do. I’m just
… not used to it, and it’s not appropriate for us to behave that way.”

He
pressed his lips together and looked as if he were deep in thought. Which
probably didn’t go too far for him. “Don’t you think it’s a good thing that our
son sees his parents get along with each other?”

“First
of all,
my
son doesn’t know he has another parent, and secondly, I don’t
think hugging is necessary to show agreement.”

He
narrowed his eyes at me. “Hmm …” he said. He gently squeezed my hands, which he
was still holding onto. “He’ll know soon, I promise.” A wicked grin erupted
across his face. “So you should probably get used to physical affection.”

I
pulled away from him. “You are too much.”

He
chuckled, but at least he let me go this time.

Drew
joined us as I started working on the salad. This gave the fool a playmate.
They set up on the couch with pizza and bottled water. Andrew turned on the
game from last night so Drew could finish watching it before the fourth game
started. Andrew was super excited to show Drew the final inning, where there
was a grand slam homerun by the Bears.

I
eventually joined them with salad in hand. They ignored me as they were glued
to the TV. I supposed it was good for Drew to have male bonding time. The
upside was that I loved harvest salad, and it meant more for me. It was
interesting to watch them interact from my chair. You didn’t need a test to
prove they were father and son. Aside from their identical eyes and sandy brown
hair, their mannerisms were close to identical, right down to the way they
wiped their mouths. It was so surreal for me.

I
watched Andrew closely. He really was like a big kid, but he had a natural way
about him when it came to Drew. It was as if he had known him his whole life.
And Drew accepted him with such ease, like somehow he instinctively knew who
Andrew really was. It almost made me feel guilty for even thinking that I
should keep them apart during the next few months. I also felt a tad jealous.
Drew thought Andrew was hilarious and Andrew could be Drew’s friend, in a sense,
where I felt like I would always have to be the bad guy. You know, the one who made
sure homework was done, rooms were clean, and manners were used. Andrew would get
to be the fun dad.

Andrew
caught me staring at him. He raised an eyebrow and smiled. I turned my
attention back to my salad. He chuckled. For some reason, he made me feel like
I was back in high school. He had this cool-kid air about him that made me feel
unsure about myself. I hadn’t felt that way in ages.

Andrew
was fast-forwarding through a lot of the game and commentary, and, of course,
commercials, but he hit pause when his face showed up on the screen.

“It’s
so cool you were on TV,” Drew said to him.

Andrew
agreed with him.

“Were
those girls your girlfriends?” Drew asked.

I
looked over to Andrew for the answer and noticed he was no longer smiling. He
didn’t respond right away. Drew spoke up again.

“Well,
my mom says that you shouldn’t have two girlfriends at a time.”

Great.
Why did I have to be brought into the fray? I scowled at Andrew. We didn’t used
to have these conversations until he came along.

Andrew
ran his fingers through his hair. “Those
women
aren’t my girlfriends.”

“But
you were kissing them,” Drew pointed out.

“Yes,
I was.” Andrew directed his attention toward me. “I shouldn’t have.”

He
focused back on Drew. “You should only kiss someone if you know them and really
like them and they like you, too.”

Drew’s
face was distorted in disgust. “You don’t have to kiss a girl if you like her,
do you?”

Andrew
and I both laughed, but Andrew beat me to the punch. “No. And you should wait
until you’re older anyway.”

Drew
looked visibly relieved. He had the best facial expressions. “Well, my mom says
I should wait until I’m twenty-five.”

Andrew
looked between us. “Is that so?”

“At
least.” I smiled.

Andrew
shook his head at me and we moved on.

Andrew
showed Drew the grand slam that secured the win for the Bears before they moved
on to the live game that had barely started. I went and grabbed my book. I
figured I might as well be doing something valuable with my time while they
enjoyed the game. I sat curled up on my chair, reading about the lives of the people
who framed our country, while Drew and his father watched America’s favorite
pastime. I still wasn’t sure why it was the favorite, other than perhaps the
pants.

Once
in a while, I would glance up and catch a glimpse of the duo. I don’t know if
I’ve ever seen Drew so happy. Andrew seemed equally happy as he explained the
game in detail to his son. They celebrated each small victory of the Bears,
whether it was a run or tagging someone out. Andrew obviously loved his sport,
and he was eager for Drew to feel the same way. But even amidst all the
excitement, it wasn’t enough to overcome something Drew treasured, and that was
his sleep. He wasn’t always that way, at least not during his first few months
of life. I reminisced back to that time; I thought I would never sleep normally
again. Those nights as I held him close, I never thought I could be so in love.

Now
I was watching my sleeping angel, but he wasn’t in my arms tonight. There he
was, leaning up against his father, and there Andrew was, looking like he had
hit the jackpot with his arm around his son. A few tears escaped at the sight,
and I was caught in the emotion.

Andrew
gazed down at Drew and then back to me. “I’m sorry, does this bother you?”

I
wiped at my traitorous eyes. “Yes.”

He
made no attempt to move. In fact, he gently touched Drew’s hair. “I’ve never
felt like this before.”

“It’s
overwhelming, isn’t it?”

There
was no doubt he was falling in love with his son. “I can’t believe what I’ve
been missing out on all these years.”

“You
know, you’re still missing out.”

He
squeezed Drew a little tighter. “Rachel, you don’t know how much I want to tell
him.” He smiled at me. “But let’s not argue tonight.”

“So
I guess you’re ready to go home then?”

He
laughed quietly enough not to disturb Drew. “The game’s not over, and we need
to talk.”

“About
what?”

“Maybe
we should take Drew upstairs first.”

I
got up and walked over to my son. I touched his brow and kissed him there. “Hey,
big guy,” I whispered. My attempt to wake him up didn’t work.