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“Yes, I’ve heard your side of it. We don’t need to go there again.”
She sighed. “Let’s have our dessert. Go on and call Sean in, and I’ll serve it up.”
Sean pronounced the dessert a success, and Sydney laughed as she wiped the chocolate off his cute little face.
“It’s getting about to be your bedtime, bud,” Sam said.
“No, I don’t wanna go.”
“Why doesn’t he spend the night here with you?” Sydney said.
“Now that’s a good idea. Would you like that, partner?”
“Eggs and hash browns in the morning?”
“Of course.”
“Then yeah! Can Sydney stay too?”
Sydney’s cheeks warmed. She’d like nothing better than to spend another night with Sam, but not with his little nephew in the house. It wouldn’t look right.
“Not this time, I’m afraid,” she said. “I need to be getting back to my hotel. I’m competing tomorrow.” She looked at Sam. “Aren’t you competing tomorrow?”
“I’ve decided not to,” he said.
“Really? Why not?”
“I’m moving here as soon as I get things settled at the ranch in Montana.”
“Moving here? Why?”
“Uncle Sam’s gonna live here with us,” Sean said.
“Zach offered me a job as ranch foreman along with a nice ownership interest. I couldn’t turn him down. Plus, I’ll get to see my sis and this little guy a lot more often.” He grabbed Sean and gave him a rough noogie.
Sean laughed, squirming. “Stop that!”
“What’s that have to do with not competing tomorrow?”
“I’m thirty-three years old. I’ve broken a few ribs over the years, strained a lot of muscles. I’m not the competitor I was ten years ago. It’s time to say goodbye to that life. I’ve got a chance to make a great living out here, and I want to focus on that.”
Sydney nodded. She couldn’t imagine giving up racing. Of course she was younger at twenty-four. But Dusty had given it up at twenty-three when she got pregnant with Sean.
She didn’t need to think about that. She wasn’t pregnant. Hadn’t been in a while. And she didn’t have a family to think about other than her parents and Duke, and they relied on her purse money.
But had she made the right choice? Maybe she should have stopped racing long ago and raised her son.
She’d been young, no doubt. But she’d also been selfish, and her selfishness was coming back to bite her in the butt. She’d made things much harder on her parents and Duke than she’d ever intended. And on Sam. And even on herself.
For a moment again, she imagined Sean as Duke and herself and Sam as the happily married parents.
Could it have happened then?
She sighed. She’d never know.
She stood. “As much as I hate to say goodbye, I have to be going. Thank you so much for dinner,” she said to Sam. Then, to Sean, “I had a great time hanging out with you. I hope we can do it again sometime.”
“Okay, as long as you bring chocolate.”
