AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Paxton tore his gaze away from the horizon and looked at his brother and cousin. The two men really were grinning like the fool on the hill. His mind kicked over to Sandra Lynn twirling in the yard over a peach tree, and the corners of his mouth tipped up in a hard smile.
“See? Now you’re doing it.” Dale settled along the rail beside Paxton. “What are we talking about?”
“Women,” Adam answered at the same time that Owen muttered, “Wives.”
“Ah.” He looked to Paxton. “You thinking of getting hitched?”
Shaking his head vehemently, he waved his hand for emphasis. “No. Just… thinking.”
“Mm.” Dale stared off into the distance. “First time I spotted Hannah, I spooked her horse with my motorcycle. Once I saw the fire in her eyes, there was no getting her out of my mind.”
Again with the constantly on their mind thing. He resisted the urge to sigh. Paxton glanced over his shoulder as more of the couples were gathering on the porch. The family sure seemed to have an awful lot of happy couples. Then his gaze turned to the kids running around playing.
“Gotta get that energy out before bedtime.” Connor joined the group. He’d married a woman with a young daughter. Not that anyone watching his family would know she wasn’t his daughter. His cousin’s words had him thinking of David playing in the backyard with endless amounts of energy.
“Well.” Adam slapped Paxton on the back. “Just keep an eye out for a big gray dog and a woman, then you’ll know.”
Connor rolled his eyes. “I still remember when Gray knocked Grace over at Chase’s feed store. By then we were all believers.”
Paxton had heard the stories of the matchmaking dog, but by the time his brothers had moved here, Gray and his mate seemed to have settled down to ordinary ranch work. Then again, maybe a wise dog showing up to play matchmaker would make life easier. He chuckled softly to himself. Who was he kidding? He didn’t need a matchmaking dog to know that as much as he’d liked Sandra Lynn as a kid, as a man, he was way past smitten and on his way to falling—hard.
A small part of Sandra missed when her son was an adorable toddler, splashing around in the bathtub, giggling wildly over bath bubbles or bobbing rubber duckies. Another part of her was thrilled that he was old enough to play in the tub without her hovering over him. Worn out from working the shampoo station this morning and the construction site this afternoon, today was a day when she was more grateful for David’s growing independence. Tomorrow might be another story.
“You look awfully tired.” Her mother rinsed a dish and stuck it in the drying rack. “Maybe this construction work is too much for you?”
The same thought had crossed her mind, mostly when she’d reach for something and her back complained, or last week when she accidentally hammered her thumb instead of the nail, but if she asked to cut back on time, then she wouldn’t see as much of Paxton, and she really liked her time with Paxton. A whole lot. “No. It’s not too much.”
Throwing the dish towel over her shoulder, her mom turned off the running water. “Then if you’re not tired, why do you look so serious?”
“Just thinking, I guess.” She grabbed another rag and began drying the dishes.
Her mom spun back around and turned the water back on. “You know, everything will work out. It always does.”
“I know.”
Casting a sideways glance in Sandra’s direction, her mom sighed. “Doesn’t look that way. Tell me what it’s all about?”
She shrugged. “I suppose I thought by now my life would be different. A husband, siblings for David, my own house.”
“You are getting the house.”
That much was true, and she was so excited watching it come together. Neil even incorporated some of her ideas into the design so now there was a small linen closet for towels in each bathroom as well as a hall linen closet big enough for pillows and blankets. “I am happy about that, but I feel like time is running away from me.”
Her mother stopped rinsing and looked out the window at some unknown point. “I never thought I’d grow old without your father.” She turned around. “And don’t get me wrong, I miss him every day of the week, but I have a nice life now. It’s different than what I’d thought, but it’s a good life, and I’m happy.”
Feeling awful for not having been here for her parents, she wished she could do so many things differently. Moving to stand closer to her mom, she wrapped her in a hug. “I love you.”
“I love you, too.” Her mom kissed her cheek and turned back to the sink. “You’d better go check on your son before he shrivels into a prune.”
Bobbing her head, she gave her mom one more kiss on the cheek and turned on her heel toward the stairs.
“And one piece of advice,” her mom called out to her. “Don’t be afraid of change. You might be surprised at how happy you can be.”
Even though her mom didn’t come right out and mention Paxton, Sandra knew full well that was what the woman was referring to. Her parents had been high school sweethearts. If her father had said it once, he’d told her a hundred times that friendship was the strongest foundation for a happy life and marriage. She had to wonder if she and Ed had ever been friends or if she was simply so desperate to escape small-town life that she fell for the first guy who promised to whisk her away. Not that it mattered. Ed was her past, now she had to figure out her future.
David was still in the bathtub playing, happily unconcerned that his fingertips had shriveled like raisins. Deciding that a few more minutes of playtime wouldn’t hurt anyone, she sat on the floor, just enjoying watching him play. When she next glanced at her watch, several minutes had passed. “Okay, David. Time to get out.”
To her surprise, he didn’t ask for more time, he climbed out and stepped into the towel she held for him. Once he’d dried off, put on his pajamas and climbed into bed, he handed her his favorite story to read. “Mom?”
