“No, I’m not. Yes, I want to make you feel better but… Listen, for a solid week you’ve picked my kids up from school every day, fed them snacks, helped them with their homework, and swam with them. You’ve fed them dinner and come to their soccer games, where you take more pictures than I do. You’ve been more of a mother to them this past week than their own mother has been for the past five years.
Debbie pulled back, eyes wide. “Where is their mother?”
Austin wished he’d never mentioned Cheyenne.
He dropped his arms and stepped back. “Who knows? Spain? Italy?” He popped his knuckles. “She was too busy to visit last Christmas because she was cruising the French Riviera. And the year before that, she was in the Orient.”
“When was the last time the kids saw her?”
Austin hated to admit that the kids hadn’t seen their mother since the day she walked out on them. It wasn’t so much that it painted Cheyenne in a bad light, it showed what an idiot he was for sticking with her so long and putting his kids through the emotional roller coaster ride their life with Cheyenne had been.
“So, do you think Noah will be okay? I mean, has his mother recovered enough to take care of such an active little boy?”
Debbie gave a sad smile. “His grandma flew in from Georgia and is going to stay and help out for a while.” Debbie looked down at her fingernails. “I sent a little money with Gina, to help with the medical bills.”
A little money? Knowing Debbie, she probably gave Gina enough money to not only cover the medical bills but to also keep Noah clothed until he was eighteen. The thought brought a smile to his face.
“I told Gina to be sure to tell Noah’s mom that if she ever needed a break, I’d be happy to tend him.” Tears filled her eyes again, and she wrapped her arms around herself. “But she said it doesn’t work like that. It’s too upsetting for the kids to keep going back to the foster home, because then they think their mom doesn’t want them.”
Austin pulled her into his arms again. “I’m sorry, Debbie. I know how much he meant to you despite being such a busy little boy.”
Debbie buried her face against his neck as she wrapped her arms around his waist. “He was busy, but he was mine for a little while.”
Her warm breath caressed Austin’s neck, making his heart race like he’d just entered the Indie 500. His mouth dried up like the Sahara at the realization of how much he enjoyed holding her.
Austin didn’t plan to fall in love again for a very long time, and he definitely didn’t want to fall in love with a rich woman who had been married twice already. But he’d longed for a wife and a stable family life more in the past week than he had for the last five years.
Debbie finally loosened her hold and looked at him with tear-stained cheeks. “Sorry for being such a crybaby.”
“You have every right to be upset.” He held her tight with his left arm while he wiped away her tears with his right thumb.
Today, Debbie’s gorgeous blue eyes looked like a stormy sea. Full of a turmoil that broke his heart a little. His thumb lingered on her jaw as his gaze dropped to her lips. They reminded him of the dusty pink roses lining the walk of his parent’s home. The one place that had been a constant sanctuary in his life.
Debbie let out a soft sigh, and his head drifted lower. He didn’t want to kiss Debbie. Didn’t want to complicate their friendship. But he felt powerless to stop the pull her blue eyes and rosy lips had on him.
The front door opened and two men walked in.
“Are we finally building the gazeb—” The leaner and younger looking of the two auburn-haired men stopped talking at the sight of Debbie in Austin’s embrace.
Heat filled Austin’s face. He dropped his arms and stepped back, all thoughts of kissing Debbie gone.
Both men’s brows furrowed as they took in Debbie’s red eyes and tear-stained cheeks.
The one with the build of a linebacker balled his fists.
“You must be Debbie’s brothers.” Feeling anything but confident, Austin held out his hand to the brother he assumed was the oldest. “I’m Austin Reed. It’s nice to meet you.”
“Scott.”
Right, the mechanic-slash-linebacker took Austin’s hand.
Man, what a grip!
Austin resisted the urge to flinch and kept eye contact.
“Hi, I’m Rudy.” The younger brother offered his hand after Scott finally released Austin’s. “I work for the sheriff’s department.”
Was that Rudy’s way of saying I may not have as tight of a grip as my brother, but I have a gun?
