Chapter Seven
Sara
Pete stares at me in the cold morning light. He’s still in sweats and a T-shirt from the night before. I’m getting the feeling he didn’t even notice we left last night. I think that might be a new low.
“I saw your text when I woke up this morning. What the hell? You just break up with me via message and take off in the middle of the night with our kid to stay at some random fucking dude’s house? How do you know this guy? Is he why you never wanted to have sex?”
I drag in a heavy breath and immediately wish I’d let Wade come out waving around his gun. For some reason I always give Pete more credit than he deserves and right now is a shining moment of that.
“I’ve known him for years. He’s a client from work. He happened to be driving by last night when I was getting in the car and I needed a place to stay.”
“You had a place to stay!” Pete barks. “In our house. Where we live.”
The wind whips sideways and I tuck Wade’s big coat up around my face. “I don’t live there anymore. I told you, we’re through. So… I don’t know why you’re here.”
“I’m here to get our son!” Pete’s gaze widens as though he’s about to start some shit. “You don’t get to drag him off in the night to some asshole’s house! He’s half mine!”
I roll my head to the side and stare at the guy I once loved enough to have a baby with. “I told you I’d contact a lawyer on Monday and set up a visitation schedule. I’m sorry if this is a shock to you but it’s been a long time coming.”
“So if I take off with him to some other woman’s house in the middle of the night, you wouldn’t show up there too?”
I drag in a deep breath as more pieces of reality drop into place. The part where there will be another woman in Jasper’s life someday, possibly multiple women. The part where even without Pete, I’m still going to be dealing with him.
“I expect that you’ll make good decisions with our son. You’re a smart man,” I lie.
He laughs and shakes his head. “Get Jasper and get your ass in the car. We’re going home. We’ll sort this out like we have everything else.”
“No,” I say, my nerves swelling as I know what comes next. “I’m not going back with you, and I think you’re too upset right now to take Jasper. You should go home, calm down, and—”
“And you’re the fucking police on what fucking mood I’m in?” He snarls out the words as he pulls his phone from his back pocket, but it’s no more than reached before I hear the front door open.
“Get your fucking hands where I can see ‘em.” Wade’s tone is low and sharp as he steps down the stairs, gun drawn.
I’m not sure how dramatic all this is, but it seems to shake Pete, and at this point, I’m not sure what else to do.
“Ahh,” Pete laughs nervously, “you’re the fucking hero hillbilly, saving this poor broken woman. Let me tell you… whatever she’s said isn’t the whole story. Trust me. You’ll see soon enough.”
Wade leans into my ear. “Jasper’s watching cartoons and playing with the cat. Why don’t you go inside with him. I’ve got this.”
I should go inside with my son. There’s no reasoning out here with Pete. There never has been. Once he gets to this place, he’s unreasonable, and sadly, he gets here more often than not.
Nodding toward Wade, I glance back at Pete. “We’ll talk to the lawyer on Monday about visitation. I’m sorry things didn’t work out between us.” He doesn’t deserve kindness, but he also isn’t worth an argument.
I make it to the mudroom, one eye on Jasper who’s absorbed in the newest episode of Puppy Heroes, and the other eye on Wade and Pete.
I hate that Wade is handling this for me.
I’m not the kind of girl that puts a man in front of her like a shield.
Then again, if I were out there with Pete right now, he’d have me backed into a corner reminding me how this is all my fault.
That, or he’d have physically put me in the car.
With Wade out there, the conversation is going much differently.
It’s not until I hear him say Jasper’s name that I step back out onto the porch. “Did you just say what I think you said?”
“Yeah,” he barks, face dark red. “You want to start a new life without me, do it. Take him. Have your little country fantasy out here with this redneck. You’re both a fucking pain in the ass, anyway.”
Wade hauls back and punches him square in the jaw.
“You piece of fuckin’ shit. You don’t even know what you have.
” There’s a moment of silence like maybe he’s trying to reconcile his thoughts.
Ultimately, Wade’s boots crunch across the gravel, he picks up the man I was once engaged to, and tosses him into the car with a grunt.
“Get the fuck off my property and don’t come back or I’ll show you a fuckin’ redneck. ”
My stomach aches. Not for me, but for my son. I can’t imagine what that would do to a boy to hear his father reject him. I rush into the house, figuring I’ll find him in tears. “Hey, bud. You okay?”
No answer. He’s glued to Puppy Heroes. It looks like they just saved a cat from a tree with some kind of magic blue force field.
“Bud,” I say again, but he’s got that zoned-out look folks get when they’re completely absorbed in something.
A second later, Wade’s hand is on my shoulder. “Honey,” he pulls me into his chest, holding me close and warm, “you’re doing the right thing.”
“I know,” I whisper. “I knew it the second you showed up last night. And even if this thing with us… doesn’t work out, I’m still thankful for your help—”
“This is going to work out. You’re mine. Jasper is mine.” He lifts my chin until our eyes meet. “This farm, this land, this life, me… if you’ll have it, it’s yours.”
I smile as I stare at him. “And what happens when you realize I really am a pain in the ass?”
He smiles back and shakes his head. “That man is fuckin’ crazy. He had a gorgeous, kindhearted woman and the cutest fuckin’ boy I’ve ever seen. Still, his ego was more important than all of it.” He kisses my forehead. “You’re not a pain in the ass. I promise.”
“How do you know that? You’ve never lived with me before. I could be super needy.”
“Honey, I told you this last night and I’ll tell you it again and again for as long as you need to hear it.
You’re not needy. You’ve just been asking the wrong man.
I’ll gladly do the things he wouldn’t and I’ll do ‘em with a smile.” He kisses the tip of my nose, and I rest my head against his chest.
“Mom,” Jasper tugs at my shirt and stares up at me, his television show over, “can I go out to the barn with Wade again? He said I had to ask you if I could ride the ponies. I told him you’d say yes, but he wanted me to ask anyway.”
I glance up at Wade and smile before looking back at my son. “Yeah, honey. You can ride the ponies.”
Someday, I know Jasper will have questions about where his father went or how life with Wade came to be.
But right now, I’m going to live in the moment.
Right now, I’m going to go out back, jump on a horse, and have fun in front of a big red barn like we’re finally home, because I think maybe, we are.