Very slowly, I drank my wine. It was all I could do.
“Alright, well then do you think you could love more than one person?”
What kind of answer was she fishing for here? I really didn’t know.
“I never considered it, until now,” I answered honestly. “I mean, as a parent, you can love more than one child. As a child, you love both parents unequivocally. Obviously, this is very different. But when it comes to love…”
Sarah’s mouth twisted a little, into something akin to a smile. And was that a gleam of mischief in her eye?
“Did you ever fall for more than one man?” I asked her, daringly.
Sawyer’s mouth dropped open. His gaze swung back and forth between us.
“Yes.”
He choked on his drink. “Mom!”
“Hey, I had a life before your father, you know!” his mother cried, defensively. “And it was a very fun life, too.”
Sawyer’s forehead slowly dropped to the table. He put his fingers in his ears.
“Back in college I went on a lot of dates,” Sarah continued. “I had several different suitors, some of them simultaneously. A few of them didn’t even know about each other.” She looked at me, and her smile widened. “I’ll bet it’s a lot more fun when theydo.”
The sparkle in her eye was gradually replaced by deep reflection. I could see her traveling the corridors of distant memories, kicking open the doors to rooms long since forgotten.
“Sawyer hasn’t spoken to his father in almost four years now,” said Sarah, out of the blue. She looked at me pointedly. “What do you think of that?”
Long seconds ticked by. Twisting the stem of my wine glass, I bit my lip.
“I think some things you can find again,” I murmured softly. “But lost time is gone forever.”
We both looked over at Sawyer, who still hadn’t moved. I knew there was more to the relationship with his father than what Carter had said, and the few things he’d told me. But I also knew in my heart that he didn’t hate the man. That somewhere, deep inside, was a path that led back to what used to be.
Sarah turned her attention back to me. I realized Sawyer had been the beneficiary of those same, steel gray eyes.
“Do whatever makes you happy,” Sarah ordered abruptly. It was as if a switch had flipped, and she’d decided for sure that she liked me. “Just don’t hurt each other. I know that part’s difficult, but that’s all the advice I have for you.” She wagged a finger at us both. “That, and have fun.”
Sawyer looked up again, making a face like he was about to be sick. I giggled at him. His mom’s smile widened.
“Now, let’s get something on this table other than bread already!” she declared, scanning around for the waiter. “I’m famished!”
~ 52 ~
HAYDEN
My headlights bounced as I rolled over the broken asphalt that was the Refuge’s rear parking lot. Fixing it would cost too much, and might not be worth it in the long run. Especially since, over the past few weeks, none of Carter’s lawyers had reported anything but bad news.
On top of everything else, the sky was darker for this hour than it had ever been. It was cold, dreary, and pouring down rain. It transformed the mud-strewn parking lot into a minefield of hidden, ankle-deep potholes, all filled with frozen water.
Even so, nothing could shake me out of my amazing mood.
Swinging the car door open, I steeled myself against the wind. So far I’d had the most amazing holiday season of my life. The boys and I had shared the most thankful of Thanksgivings, followed by several weeks of shopping, event-hopping, and wandering around the well-decorated malls. We’d gone Christmas tree shopping, and had even driven around town to look at various holiday light displays, with nothing more than a thermos of hot chocolate spiked with Bailey’s. This had been my favorite night of all, perhaps due to all the Christmas music we played, but more likely because the three of them took turns ‘riding’ with me in the back seat. The wicked things we’d doneback there, behind the safety of our well-steamed windows, would live in my memory forever.
Tonight however, was Bodie’s birthday. The guys were celebrating, and the bar was shutting down early. And beneath my trench coat, dressed in the original devil’s outfit I’d worn when he first laid eyes on me, I planned upon giving him the present of his life.
“Hayden.”
The low, gravelly voice brought me to a complete stop. I’d been walking half-speed, my heels clacking as I picked my way carefully across the wet pavement. But now, recognizing the person behind the voice… I started to run.
