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“Sorry, but I couldn’t do that. There is no excuse for cheating. If you think you want someone else in your bed, then have enough respect for yourself and your partner to tell them and save them that embarrassment.”
Sawyer took a sip and then smiled softly. “Yeah. But that wasn’t my parents’ marriage. My father was on the road a lot. That didn’t give my mother an excuse to do what she did. One night, I went to stay with my friend and my father would be home the following night. I knew it was because my mother had plans. Deep down I knew what those plans were.”
“That’s horrible,” she said.
She couldn’t imagine knowing one of her parents was going to cheat on the other or how she’d handle that.
“It was. It is. But what was I going to do about it? The next day my mother picked me up at Dan’s and said my father had been in an accident the night before and was in the hospital. I thought it was driving his truck—his job—but it wasn’t. He’d come home early to surprise her, but he got the surprise.”
“I’m not sure I want to hear this but can guess.”
“Yep. There was another vehicle in the driveway and my father unlocked the door and walked right into the bedroom, saw my mother in bed with someone else. First thing he did was go to the safe and get his shotgun.”
Her jaw dropped. “Oh my God.”
“You’ve never heard this?”
“No,” she said. “No one would tell me. But you said your father is here with you and you moved here, so it’s not like he’s in jail, right?”
“He’s not. My mother tried to hold him back crying and pleading that she didn’t mean it. It gave the guy time to get out. My father got away and was chasing him in his truck. They were going like ninety and he lost control and crashed. I don’t even want to know what would have happened if he caught the guy. I’d like to think nothing and my father said he was only going to scare the guy.”
“Do you believe that?”
“Deep down, yeah. But emotions were heightened, so who knows? It never came about. He busted his leg up bad. A few weeks after the accident I came home from school one day and my father was on the couch and said my mother was gone. She moved in with the guy.”
“She just up and left and didn’t say anything to you?”
“Nope,” he said, drinking more of his beer. “I didn’t go see her for months. It was her birthday and I was at my grandparents' house, her parents, while my father was on the road. She showed up, we got into a fight. She had the asshole she was living with with her. I said there was no way I was going to his house to visit her. I didn’t even want to see her.”
“I don’t blame you. Do you talk to her at all now?”
“I haven’t in almost fifteen years. After we moved here I was forced to visit, but I refused to stay with her and whatever strange man she was living with. I stayed with my grandparents and saw her a few times that way. She never had time for me so why would I make it for her?”
Her hand reached out for his, their fingers threading together. “I don’t blame you at all.”
“I’m not sure why that made me go into law enforcement. I think it just had more to do with there is right and wrong in life. Legally and morally. I wanted to be on the right side.”
She took his beer out of his hand and put hers down too. They both leaned toward each other, their mouths touching. She just had to taste him.
For someone that never really felt much emotion in her life with a guy, the story Sawyer told her made her want to hold him.
She had a feeling he wouldn’t want that, but he’d probably appreciate a kiss.
Their mouths met. It wasn’t slow. Not one ounce of it.
Her mouth opened under his and when she was just ready to put her arms around him, Fred came running in and dove on the couch, nudged her out of the way and sat between the two of them, his big tongue hanging out.
“Guess we’ve got a chaperone right now,” he said.
She frowned. This had never happened before. “I’m not sure who he is watching out for. You or me.”
Sawyer laughed. “Then we’ll have to wait until next time to figure it out.”
7
So Close
“You finally made it,” James said when he walked into his partner’s house the next night. Sawyer would have rather stayed home, but if he didn’t show up he’d never hear the end of it.
