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One of Nate’s hands moves from my knee to my shoulder. I love that it’s his hands soothing me right now. I wipe my eyes, then look at him, his face just inches from mine. We look into each other’s eyes, and I want nothing more than to kiss him.
“Mom? Nate?” Noah’s voice pipes up, and we both turn to look at him, now sitting up on the couch.
“Hey, buddy,” Nate says, moving closer to him and placing a hand on Noah’s leg. “How are you feeling?”
“Scared. But I’m happy you saved me. Thank you.”
“You’re welcome,” Nate says, and once again, watching him comfort my little boy makes my heart burst.
“You’re my hero,” Noah tells him, then he sits up and wraps his little arms around Nate. As they embrace, I look over at Mom sitting in her recliner again, dabbing her eyes with a tissue.
“I was just doing my job,” Nate tells Noah. “You’re really the hero today. You alerted me to where you were, and I was able to find you. You saved yourself, Noah. Don’t forget that, okay? You’re a hero, too.”
His words trigger my tears again. He’s so kind to Noah, and I’m glad my son has him as a positive male role model in his life.
But Nate doesn’t live here. He won’t be a role model in Noah’s life for very long. Realization hits that Nate will probably need to return to San Diego soon now that Jarred has been caught.
Just when I think nothing else can make me cry more today, thinking of Nate leaving does.
* * *
Nate stays and has dinner with us. Neither Noah nor I have much of an appetite, but Mom makes chicken noodle soup, and we try to eat. It’s nice to have Nate stick around. I’ve avoided asking him when he has to leave town because I don’t want to know. I assume it’s soon, though.
After dinner, Noah asks if we can watch Star Wars. His request surprises me, considering our earlier conversation, but I think it must be a way for him to heal. Noah asks Nate to stay and watch it with us, so he does. The three of us sit on the couch, with Noah in the middle. It warms my heart when Noah settles into Nate’s side, and Nate puts his arm around him. They cuddle through the rest of the movie, and by the time the credits roll, Noah is asleep.
Nate looks at me as if he doesn’t know what to do.
“I can move him,” I whisper and start to get up to do so, but Nate puts his hand out.
“No, no, you don’t need to move him yet. Let him sleep. I can stay a little longer.”
“Okay.” I sit back down.
Mom, not being a huge Star Wars fan, had already excused herself to go watch TV in her room, so Nate and I are essentially alone. I hit the power button on the remote to turn off the TV, leaving us in complete silence.
“Shawna, I want you to know I care for you and Noah a lot.” He speaks quietly to avoid waking Noah. “I’ll always be here for you guys, but I do have to leave for San Diego tomorrow.”
“I had a feeling.” My heart breaks at the thought of him not being here. I want to spend more time with him and have more nights like this. I want things to go back to the way they were before he had to leave the last time.
Nate’s eyebrows knit in, and he swallows hard. “When Rob figured out Jarred was on his way to Seattle, we rushed to get back here. I knew you and Noah might be in danger, but I had no idea what Jarred was capable of doing when it came to you two. I was so scared when I couldn’t find you this morning—”
“Wait, you were looking for me this morning?” This is news to me. I thought he and Rob had just tracked Jarred to his mom’s house and happened to find us there, too.
He nods. “Yeah. We got into town last night, but it was late, so I didn’t want to disturb you guys. We drove over here, though, so I could make sure things looked okay at your house. They did, so we left.”
Shocked by this revelation, I’m speechless.
“This morning, I went to The Cellar to find you,” he continues, “but you weren’t there. One of your cooks said it was unusual for you not to be there, and I just knew—”
“How did you know where to find us?” I interrupt again. I want to know more about how today’s events unfolded on his end.
“Well, Rob showed up at the house and saw the car and minivan parked in the driveway…”
“Yeah, the minivan cut me off as I was driving Noah to school, which is how I slid off the road.”
“We’re guessing that Jarred was watching you so he knew when you left, then alerted his dad to when he could pull out in front of you,” he explains, and it makes sense. Jarred had to have known when we left the house in order to know when we’d drive down the road and could be cut off. He must’ve followed us so he’d be there when it all happened.
Nate tells me the rest of what happened on his end this morning. It all makes sense to me now, and I’m even more grateful that he and his team were there. I look at Noah, tucked into his hero’s side, asleep. He’s going to be sad when he finds out Nate has to leave tomorrow. Maybe even more sad than me.
