“I want to see the waterfall and show it to Momma,” my son went on, grabbing my full attention once again. He glanced over at the cabin, a small shudder shaking his tiny frame. “And we can stay in a cabin, but not that one,” he pointed at where he’d been held captive, “or we can stay at the lodge.”
“The lodge sounds nice,” I told him as he sat in the back of Rainey’s rig, his legs dangling over the side.
“Rainey said a celeb…” he huffed, frustrated, and looked to the doctor.
“Celebrity,” she told him, smiling. “Luna Vale owns the lodge,” she added, looking at me.
I wondered if that was where Harland would be if he took the job. It would be interesting to see how that one turned out and I had no doubt our ladies would keep an eye on that situation from afar, the romantic group of meddlers they were.
“I see, that’s very cool.” I looked at my son, and he met my eyes. “Luna is a singer, Champ.”
He smiled big, looking not at me now, but at Rainey once again. “My momma is a singer too. Even my daddy sings, and he is teaching me a song to sing with him to play at the wedding.”
Ruffling his hair, I laughed. “That was a secret, dude.”
Griffin covered his mouth with his hand for a second, then dropped it. “Oops, sorry.”
“A wedding, huh? That sounds exciting,” Rainey told him.
He nodded quickly. “Yup, they are already married but doing it again for everyone.”
All the guys chuckled.
“That’s nice,” she told him, but once again something akin to sadness lurked in her gaze. She was just good at covering up and brushing it off because the woman kept on going. Then she made a motion with her fingers as if zipping her lips. “And your secret is safe with me; I won’t tell anyone about your plans.”
“Thank you.” Griffin looked back at me. “Can we go see Mommy now, but come back for the waterfall?”
That was when it finally sunk in how peaceful the place could be under different circumstances, and I wondered why, having only lived a few hours away all my life, I’d never been to Teardrop Falls.
I could hear the big trees swaying a bit in the summer breeze, the birds' last tweets as they readied for bed, the frogs croaking, and the crickets chiming in. I could also hear the trickling sound of water somewhere.
“We definitely need to bring your mom back here,” I told him.
His smile brightened, but his eyes were beyond tired now. It was time to go, and we both needed to set our sights on Patience—sooner, rather than later.
“Thank you for coming out,” I told Rainey. “I really appreciate it, and you made Griffin feel comfortable. That means a lot.”
“You’re welcome. You guys have a safe trip back,” she told me, shaking the hand I extended to her. Then she looked at Griffin. “I look forward to seeing you again.”
Letting go of my hand, she placed hers gently on his arm.
“You can hug me if you want,” he told her.
“He’s a hugger,” Lyric said from beside me, smiling at his nephew.
Rainey leaned in and gave my son that hug. I heard her sigh and wondered if I’d ever know her story because I was sure there was one to be told. When she pulled back, she looked at him. “Hugs are good, right, little man?”
“Yup. My mom says they can make a lot of things better.”
“Your mom sounds like a smart lady,” she told him.
He nodded his head. “She’s super-duper smart.”
That got another bout of laughter from the men. I turned to Hayes and thrust out my hand. I’d worried about him coming around at all, but the dude was a good guy.
“Thanks for all your help.”
He shook my hand. “You bet. You take good care of your family and come back to see us,” he said.
