Page 186 of Running to You

His little eyes missed nothing, flicking from her to Sam.

“You know how Jed was your pretend daddy?”

He spoke around his thumb. “Uh-huh.”

Sam’s eyes widened as his gaze moved from Levi to her and back. Was he nervous?

She was too, a little, but something told her not to wait, that this was the right time. “Do you want to know who your real daddy is?”

Levi blinked. The thumb came out of his mouth. He stared at her with wide eyes and nodded.

She tipped her head toward the man she loved. “Levi, meet Sam Wright.”

He sat up on her lap. Stared at Sam a long moment. Then he held his arms out.

Sam lifted him and held him close, breathing him in. Tears dripped from his eyes, but he didn’t seem to notice.

Levi held on, his little shoulders shaking. Then he backed up, put his tiny hands on his father’s face and studied him. “You’re not a pretend daddy?”

Sam shook his head. “I’m your father, Levi.” His voice cracked. “Your real father.”

“Are you mean like Jed?”

“I promise, I’ll never be like him.”

Levi nodded as if the words were an unbreakable vow. He looked at Eliza, and he smiled. “I like my real daddy.”

“Me, too,” she said. “Very much.”

Levi settled against Sam’s chest and stuck his thumb back in his mouth as if it were all settled.

She’d thought Levi would be happy, even curious. But this reaction… This was…

Another miracle.

CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE

Sam closed his laptop. He’d added the final touches to the deal he’d spent months putting together. Ernest had decided that changing horses mid-stream wasn’t the best idea. Or maybe he’d been convinced by the revised offer Sam had cajoled out of the buyers a week earlier.

If everything went according to plan, Sam would get it all wrapped up in the next week or so. And then…

And then nothing. At least not where work was concerned. Sure, there were clients clamoring to partner with him, but he’d put them off. He’d get back to that eventually, but…

“Daddy!” Levi skidded into his office in sock feet, fell down, popped back up, and launched himself into Sam’s arms.

“Hey, buddy. When did you get here?”

“Right now!”

Eliza stepped into the doorway, and Sam stood and tossed Levi over his shoulder as he approached her.

“Well, hello, little lady.” He leaned down and kissed her, speaking with a hokey cowboy accent. “Aren’t you just as pretty as a field of bluebells.”

Eliza laughed. “Goofball.”

“Bagged myself a big old deer. Maybe you can cook him up for me.”

Giggling, Levi pounded on his back with his little fists. “I’m not a deer, I’m your son.”