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“Dad—I’ve got something to tell you.”
“Can it wait for a little while, sport? I haven’t had enough sleep.”
“But this is important.”
“I know you love Daken, but you’ll have to wait to play with him until after breakfast when I’m up and dressed.”
“Claire let me get in bed with her last night.”
That brought Vic to a sitting position in a hurry. He raked a hand through his hair. To his knowledge it had never happened before. His son had needed a mother’s comfort. “If you had a nightmare, you should have come to my room.”
“But you were in the den and the door was closed. You told me that when it’s closed, I’m not supposed to go in because you’re doing Ranger business.”
Vic’s eyes closed tightly. “That was a dumb rule. You can always come in. I’m sorry.”
“That’s okay. She was nice and didn’t get mad or anything.”
Claire would never be anything but loving to his son. He’d never seen her behave any other way.
“Did she tell you a story to help you get to sleep?”
“No. I asked her if she loved you, and guess what?”
Adrenaline surged through his body. “What?”
“She said she did! She showed me a picture of you she took on her phone when you were asleep.”
“What?”
“It was really funny. You didn’t have your shoes on and Kit was sound asleep, too.”
Vic remembered that night all too well, but he didn’t know she’d pulled out her phone while he and Kit were unconscious.
“She said you’re a real superhero.”
“She did, huh?”
“Yeah. She says you’re the best Texas Ranger in the whole state.”
The words were gratifying to hear, but there was a whole lot of difference between loving someone, and being in love. Jeremy didn’t understand that distinction when it came to men and women.
“I bet if you told her you loved her, she’d stay with us.”
He sucked in his breath. “You think?”
“Yes. You love her, don’t you?”
“Yes. Everyone loves Claire.”
“I mean the way you loved Mom.”
Well, well. Maybe his boy understood a lot more than he’d given him credit for. “I think you’re asking too many questions. Let me get showered and we’ll talk later. Okay?”
No more sleep for him. The conversation with his son had him feeling wide awake. Later when he walked to the kitchen, he found everyone gone. Claire had left his breakfast on the stove.
Of course he knew where they were. He poured himself coffee and downed the eggs and bacon before heading for the barn. Before he reached it, he spotted three figures and a little horse out in the nearby pasture. Nate had already come over.
Vic stopped walking so he could take in the scene. Peals of laughter came from the boys as Daken followed them around. Like one of the kids, Claire sat in the green grass urging the horse to come to her. He yearned to get down in the grass with her and pull her into his arms.
