AllFreeNovel
Share Us
TWENTY-ONE
It was evening the following day when he pulled his rental car up outside his childhood home again. It was much warmer in Georgia than it had been in Wyoming, but Sunny still felt chilled inside. Alone with his thoughts for the last twenty-four hours he still wasn’t sure this was the right thing to do.
He’d run over every conceivable scenario in his head. There was only one that made sense. It was time for him to leave the ranch. Harper and Ford were right. The child deserved the best shot, no matter who the father was. And right now, that was Laura staying in Ranger Valley with a support system. Hell, maybe it was for the best. He could go to school. He had his G.I. bill money he could use. He’d never go to medical school now. People did it, but Rafe no longer had that much drive. But maybe he had enough to be…he finally let himself think it in his conscious thoughts…a physician assistant?
Sunny shook his head. They were thoughts for tomorrow. He’d somehow made it onto the porch. The light was still on inside, but he knocked anyway. It took several long minutes for the door to open and he had to bite back a gasp when it did.
It was his mother who answered the door, but not his mother as he’d ever seen her.
“Mama?”
Her gaze was unsteady, and she reeked of alcohol. “Rayford?” she asked and then laughed bitterly. “You’re too late, he’s dead.”
Sunny blinked at the woman in front of him. “What are you doing, Mama?”
She snorted. “What’s it look like I’m doing? I’m grieving your daddy!” she said and then held up a glass of some amber liquid in mock salute.
“Let’s go inside, Mama,” Rafe said, and taking her arm and steering her into the living room. He looked around in horror. It appeared that his mother hadn’t done anything to the house at all since his father had died.
In the living room he sat his mother on the sofa before going to the kitchen. It was even worse here. The remnants of what looked like an army’s worth of casseroles was rotting on the counters. He shuddered and found some disposable cups in the cupboard. Filling them both with water since he had no idea what might be growing in the refrigerator, he took them back to his mother who had finished the glass of alcohol and was staring vacantly at the wall.
“I brought you a glass of water, Mama,” he said. It took several seconds for her to look back at him.
When she finally did, there was a hardness in her eyes he’d never seen before. “What do you want, Rayford? There’s nothing left here.”
“You still have the house, Mama. I know you’re grieving, but—”
“Grieving!” she shrieked at him. “That cheating bastard? No way. When that boy,” she hissed, “showed up on our doorstep your daddy was so proud. All I heard for his last three weeks was Ford this and Ford that. And of course all about his mother who was obviously a much better mother because look how Ford turned out. As though you were some kind of dirty mistake.”
Sunny swallowed hard. “Mama—”
“I don’t want to hear it, Rayford. You were right all along. That man never deserved having you for a son.” She stopped and looked him in the eye for the first time since he’d walked in the door. “You’re a good boy, Rayford. Smart, charming, and so damn sweet it near broke my heart. And I let him drive you away,” she bit out, her voice full of venom.
What was there to say? It was nice to hear those things, even if it was a lifetime too late. He paused. Was there such a thing as too late, though? He grabbed her hand and squeezed it.
“I’m here now, Mama.”
Her eyes were bright with unshed tears. “Why? Go back to your ranch. There’s nothing here for you.”
He took a deep breath, suddenly needing his mother to tell him everything would be alright even though he felt so torn up about everything with Laura. “Mama, I got a girl pregnant.”
She blinked at him for a moment then the tears in her eyes spilled over. “Oh, Rayford, you’re such a good man. You’ll make a great daddy…” She paused trailing off and then cleared her throat. “I hope someday you can forgive me enough to let me meet your little one.”
“I probably won’t be around either,” he said, his heart heavy.
His mother jerked back. “What the hell do you mean? Of course you will! You’re ten times the man your father ever was. Even if you don’t love that little one’s mama, the son I know would never turn his back on his child.”
The lump in his throat made the next words hard to get out, but he managed it. “I don’t know if I can be a good dad, Mama. What if I turn out like him?”
His mother’s eyes softened, and one hand came up to cup his cheek. “Rayford, you have never been anything like your father. If I didn’t know for a fact I never cheated on him, I would say there was no way he could be your daddy, but he was. I don’t know if I’ve ever met a man with more conviction and determination about him than you. If you want to be a good father, you will be.”
She said it with such simple faith that he felt tears in his own eyes. He didn’t try to blink them away when they started to fall, and he leaned in to hug his mother for the first time in years. They stayed like that for several minutes before she pulled away.
“Well, I think you have some things to talk over with the mother of your child, Rayford. You best be on your way,” she said, her voice thick and hoarse. She looked away when she said it.
He hesitated for a moment and then gripped the top of both her arms and made her turn to look at him.
“Come to Ranger Valley with me, Mama. I can build us a home there. You could be there to help with your grandchild.”
