Chapter 13
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
A WAY WITH THE LADIES
WESTON
When I come downstairs wearing a suit the morning of the funeral, Sadie stares at me in confusion.
“I should have made sure it was okay that I come to the funeral,” I say sheepishly, dragging my hand along the back of my neck.
“You’re going to the funeral?” she asks.
“I was planning on it. If it’s okay with you and your family.”
She swallows hard and nods. “That would be nice. Thank you.”
“Of course. I want to be there.”
She’s wearing a blue dress that matches her eyes and her long, dark hair falls down her back like a thick curtain. She looks beautiful. And exhausted.
“Did you get any sleep last night?” I ask.
She makes a face. “Not much. But thanks for taking Caleb. How did he do?”
“He actually had a little better night. Cried for a while when I took him from you at one and again at three, but not as long. We talked about a few things, took a stroll around the house…I think maybe he’s starting to get used to me.”
Her smile is faint and sad, but it’s there.
“He is,” she says.
“Can I drive you to the service?”
She hesitates for a second, and I’m certain she’ll say no.
“I’d like that, yes. I just need to get Caleb ready. My mom gave me a cute outfit for him to wear. Where is he?”
“I put the portable crib in the library.” I point at the baby monitor. “And every monitor on this level and upstairs is at the highest volume. If he takes a deep breath, we’ll hear it.”
Again, she smiles, but her heart isn’t into it. I honestly don’t know how she’s still standing here, looking so brave and strong when it’s obvious she’s suffering. A little sound comes from the baby monitor and her eyes light up. She takes a few quick sips of her coffee and grabs the prepared bottle, diaper, and outfit I didn’t notice until just now, and makes her way to the library.
The decent thing to do would be to turn off the monitor since she’s in there with him, but when I hear her talking to him, her voice quiet and singsongy, I can’t resist listening.
“Hi, sweet boy. You ready to eat? Come here and see me. I love you,” her voice breaks, and I can’t do it.
I turn the monitor off and text my sisters.
Hey. I love you guys.
Felicity
I love you too!
Olivia
Who is this?
Very funny.
Olivia
eye roll emoji Love you too, b-hole.
I groan and laugh under my breath. My parents wouldn’t let Olivia call me an asshole when we were kids, so she tried a-hole. No go. But for some reason when she pulled out b-hole, they thought that was the funniest thing. Naturally, it stuck. She’s been calling me this since I was nine and she was twelve.
I’m unsure if I should go help Sadie get Caleb ready or if she needs this time with him. I decide on the latter, and when she comes out with him half an hour later, he’s all dressed up in a grey sweater outfit, looking adorable.
“Look at the two of you.” I hold up my phone. “Can I take a picture?”
Her cheeks flush and she blinks. “Sure. Or you can just get some of him.”
“But you both look so great.”
She smiles down at him. “He does look so cute, doesn’t he? It’s the softest sweater, and he’s the perfect size. It’s like cuddling with a teddy bear.”
I snap a few pictures, pausing when she kisses his head, her eyes closing for a second like she’s breathing him in. And then I hurry to catch the moment, my heart thrumming in my chest.
I hear more about Sasha during the funeral than I have yet and feel like I have a better sense of who she was. Funny, compulsive, and a little bit reckless, caring, and stubborn. Her friends and family talk about her like they never knew what she was going to do next, but that she made them want to be along for the ride. I also hear about how crazy she was about Caleb, and that’s the part that nearly brings me to tears. I hate that Caleb will never know his mother.
Caleb is sitting with Sadie and her family, and I spend most of my time watching them. Caleb because since I found out he existed, I haven’t wanted him out of my sight, and Sadie to see how she’s reacting to all of this. She looks even thinner than she did when I met her a handful of days ago. I need to make sure she starts eating more.
When the service is over and Sadie sees that my parents and Felicity came, as well as the guys, she bursts into tears and hugs everyone. She reaches me last and the look in her eyes both surprises me and breaks my heart.
“Thank you,” she whispers.
Overcome with emotion myself, I just nod and reach out to hug her. As I do, I feel her take a deep breath and relax into me, and something almost as fierce as when I saw Caleb for the first time happens inside of me. I don’t know her well at all, but I want to take care of her. I want to protect her from pain and to be someone she can turn to. I want to trust her and for her to trust me in return.
A little bit shaken by the intensity of these feelings, I don’t know what to say when she finally pulls away. We could’ve been hugging for seconds or minutes, I don’t really know. Time sort of stood still for me.
I don’t know how to explain it, and I don’t feel the need to try. Both of us are in a fragile state, for different reasons, but the common root is our love for Caleb. That’s bound to put more gravity on any interaction I have with her.
I notice her hands are shaky when I let her go.
“I’ll ride with my parents to the cemetery,” she says, finally meeting my eyes again. “You don’t have to come to that. It’s just family, and they can bring me back to Silver Hills. Caleb too, if that’s okay.”
“Of course, it is. I don’t mind staying close and taking you both home though,” I say.
“Thank you. I think I’ll ride with them. You’re probably sick of seeing me cry by now and I have a feeling the cemetery is going to bring out the ugly cry.”
“I think you’re one of the strongest people I’ve ever met,” I tell her.
