IT WAS A quarter after seven when Tony parked in front of the farmhouse. Sabrina met him on the porch.
“Levi just got up.” She looked down at her feet. “He was up half the night going through old pictures.”
“Going through your treasure box again?” He already knew his picture was in there. Did the box still hold the things he’d given her? “I hope he’s hungry. Abuela’s been cooking all morning.”
She blushed. “Do they hate me?”
The worry in her eyes pulled at his heart. “No. They don’t understand why you didn’t come to them for help, but they don’t hate you.”
“What about the children’s home? Don’t you go there every morning?”
“Usually, but I haven’t been back since I got home from the hospital.” His life used to revolve around spending extra hours at St. Paul’s with kids. Funny. He hadn’t thought of it once in the last week.
“I better get going. I have a lot to do today, so I’ll see you after two.”
Levi joined them on the porch.
“Bye, Levi. I’ll pick you up this afternoon. Be good.” She threw him a sharp glance.
He rolled his eyes. “Mom.”
His insides twitched as Sabrina drove away. He was alone with his son. He walked to his SUV and waited for Levi.
Levi opened the passenger door and climbed in. “I still can’t believe I have great-grandparents.”
The boy was desperate for a family. Just like he’d been at that age. “Yes. And they’re dying to meet you. Ready?”
He slammed the door shut. “Let’s go. What’s for breakfast?”
“I’m not sure. Did you think of any more questions for me? I know I have a lot for you.”
Levi shrugged. “I don’t want to make you mad.”
Tony’s heart wrenched. When he was a child, his mother had paraded dozens of men in and out of their lives. Occasionally, she’d bring home one that seemed smarter, nicer, better than the rest. If he was good enough, maybe the guy would stay and his mother wouldn’t be so unhappy all the time. It never happened. Sooner or later they all left. His mother blamed it on him. No one wanted to be saddled with a rotten kid like him.
He started the engine and turned to Levi. “Don’t ever be afraid of that. You can tell me anything. You can ask me anything. I’m not going to be mad at you. As a matter of fact, I couldn’t sleep last night worrying that you’re mad at me.”
Levi wrinkled his nose. “That’s funny. Why would I be mad at you?”
He headed down the bumpy dirt road. “Because I haven’t been there for you and your mom. It’s okay to be a little mad at me.”
“I guess I was a little mad at you.”
Tony shot him a sideways glance. “Just a little?”
The boy shrugged. “Maybe a lot. But Grandpa told me it wasn’t your fault.”
Robert had defended him? Miracles did happen. “If I’d known, I would’ve been there. I hope you know that.”
“My mom really messed things up, didn’t she?” A trace of anger laced his words.
“Don’t be too upset with her. She only did it because she loves you so much. She’s a really great woman.”
“Do you still love my mom?” Behind Levi’s question, Tony saw a glimmer of hope in his eyes.
“She is the first and only woman I’ve ever loved.” He couldn’t deny it. He didn’t want to. “I think the question is, do you think she could ever love me again?”
“She’s pretty stubborn.” Levi scrunched his face.
“That she is.” Tony parked the SUV. Abuela waved from the porch. He glanced at Levi, who was fiddling with his seat belt, his eyes darting all around. “Don’t be nervous.”
“I’m not.”
“You look nervous.” Who could blame him? So was he. “Whenever I get nervous, I just say a prayer.”
Levi gave him a sheepish grin. “I already did.”
Tony’s chest swelled. Leaning over to him, he whispered, “I said about fifty of them last night before dinner and fifty more this morning.”
“You were nervous about seeing me?” Levi laughed, his body relaxing a little.
“Are you kidding? I’ve never been a dad before. This is the scariest thing I’ve ever done.”
More giggles.
He opened the door. “Let’s go eat.”
Throughout breakfast, Tony tried not to stare. He couldn’t believe that Levi was his. Did they share anything besides looks? Would he have anything in common with his son?
Between Abuela hovering over him and Papa asking questions, Tony was afraid Levi would be overwhelmed. But Levi laughed and talked with them like he’d known them his entire life. He giggled when Abuela spoke to him in Spanish and she taught him some phrases he picked up right away.
The conversation continued nonstop and Tony found it hard to get a word in. When Abuela got up to refill their juice glasses, he seized his opportunity. “Did you get to go to Spring Ho?”
“Yeah.” Levi’s face lit up. “We went to the parade on Saturday and Grandpa took me to the carnival for a little while afterward.”
“Didn’t your mom go with you?”
