23. Sawyer
Sawyer
I watch Kevin pitch for what feels like the hundredth time, the ball hitting the hay bale hard. After working from the office this morning, I came back here to spend the afternoon with Annabelle and the boys.
It’s something I never really did in the city.
I never left the office early. If anything, I worked late almost every night.
But out here, I don’t want to be stuck in the office when I know I could be doing this.
To the surprise of everyone, including myself, I’m now here in Whispers most days.
My travels back to the city are reserved for quick trips to attend key meetings or to troubleshoot emergency issues that arise.
Every day keeps getting better than the last. Time with Annabelle is amazing.
The conversations we have, hanging out here at the farm, our mind-blowing sex, all of it makes me happier than I’ve ever been.
Now, while Annabelle’s inside with Noah, preparing dinner, I thought I would try to spend some time with Kevin.
If I want to be with Annabelle, I need to forge connections with her kids.
Noah is easy, the kid loves me. But Kevin, he’s a completely different can of worms. One I’ve been attempting to open little by little.
“Good shot. Why don’t you try repositioning your hands like this?
It will help if you ever want to throw a curveball.
” I grab the ball and show him the grip to take, and he concentrates on exactly that.
I ordered him a new mitt and a few new balls.
I got myself one too, and Noah, so that we can all play here on the farm.
It was an easy thing for me to do, but when I gave them to him, he looked like I gave him the moon and all the stars.
My heart actually hurt at how grateful he was. It brought us a little closer, I think.
“Okay.” He steps back, moving the ball in his grip and then throwing it. “Missed,” he mutters, frowning at his attempt.
“Not bad for your first try, and it’s a new ball. Go again.” I throw it back at him, realizing he’s his own worst critic.
He positions himself and gives it another go. This one lands similar to the first.
“Missed again,” he grumbles, kicking at the dirt.
“Keep trying, you’ll get it,” I encourage him.
“Noah! No!” I hear Annabelle scream from the house, and Kevin and I look up, seeing Noah running away at speed, straight down the hill.
“Noah!” Annabelle admonishes him as she rushes to follow him outside.
“Ahh, what’s going on?” I ask as Kevin and I stand next to each other, watching his little brother evade his mom’s grasp.
“He’s chasing the chickens,” Kevin says, starting to give chase.
“I’ll go,” I tell him, giving him a break, letting him stay and play while I help. Kevin looks at me with raised eyebrows.
“You practice; I’ll go get your brother,” I assure him, jogging off in the direction of the ruckus, but not before I see a small smile on Kevin’s face, one which holds what looks to be gratitude.
“Everything okay?” I ask Annabelle as I approach her side.
“No. Noah torments the chickens, and they hate being chased.”
“I’ll get him.” Pressing a quick kiss to her cheek, I run after him. “Noah!”
He looks at me with a cheeky grin, his eyes wide with excitement.
“Seesaw!” He giggles, and I can’t help but smile.
“Your ma said to stop chasing the chickens,” I warn him as I get closer, but he just takes off at speed.
“Catch me!” he shouts through a giggle, the cheeky kid faster than he should be. I run after him across the field, chickens all around him, making a hell of a lot of noise.
“Gotchu!” Nearly out of breath, I scoop him into my arms. He lets out a giggly screech, his small arms wrapping around my neck, and I laugh with him, the two of us panting as I start walking us back up the small hill to where Annabelle waits.
I look up at her, her wild hair blowing around her shoulders as she smiles.
I’ll never tire of how beautiful she is.
“You can’t go chasing the chickens… They don’t like that, buddy,” I tell him before I feel a little prick in my ankle and look down, startled.
“The chickens play chase!” Noah says in glee as I start to walk faster.
“They chase?” I ask him, wondering what the fuck is going on, just as another one starts pecking my shoes, and then another and another.
“Run!” Noah screams. I hold him tight and run, making a beeline for the stunning woman who’s now laughing at me and the fact that there is a flock of fucking psycho chickens chasing me, pecking at my shoes.
Noah’s giggling so much as he jiggles in my hold that I think he might wet himself.
Meanwhile, my fucking shoes are getting torn to shreds, my laces loosening more every time one of those fuckers comes close.
“You think this is funny?” I call out to Annabelle, who has now almost doubled over with laughter.
“Yes!” she shouts back, and I speed up.
“Ahhhh!” I jump from foot to foot as more and more chickens come to my feet. It looks like they are spawning in numbers, each of them pecking before they finally tire out and I get away from them. “How about I chase you, Mama!” I yell to her, a smirk spreading across my face.
She looks up at me in surprise before she shrieks and turns to run.
“Ma chasies!” Noah yells, still giggling, loving this game. I’m quick and get to her with ease, reaching out with my spare arm and wrapping it around her waist, hoisting her into the air and onto my body.
“Sawyer!” She laughs, her hair wild, her smile wide, her eyes glistening with happiness.
“I got you!” I run with them as best I can over to where Kevin is watching this spectacle unfold.
“Kev!” Noah wriggles from my grasp and runs to him, the two of them jumping on the hay bales and starting to climb them. Noah’s energy is never-ending.
“Did I save the day?” I ask Annabelle as I slowly lower her to her feet, the two of us out of breath from running and laughing so hard.
She hums, kissing my lips sweetly. “My real-life Superman.”
“Only for you, Lois.” I pull her into my side as we watch the boys play, and never once do I think about New York or the deals I need to make, my work now no longer front and center in my mind. It feels better than I could have ever imagined.
“Can I test my monster spray, Seesaw?” Noah asks me, and I grin.
