Rugged Cowboy: A Grumpy Sunshine Western Romance

Chapter 21

Wade never thought Viv would leave, especially not without talking to him. But it had been two weeks—two of the most miserable weeks of his life, and that included the weeks after his parents had died. Back then, he had been in shock, numb from the situation, and everyone around him had shoved him into a little box, kept him away from everything. Sure, he’d known what was going on. No one wanted to take him in and he had no family, at least until Uncle Daniel and Aunt Sarah had showed up. He had never met them and they dragged him back to Montana and threw him into a whole new world. But he’d been a kid, not really understanding everything.

Now, he was an adult and her leaving gutted him like nothing else. She hadn’t called, emailed, anything. Clearly she’d decided he wasn’t worth fighting for, so it was over. If only he understood what the fuck had happened.

Festus lifted his head from the couch, where he’d been sulking since the day Viv had left. He gave a low bark and his tail thumped once on the cushions. A knock sounded on the door, soft, so it wasn’t Mike or one of the hands.

He opened it to see Aunt Sarah on the porch holding a basket of what smelled like blueberry muffins, her signature comfort food.“Aunt Sarah, I didn’t expect to see you this early.”

She cocked her head and studied him.“Well, you haven’t come for dinner in weeks, so I had to drag my weary old bones all the way to check on you. You look like hell, Wade. Invite me in for a cup of that coffee.”

“You hate coffee,” he commented, closing the door behind her.

“Then heat some water for tea and pour yourself a fresh cup. I want to visit with my son.”

Wade glanced at the door.“Mike is coming?”

She made a distressed sound, and he turned back to see her watching him sadly from the table.“No, sweetie. I meant you. Sit down. We need to talk.”

He sat as she bustled around his small kitchen, putting on a kettle for hot water and pouring him another cup of coffee. Finally, she sat across from him with her own cup of tea and an untouched muffin in front of him.“You don’t like my muffins?”

He took a sip of the hot coffee to moisten his throat.“I’m waiting for you.”

“At least one of my children remembers their manners.” She folded her hands in front of her and watched him pick at the muffin.“Greta has been back two weeks, but she misses the baby. She’s considering going part-time.”

Wade swallowed his dry piece of muffin.“You should talk to Mike about this, not me.”

“Well, we’ll need to find someone else to run the center full-time and he already agrees with me about who we want to offer the position to. But we need you on board.”

He shrugged.“Why? Hire who you want. It won’t matter to me.”

She narrowed her gaze.“Even if it’s Viv?”

His mind blanked.“Why Viv?”

“Because she was brilliant at the job and she fit in here so well.”

He snorted.“So brilliant that she left as soon as she could.”

Sarah gave him a hard stare, her arms folded in front of her.“I believe you had a significant hand in that. She was brokenhearted when she left. I wanted to ask, but didn’t want to pry. But I’ve had enough. You’ve been walking around like a corpse since she left. What happened?”

He shrugged.“She had things to do. She didn’t want to stay.”

“Did you give her a reason to stay, or even hint that you love her?”

He focused his gaze on the table, and she sighed.“So that’s a no. Where did we go wrong, Wade? Why do you think you’re so unlovable that you’re afraid to open up to someone?”

He traced a finger over the whorls in the woodgrain on the table.“You took me in when you didn’t have to. Fed me, clothed me, educated me…”

“Loved you. Wade, we loved you from the minute you joined our family. All of us. Dammit, you’re just as much mine as Mike. There’s nothing I wouldn’t do for you. You idiot.”

She rounded and table and took his face in her hands, kissing him on the forehead, then one on each cheek, like she’d done for each of her children over the years.

“You’re mine,” she says again quietly.

Tears pricked his eyes, and he leaned into her soft, warm body. He wrapped his arms around her, clinging to her. “I’m sorry, Aunt Sarah. It’s me. I know I have issues. I need to work on them.”

She straightened and smoothed his hair.“Damn right you do. And the first thing you need to do is go to New York and bring my daughter-in-law back home where she belongs.”

He cleared his throat.“Yes, ma’am. I’ll leave on the first flight I can get.”

She laughed.“Mike already booked you one in a few hours. Get packed. He’ll drive you.”