Levi shook his head. “No. She met some friends from Houston for dinner, so Grandpa took me.”
Friends from Houston? Was one of them Craig? Jealousy wasn’t something he’d ever been prone to. He didn’t like it.
Later that afternoon, he watched Papa teaching Levi to whittle and his heart swelled. He felt...content. The reasons to stay in Salt Creek kept racking up.
It was getting close to time for Sabrina to pick Levi up and Tony dreaded it already. He hadn’t had enough time. What was he going to do when his medical leave was over?
His cell phone rang. “Hello?”
“Hey,” Sabrina said. “I’m going to be stuck at Little Mountain for a few minutes and Levi has chores to do. Would you mind taking him home and I’ll be there as soon as I can?”
Tony grinned. More time. “What’s going on? I can swing by there if you need me to.”
“That’s okay. I forgot where I left the key to the filing cabinet and Karen can’t find it. I’ll probably remember as soon as I retrace my steps, though.”
“All right. Levi and I will see you at home.”
“Thanks.” The line went dead.
Just the sound of her voice made him buzz with electricity. The reasons for staying were definitely adding up.
* * *
ALL THE WAY HOME, Sabrina worried. Was she doing the right thing? Maybe she shouldn’t have let Levi spend the day with Tony so soon. He needed more time to adjust. Twice last night she’d picked up the phone to call him and tell him not to come. But Levi was so excited she didn’t have the heart to.
A tiny part of her felt betrayed. Levi shouldn’t be so eager to accept Tony. Wasn’t he angry that he’d been absent for his entire life? No. He was just thrilled that he had a dad. Parking her car, she hung her head. Shame on her. She’d raised a good, fair child who was willing to give Tony the benefit of the doubt. Willing to give him a chance. It was more than she could say for herself.
Tony’s SUV was parked next to the shed. She took a deep breath. Time to see how their day had been. Laughter greeted her as she strolled to the door.
“Uno,” Levi told Tony, and the two of them laughed.
With her hip leaning against the front door, she watched them interact. Levi seemed more relaxed than he had during dinner last night, but there was still a part of him that he held back.
Levi laid down his last card and erupted in a fit of giggles. Tony tossed his cards on the table and grinned at her. “You should’ve warned me he cheats.”
Don’t smile back. Don’t do it. The corners of her mouth betrayed her. Giving in, she shrugged. “I wouldn’t play checkers with him, either, if I were you.”
Tony stood up and pushed his chair in. “Thanks for the tip. I guess I better go.”
“See ya later.” Levi dismissed him with a wave of his hand, swept the cards up into a pile and carried them to his room.
Disappointment flickered across Tony’s face as he watched Levi go.
“He’s not really the huggy type, if that’s what you were expecting.” She folded her arms.
His eyes tightened. “I’m not really sure what I was expecting.” He rubbed his palms together. “Uh...thanks for letting us hang out. Can we do it again tomorrow? You work every morning, don’t you?”
“Not tomorrow morning. I have a meeting in Lampasas at nine, so I have the day off. You can pick him up on Wednesday, though.”
“Oh, okay.” Tony didn’t try to hide his disappointment. “I guess I’ll see you then.”
She followed him outside to his SUV. “How did it go this morning with your grandparents?”
“That could be a problem.”
She whipped her head around to face him. “Why?”
He made a show of glancing at the door to see if Levi was listening. Leaning close to her, he whispered, “He’s still young enough to spoil. They’re going a little nuts.”
“When you say ‘going nuts,’ what does that mean, exactly?”
The dimple deepened as he gave her a mischievous grin. “I hope you have room for a lot of boxes.”
“Boxes?”
“Birthday presents. Christmas presents.” He held up his hands. “I want it on the record that it wasn’t me.”
She pulled her long hair over one shoulder and combed her fingers through it. “It’s not Christmas. Or his birthday.”
“No. But they want to make up for the nine they’ve missed.”
“What?” She lifted her eyebrows. “You can’t be serious.”
He took a step closer, his hand stroking the hair she was playing with. “You’ve always had the softest hair.”
Shivers danced down her spine. “Stop changing the subject. You can’t let them buy him nine, no, eighteen gifts. Where would we put it all?”
His deep laugh resounded through the night air. “I’ll try to rein them in. But I can’t make any promises.”
“I’m used to that.” She clamped her hand over her mouth. “I’m sorry. Knee-jerk reaction.”
The flicker of pain in his eyes was like a kick to her gut. She reached out with one hand and squeezed his biceps. “I didn’t mean it. I don’t why it came out like that.”