She stills, her gaze fixed on mine. When she blinks, the spell is broken and someone calls her name. She turns and lifts her hand to wave. I tear my eyes from her to see a good-looking guy walking toward her.
“Thanks, Weston,” she says, before walking away.
I go out to eat with Felicity and the guys, but my mind is a million miles away.
“You okay?” Felicity asks under her breath.
“Yeah, I’m sorry. I’m…distracted.”
“You worried about being away from Caleb?”
“I don’t like being away from him, but no. I trust that Sadie will bring him home tonight.”
“I like her. She seems straightforward and honest to me, despite the way she came into your life.” Felicity takes a drink of her Coke and turns to face me. “And she’s really hot.”
I roll my eyes. “I can’t believe you’re taking it there. The guys didn’t even do that after they had pizza with her the other night.” I was actually shocked that they didn’t. Rhodes flirted with her, but he flirts with everyone.
“Well, don’t tell me you haven’t noticed,” she says. “Are you going to be okay with her staying at your place? She is really attractive.”
“She’s all right,” I say.
Felicity snorts before I’ve even gotten the words all the way out.
“What, do you want to date her?” I tease.
“I’m a happily married woman, thank you very much. I just know you have a way with the ladies and unfortunately, as much as I’d love to see you settle down, you haven’t been in any hurry to.” She lifts an eyebrow at me.
“No argument there.” I hold my hands up.
“Is she really going to be okay with all the women you parade through your house?”
Felicity stayed with me for a few weeks after she graduated from college, so she thinks she knows all about my lifestyle.
I frown. “I’ve changed since you stayed with me. That was over a year ago. I didn’t like who I was becoming,” I admit. “And finding out I had a son and didn’t even know about it—that’s only underscored the fact that something needed to change.”
“That’s not on you, West. Sasha should’ve told you. But back to Sadie…are you interested in her?”
Felicity is like a dog on a hunt when she’s digging for information. She ended up not going to law school despite being accepted in all the top schools. She chose a different career path, and it’s suiting her well, but she can get to the bottom of the truth better than anyone I know.
“No, I’m not…interested in her.” That feeling I got when I hugged her comes back to me and I push it down. “I can’t be mad at her for Sasha’s choices. I want to get along with her. I want us to raise Caleb together and hope that we can develop some sort of friendship while we do that.”
Felicity leans in. “And she’s pretty.”
I groan. “Yes, she’s pretty, but so are a lot of women. It doesn’t mean I have to get in their pants.”
“Whose pants are you getting in?” Rhodes asks, perking up.
Shit. I thought they were deep in conversation over there, but when I look around, everyone is focused on me.
“No one’s pants. In fact, I’ve not been in anyone’s pants for longer than usual, and I’m okay with that. It’s been on purpose. And the subject is closed. My sister is right here and even if she weren’t, I don’t want to talk about it.”
“That’s usually when we need to talk about things the most,” Bowie says.
“Oh really.” I give him a droll look. “How about we talk about your dry spell then?”
Bowie glares at me and looks down at his plate.
“Thought so.” I chuckle and take a long swig of my water.
I glance at my watch for the hundredth time, wondering if Sadie is done at the cemetery yet. How is she holding up? What time will they be home? Should I have food waiting for her when she gets back?
I run my hands through my hair, exhausted by my thoughts.
“Why would you purposely go through a drought?” Rhodes asks, not willing to let the subject drop. “We need women to survive.”
“Maybe he was tired of the flooding,” Henley says, smirking. “He had so many women, he needed a break to dry out and get his house in order.”
“And it’s a good thing, because now there’s a beautiful woman in his house,” Bowie says, grinning before he takes a drink of his beer.
“Oh, I was hoping we’d talk about that,” Rhodes says, his full-wattage smile coming out.
“No, we’re not talking about that,” I say.
“But I really want to,” Rhodes says with a mock pout.
“Me too. I’d love to talk about that,” Penn chimes in.
“Too fucking bad.” I stand and toss my napkin on the table. “Thanks for coming out today. I think it really meant a lot to Sadie that you all were there.”
“Wait. Don’t forget this.” Rhodes holds up the blue notebook they’ve been writing in. It says The Single Dad Playbook in large block letters on the front. “I had to take it home to finish my entry. We’ll add to it when we meet again.”
“Thanks.” I take it from him and wave it slightly. “Can’t wait to see the nuggets of wisdom in this thing,” I tease, but I’m actually looking forward to seeing what they’ve come up with so far.
“You’re leaving?” Bowie asks. He gets up and squeezes my shoulder.
“Yeah, I need to get home.”
“He’s got a beautiful woman to get home to. I’d be rushing off too,” Rhodes says, laughing under his breath.
“We’re not going there,” I say, lifting my hand. “I don’t even see her that way.”
Bowie’s eyebrows lift.
“Really?” Rhodes says, looking thunderstruck. He leans over the table and whispers loudly, “She has curves for days, man. That ass in those jeans and her tits are the perfect?—”
I slam my hand down on the table.
“Enough,” I say a little too loudly.
I glance around, grateful that we’re in a little alcove to ourselves.
When I turn back to look at the table, I point at Rhodes. “Don’t talk about her like that.”
Rhodes looks satisfied.
“That’s what I thought,” he says, smirking.
I groan and get out of there.