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She heard the beating of his heart, felt the security of his hard, strong body against hers. Her arms wrapped around Chase’s neck and she sighed in contentment when he kissed the top of her head. “I’m just glad you’re back,” she whispered.

“Mom?” Cody stepped through the screen door and stopped dead in his tracks when he saw his mother and Chase. “Oh, no,” he whispered, starting to back out of the room and staring at Dani with accusing eyes.

Dani extracted herself from Chase’s embrace and followed her son to the porch. “What did you want?”

“Never mind,” he grumbled.

“Cody—”

“He’s the reason you don’t want Dad around, isn’t he?” he said, jerking his head in the direction of the house just as Chase came outside.

“Of course not—”

“Why don’t you just go away, mister,” Cody said, squinting up at Chase. “Instead of trying to be friends with me and coming on to my mom, why don’t you just go back to Caleb Johnson’s place where you belong? Or better yet, go to Idaho or wherever it is you come from!”

“Cody!”

But Cody didn’t bother listening. Instead he jumped on his ten-speed and rode the bike around the corner of the house and down the lane as fast as he could.

Dani started after him and got as far as the side of the house where her pickup was parked before Chase grabbed her arm and restrained her from running after the boy. “Let him go.”

“I can’t!”

“He needs to blow off some steam, work things out in his own mind,” he said. “Let him cool off. He’ll be back.”

Knowing in her heart that Chase was right, Dani looked despairingly down the drive to the rapidly disappearing image of her son. “It’s just so damned hard to let go.”

“I know.” Chase tugged at her arm. “Come on. Let’s go inside. I’ll buy you a cup of coffee.”

“I don’t think I could eat or drink anything,” she said.

“Try. For me.”

Once in the kitchen, Chase poured them each a cup of coffee and then, as Dani carried the cups outside, he followed with the red enamel pot.

They sat together in the quiet shade of the apple tree and watched the sheets billowing in the slight morning breeze.

“Feeling better?” Chase asked.

“A little,” she said, and then amended the statement. “Make that a lot.”

“I thought so. At least I hoped.”

The crown of her head was warm from the morning sun. A slight breeze cooled her skin and Chase’s presence gave Dani a sense of peace and contentment she’d been lacking in the past few days. If only Cody were here to share this blissful serenity, life would be perfect.

“He’ll be back,” Chase whispered.

“You’re sure?” Her smooth brow puckered with worry.

“I promise.” He touched the side of her face, caressed her cheek, and let his fingers tangle in the soft honey-colored strands of her hair.

“I could almost believe anything you told me,” she said with a dimpled smile.

“That’s encouraging. Listen.” Over the hum of insects and the whisper of the wind in the leaves overhead, the sound of a pickup as it turned into the drive caught Chase’s attention. “I’ll bet Cody ran into a friend who gave him a lift home.”

“I hope you’re right,” Dani said, standing and running to the front of the house only to have her soaring expectations dashed to the ground.

Blake.

Source: www.allfreenovel.com
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