“Yes, you did.” He covered her hand with his and gave it a gentle squeeze. “It’s okay. You’re right. I always avoided making promises. But I’ll make you one now.”
He lifted the hair from her neck and leaned close. His warm breath tickled her neck, his mouth inches from her ear. “I’m not leaving Levi. Or you. I promise.”
She shuddered. He pulled away, his hand still buried in her hair, cupping the back of her head. The air froze in her lungs. The gold flecks in his hazel eyes seemed to glitter as he stared into hers. “I promise,” he repeated and climbed into his vehicle.
It took several minutes for her to get her heart rate back under control. Why did she let him affect her like that? She sat down on the leather couch. What was she going to do? It would’ve been so much easier on her heart if he could just be angry with her. She kept his son from him for ten years. Be mad. Be unapologetic. Not understanding. And sweet. She let out a puff of air. She was in big trouble.
His grandparents weren’t really going to bring boxes of stuff over. Were they? She groaned. Boxes. Years ago, she’d boxed up all her mother’s things and stacked them in her room. Now they were piled against the wall. Before going to bed each night, she’d promised herself that she would go through at least one box.
Levi ran to the barn to do his evening chores and she settled herself on the floor of her room, determined to put away the contents of at least one box.
“Mom, I’m hungry.” Levi appeared a while later at her door. “When will Grandpa be home?”
Her stomach growled in response and she glanced at the window. It was dark outside. She’d been so engrossed in her task, she hadn’t noticed how late it was. Boxes and their contents were scattered over the floor like the lily pads in Dad’s stock pond. Stepping over the piles she followed Levi to the kitchen.
“He went fishing with Ray. He won’t be back until tomorrow night.” She scanned the contents of the refrigerator. “Did you feed the chickens and the goat?”
Thank goodness she didn’t have to worry about the cattle. Mr. Morgan ran some stock in the pastures with Dad’s. In return for the use of the land, he fed the cattle and checked the water in the troughs and ponds when Dad was gone.
After dinner, Levi disappeared into his room without offering to help her with the dishes. She’d just put the dishes away when the ringing of the telephone startled her.
“Hi. Sorry to call so late.” Tony’s smooth baritone voice flowed across the line.
“It’s okay.” Why was he calling?
He cleared his throat. “I wondered if I could take you both to breakfast tomorrow morning.”
“I don’t think that’s such a good idea.” She wasn’t ready to spend time alone with him. Especially in Salt Creek. The gossip mill would have a field day with it.
Almost as if he read her mind, he said, “Since you’re going to Lampasas, anyway, I thought we might go Gene’s.”
Her grip on the phone tightened. He remembered. How was she supposed to keep him at arm’s length when he kept doing things to tug at her heart? She chewed on her bottom lip.
“We can ride together, and Levi and I can go to the river walk or something while you’re at your meeting.”
Warning bells went off in her head. No. Just say no. “What time?”
“Pick you up around seven thirty?”
“Okay. See you in the morning.” She hung up and tried to settle the butterflies in her stomach. There were good reasons to say yes. Monitoring the conversation between Tony and Levi. Saving gas money. Sure. That was why she said yes.
She flipped the lights off and headed for her bedroom. Pausing at her bookshelf, she looked for something to read. Once again, she had a feeling that sleep wouldn’t come for a long time.
* * *
TONY ARRIVED A little after seven. Before he could knock, the door swung open and Levi came barreling out. “Ooph,” he huffed as the boy ran into him.
“Oh. Sorry.” Levi gave Tony a sheepish grin. “I didn’t see you. I gotta go feed the chickens.”
Levi tore past the gate and ran toward the barn. Tony turned his attention back to the house. Should he go in? Wait on the porch? He hesitated for a split second before knocking. No answer. No sound came from inside, so he turned and followed Levi’s path to the barn.
Levi was scooping corn from a barrel with a can. Tony leaned on the fence. “Can I help?”
“No, thanks.” Levi headed for the chicken coop on the other side of the barnyard. “I already fed the pigs and the goat. Mom usually feeds the chickens, but she’s still trying to decide what to wear.”
Tony didn’t miss the boy’s tone of dismay. “Does she do that a lot?”
“Never.” Levi opened the gate to the yard for the chickens, leaving it propped open with a rock. Chickens mobbed him, pecking at the corn as fast as he could scatter it. Dropping the can back into the feed barrel, he let the lid slam shut. Levi’s eyes narrowed as he looked Tony up and down. “She’s been acting weird all morning.”
