“No, not at all.” Her smile was as beautiful as ever, but shaky. Heaving a deep sigh, she turned off the water and turned, leaning a hip against the counter. “I did something and now I’m not sure it was the right thing to do.”
Still drying a pan that was already dry, he nodded. “Does this something have anything to do with me?”
She nodded.
His heart suddenly felt like it had been placed in a vise. At first, it had been hard for him to accept that life could be so good for him. That Alice was his and that they had a future. Now, all of this new world had begun to feel very normal to him. None of her kids seemed to mind. As a matter of fact, they all seemed to like him well enough. None of the hired hands knew anything different than he and Alice had become a team, but now, those wordsI’m not sure I did the right thinghad his insides twisting painfully. “Want to tell me about it?”
The one thing he’d come to appreciate more than he expected was how they talked over everything. It was so very different than his relationship with his late wife. As far as he knew, so far they had no secrets from each other. Hell, she knew the worst of his. And frankly, he doubted she ever had a real secret in her life, but still, he thought he knew everything about her.
The sound of tires crunching gravel carried through the house and Alice straightened her shoulders. “I’m afraid I’m out of time. I should have told you. I’m sorry. Remember that.” She pushed away from the sink and strode across the living room to open the door.
What the heck was going on? Jillian was first in the door. She gave her mom a hug and a smile and a short nod. At least to Jillian, whatever this surprise was, it wasn’t a bad thing.
The next person through the door was a tall young man, broad-shouldered, in khakis and a button-down shirt with dark leather loafers. A city dude. “Mrs. Sweet, thank you for having me.”
“Please call me Alice.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Alice chuckled. At least whoever the guy was, he had manners. It took another second for the visitor to step aside and fully face Clint. In that one single moment, he knew. The face ofa scared little boy flashed before his eyes. Only now that face was a polite grown man who looked just as nervous as Clint suddenly felt.
Alice came out from behind Jason. “Come sit.” She waved him toward the living room sofa, but the kid didn’t move. His gaze was fixed on Clint. “Well, then.” Alice moved toward Clint, stopping in front of him, her hand resting on his forearm. “Brooklyn called me yesterday, said he’d explained everything to Jason. Told me he wanted to see you. I overstepped and said that would be great. I got a text last night that he was arriving in Midland on the red-eye. I guess he didn’t want to wait.”
Forcing himself to look away from his son, he looked into Alice’s eyes, eyes filled with fear, and made himself smile.
“I was afraid if I told you that you would just worry yourself all night and probably not sleep.”
Now he chuckled. “So instead, you worried yourself all night and didn’t sleep.”
Her smile reappeared. “Something like that. I’ll go make tea.”
Jillian followed her mother into the kitchen and Clint cautiously moved closer to his son. “It’s good to see you.”
Jason didn’t move. “I wasn’t sure you’d want me to come.”
“What?” Clint blinked, fear overshadowed by confusion. “Not want you?”
That scared little boy reared his head and Jason glanced at the floor before returning his attention to his father. “I should have believed you. I should have known.”
Shaking his head, Clint closed the gap and instinctively pulled his son into his arms. “It’s not your fault. The evidence was heavy. You were just a little boy.”
“Still.” His arms tightened around Clint. “I’m so sorry, Dad.”
Dad. He never thought he’d hear that word again. “It’s okay. Really. I’m the one who’s sorry I couldn’t be there for you all these years. I’m sorry I couldn’t make your mother happy. SorryI moved us next door to that idiot neighbor. Sorry for so many things.”
The two hung onto each other for a long few minutes before Clint finally eased back. “Have you eaten?”
Jason shook his head.
“I just happen to know the best cook in West Texas and I bet I can get her to rustle you up something delicious to eat.”
From the kitchen, Alice shouted over her shoulder. “I’m already on it. Come in here and take a seat.” She waved a spatula at them. “And I want to hear all about your life.”
“Yes, ma’am.” Jason smiled.
His arm draped around his son’s shoulder, they walked into the kitchen. What had he ever done to deserve Alice Sweet?
Chapter Seventeen – Epilogue
