Chapter Thirteen
Amelia
I hold my breath, impatiently waiting for Colton to drive us to one of the cabins on the resort. Until I see my son with my own eyes and hold him in my arms, I won’t be able to exhale.
Colton reaches over and squeezes my leg, which hasn’t stopped bouncing since we got in the truck.
“He’s okay,” he reminds me. The same words his dad said on the phone, but I can’t believe it yet.
Unable to speak without my voice cracking, I nod.
As soon as we park next to the sheriff’s car, I jump out and rush to the door. It whips open, and I fall to my knees when I see Sam’s smiling face.
“Oh, thank goodness.” The air bursts out of my lungs when I pull him into my chest and wrap my arms tightly around his small body.
“Mom, too tight,” he grunts.
“Do you have any idea how scared I was?” I grip his shoulders, meeting his brown eyes. “I was so worried, Sam.”
He furrows his brows. “Why?”
The guests of the cabin and the sheriff stand behind him, watching us, looking as confused as I am.
When Mr. Langston explained that an older couple had found him near the river on their morning walk, he asked to use their bathroom, and they assumed he was also a resort guest. After bringing him back to the cabin, he mentioned he was hungry, so she made him breakfast.
“’Cause we didn’t know where you were and couldn’t find you,” Colton replies, kneeling beside me. “You can’t wander off without an adult or tellin’ your mom, remember?”
“I would’ve called the sheriff sooner, but he said his parents knew where he was,” the woman explains. “But when the description of the little boy was posted, I realized it was him.”
“Sam, why would you lie?” I ask. “You know you’re not supposed to go anywhere without permission.”
“But I did ask, and you said it was okay,” he tells me, furrowing his brows.
“What?” I straighten my spine. “When?”
“When you were in bed. I heard your phone ring, and then I walked in and asked you.”
“W-what did you ask me?”
“If I could go fishin’ by myself since Colt wasn’t awake.”
Glancing at Colton, I rack my brain for any memory of our conversation and come up blank.
“And what did I say?”
“You said sure! Then rolled over and went back to sleep.” He shrugs, innocently. “So I got ready and walked down to the river, but the canoe floated away before I could get in it.”
All that panic I had rolls through me once again at the what-ifs. What if he had managed to get inside and tipped over? What if he followed the canoe out to bring it back and went under when the water got too deep? What if someone bad had found him instead?
I’m so damn relieved none of those scenarios happened, but it doesn’t erase the fear of knowing it could have.
“Where did you go after?”
“Um…I took my fishin’ pole and walked to one of the docks instead,” he explains. “But I forgot worms.”
“Oh, okay.” I nod. “Then what?”
“I had to use the bathroom.”
“That’s when we found him,” the woman says. “We’d just left for a walk, and he asked if he could use ours. I figured he was too young to be wanderin’ out on his own, but he said he was livin’ here and was allowed to.”
Looks like we’re going to have yet another talk about stranger danger. And not asking me things when I’m in bed and barely awake.
The first three times my phone rang, I silenced it and fell back asleep. I’m not sure how much time passed between each call, but if he came in between one of those and me answering the fourth time, I would’ve been coming out of a deep sleep and wouldn’t have even remembered we had a conversation.
“I appreciate you takin’ such good care of him. Thank you.” I stand, gripping Sam’s hand.
“He was no trouble.” She grins sweetly. “We’ll be here for the next few days if he wants to come back.”
Considering he’ll be glued to my hip, that isn’t going to happen, but I smile appreciatively anyway.
I lead Sam to the truck and buckle him into the back seat while Colton talks to the sheriff.
“Am I in trouble, mommy?” Sam asks.
Brushing my hand over his cheek, I stare at him, overcome with love. “No, sweetie. But we’re gonna have a talk when we get back ’bout safety.”
“Okay.”
Colton meets me in the front seat and grins at Sam over his shoulder. “Good to go?”
“Yep!”
When he drives us toward his house, he reaches over and grabs my hand. I give it a squeeze before wrapping my other hand around ours. He was just as scared as I was, but handled it better than I did. He made sure I didn’t break down too long and stayed positive.
For not having kids of his own, he’s a good role model for mine.
The driveway is packed with vehicles, but he still finds a spot on the grass.
“It’s a full house,” he says, opening the back door. “Everyone’s been worried.”
“Why?” Sam asks, jumping out.
“’Cause no one knew where you were, buddy,” Colton reminds him. “We thought somethin’ bad happened.”
“Are you mad about the canoe? I didn’t mean to let it get away.”
“No, the canoe is replaceable. You aren’t.” Colton’s voice cracks.
“I can swim!” he exclaims proudly. “And I put on the life jacket just like you taught me.”
Colton scoops him up, squeezing gently. “Good job, kiddo. But next time, you go with an adult only, promise?”
“Okay!”
Colton sets him down, and we watch as Sam races up the stairs.
“I won’t let my family stay too long,” Colton says. “They just wanna see him.”
“It’s fine,” I assure him as we walk together. “He loves the attention.”
He snickers, opening the front door for me. “Sounds like a mini version of Wilder.”
“Auntie Raven!” Sam squeals, jumping into her arms.
“Sammy, I missed you!” She hugs him, rocking back and forth.
“Is that why you came to visit us?”
Raven’s eyes meet mine over his head, still confused about what happened.
We haven’t had the chance to properly update everyone.
“Yeah, I needed to see my favorite boy.”
The rest of Colton’s siblings swarm in on him, giving him hugs and kisses.
Bodie gives him a hard time for going fishing without him.
Bellamy playfully scolds him for being the reason she’s going to have gray hair before she’s thirty because she was so stressed about where he went.
Even Warren and Posey are here to check in on him.
If my nervous system wasn’t still skyrocketed and overloaded with emotion, I’d cry happy tears at how sweet they’re being to him. Lily loves the extra company, especially when they’re willing to play dolls with her.
In one week, the Langstons have taken us in as part of their family and shown us more love than my own ever has in the twenty years I lived at home.
Ever since Sam was a baby, I’ve tried to overcompensate to make up for the fact that he didn’t have a father or grandparents in his life.
When Lily’s dad and I didn’t work out, I felt even worse that I was failing him a second time.
But I’m realizing now that all those mistakes I made led us to Colton and his siblings, who welcomed us into their hearts unconditionally.
And I’m not sure how I’m going to leave them when it’s time to go home.