He does this almost every night when I stay over, and I swear he just likes seeing glitter on my clothes.
But I don’t care, because tonight he asked me to tuck him in.
Usually, he sprays me, my shirt turns into a glitter paradise, and I leave Annabelle to take care of the rest. But his instructions tonight were explicit.
He wanted Seesaw, and I’m here to follow through.
“Sure, buddy, go for it.” I step back from him and throw my arms wide, offering him my chest. He aims his spray bottle and shoots, the water and glitter liquid coating my t-shirt, the nightly glitter spray now seemingly our thing.
So much so, I find glitter in my hair at work sometimes.
And every time, it only makes me miss this place more.
“See, it works.” I take the bottle from him and place it on his nightstand, tucking him in. My nights now look very fucking different. If anyone had told me that I would be tucking a toddler into bed instead of having a whiskey at the Polo Bar, I would have told them they were crazy.
Yet here I am.
“Night, buddy. See you in the morning.” I ruffle his hair before walking out of the room. Stepping carefully down the hall, I see Kevin also in his room, lying in bed reading.
“What are you reading?” I lean on his doorway, hearing Annabelle clattering in the kitchen, putting away the leftovers from dinner.
“Just a book on baseball.” He puts it down, looking at me.
“Why am I not surprised…” I grin at him. There’s only been one other kid I know who loves baseball as much as Kevin, and that was me.
“Sawyer, can I ask you something?” He sits up, suddenly serious, so I tentatively take a few steps into his room.
“Sure, anything.”
“Are you Ma’s boyfriend?”
I bite the inside of my cheek so I don’t chuckle. I want him to know I take his questions seriously.
“Would that be okay with you if I was?” I turn the question back to him. Annabelle and I haven’t talked about exclusivity, but I sure as hell am not spending time with anyone else, and I know she isn’t either.
“Yeah… I mean, you make her happy. She smiles more when you’re here, and she’s real pretty when she smiles.”
I swallow roughly, nodding in understanding. It’s a beautiful thing how much he loves his mom.
“Yeah, she sure is.” We had a great weekend all together. This whole thing is so domesticated and should feel completely foreign to me, yet it doesn’t. It feels right. “I miss her and you boys when I’m not here,” I tell him honestly.
“She misses you too,” he admits, and I nod again, knowing the connectedness we’re all starting to feel is becoming very real.
I clear my throat. “Okay. Must be lights out soon. Don’t stay up too late.”
He gives me a small smile and goes back to his book, and I slowly retreat, walking down the hall to the kitchen, where I find his mom just finished cleaning up.
“You need some help?”
She turns, looking at me with her wide smile, the one that temporarily disarms me every time.
“No, all done. Thanks for checking on the boys. Do you want to go sit on the porch? It’s a nice night.” As she steps closer, I don’t hesitate to grab her hand.
“Lead the way, Mama.” We walk out to the front, keeping the door ajar, and sit on her patio swing.
We relax in silence for a little bit. This swing is starting to feel like our own private time once the boys go to bed.
We’ve sat out here almost every night whenever I’m here.
My balcony at my penthouse in the city doesn’t have the same peaceful effect. I know. I’ve tried it.
“Kevin asked me if I was your boyfriend.”
She looks up at me in horror, and I laugh. “What did you say?”
“I asked if he would be okay with that, and he said he would be.”
Her lips turn into a small smile, her head resting on my shoulder.
Pressing a kiss to her head, I tell her, “Give me your feet.”
She leans over and shuffles a little, bringing her feet to my lap, and I squeeze the arches.
“That feels so good…” she moans, her head falling back, and I grin as I look up to the night sky.
“I know we haven’t talked too much about what we are or what we’re doing…” I look back at her and find her watching me. It’s so quiet out here, I can hear her breathing. The only other noises are the nearby crickets.
“Well, if you’re offering free foot massages, then I’ll be anything that you want me to be.”
That makes me chuckle. “That all it takes, huh? A foot massage?” I tease her.
“And the amazing orgasms you deliver… Can’t forget about those.”
I bark out a laugh. She’s softened around me.
When I first met her, joking like this wouldn’t have happened.
I was too wired and hustling with work, and she was too focused on what needed to happen for her and the boys to be safe and happy.
We both still have those things in our lives, but out here, in the peace of the night, with no one and nothing around us, all of that feels less and less important.
“I like this. I like being here.” I rub along her feet, one by one, releasing the tension. While I was at my desk for most of the morning, I know she’s been on her feet all day. This woman is a workhorse, there’s no doubt about it.
“I like having you here.”
“I mean, I could pass on the chickens with the foot fetish…”
“Sorry about that. Should’ve warned you.” She giggles, the sound hitting me straight in the chest. I take a deep breath, the cool, fresh air filling my lungs as my shoulders lower, my body fully relaxed, and my mind only on her.
“I never thought I would feel so at peace here in Whispers, here with you,” I say seriously.
“I never thought a city boy would turn up to my farm and feel like he was always meant to be here.”
We look at each other as my hand trails up her shins and back down.
“I guess it’s a surprise for both of us.” I lean my head back, getting more comfortable, wondering if this could be my life, if I could be the man she needs, the man I know I need to be.
My inbox is still overflowing, my cell continues to ring, but I’m no longer jumping at every call or rushing to every meeting.
Subconsciously, being in Whispers has made me step back from the grind, from the daily rush of corporate life, but I look at her and know, while the town is amazing, I’ve worked from different places before and never felt like this.
Like it’s okay to let go a bit, and it’s because of her.