Tony’s heart jumped. Could she be as nervous about spending the day together, too? Women didn’t spend inordinate amounts of time getting ready for someone they hated. “Should we go find her?”
Levi shrugged and walked ahead of him. “What’re we gonna do while Mom is talking to the college lady?”
College lady? Tony hadn’t asked her about her meeting. Was she trying to finish school? He turned his attention back to Levi. “I know you like to fish. We could go to the river.”
“Sure. I hope it’s better than Grandpa’s tank.” He nodded at the stock pond toward the back of the property. “I haven’t caught anything yet.”
They were loading Levi’s pole in the trunk of his Durango when Sabrina came out of the house. “What are y’all doing?”
Tony almost slammed his hand in the trunk. He couldn’t help but stare. Her yellow sundress rippled around her slender legs as she headed for them. The light summer breeze blew a strand of her long blond hair across her face. She tossed it back with a flick of her wrist.
“Loading my fishing pole.” Levi walked around to the passenger side of the car. He paused as he opened the door. “We going?”
Tony exchanged looks with Sabrina. “Ready?”
“Sure.”
The sweet scent of honeysuckle filled the air as she brushed past him. Every nerve in his body sprang to life and he fought the urge to pull her into his arms. He reached out to touch her hand. The way Sabrina stiffened doused him like a bucket of cold water.
She stepped back, breaking the contact and replacing the impenetrable wall around her. Dropping his hand, he gave her the space she needed. “We better get going.”
Sabrina didn’t speak much on the ride to Lampasas, letting Levi fill the silence with chatter. By the time they arrived at the small café in the town square, Tony had fallen into an easy rhythm with the boy. He was surprised at how many things they had in common. Music. Sports. They even liked the same colors.
An elderly couple stood just inside the doorway to the small restaurant, and Tony lingered with the door open to allow the pair to go out. By the time he was able to close the door, Sabrina and Levi were already seated. In a booth. On the same side. He sighed.
Levi picked the conversation back up. “Bradley said Salt Creek has its own festival that’s even better than Spring Ho.”
Sabrina played with her napkin. “The Harvest Festival takes place at the end of September. It may have changed, but when I was a kid, it didn’t have a carnival. It was mostly vegetables and animals.”
“Animals? Like dogs and cats?” He perked up.
“No. Farm animals. Sheep, steer and lots of pigs. It’s where a lot of kids get their animals for the livestock show.”
“What’s a livestock show?”
Tony bit his lip to suppress his smile. Levi had been raised in the city, just like he’d been. “Kids across the county spend months raising farm animals. The stock show is like a contest to see who’s done the best job.”
“They judge you for feeding a farm animal?” Levi’s voice raised an octave. “Maybe I should be in it. I feed Grandpa’s pigs and goat every day.”
This time, Tony couldn’t hold in his chuckle. “It’s a little more complicated than that. Not only do they feed the animal, but they work with it every day to get it to do what they want. Some of the animals, like steers and sheep, have to hold still a long time so the judges can check them. It takes a lot of practice to teach the animals to do that.”
Sabrina glanced up from the menu. “You also have to keep a log every day on how much you feed them and how much they weigh. Sometimes you even have to take their temperature.”
Her eyes caught Tony’s and they both stifled a grin. He gave Levi a pat on the arm. “Whatever you do, don’t ever let your mom talk you into helping her with that.”
She leaned over to her son and whispered, “Don’t listen to him, Levi. It’s not my fault Tony didn’t know how to check Daisy’s temperature.”
“Daisy?” Tony snorted. “You mean Killer.”
Levi gave Tony a confused look. Four coffee cups sat upside down on their saucers on the back edge of the table. He slid one of the cups toward Sabrina and then one toward himself, flipping them right side up so the waitress could fill them.
Sabrina laughed again. “Levi, in case you didn’t know, in order to take an animal’s temperature, you have to insert the thermometer in their rear end.”
“And, by the way, sheep don’t much like getting their temperature taken.” Tony gave Sabrina a mock glare. “I had hoof prints on my chest for two weeks.”
“It kicked you?” Levi was fascinated.
Sabrina broke into another fit of giggles. “Kicked him. Butted him. Ran over him a few times. Sheep, one. Tony, zero.”
Tony was struck with an overwhelming desire to run his fingers through her silky hair. His gaze lingered on her lips. “I almost forgot what a cute giggle you have. It’s nice to hear it again. Even if it was at my own expense.”
Levi made a face. “You showed animals, Mom?”
“Sheep and pigs. Dad wouldn’t let me have a steer. He thought they were too much work.”
He leaned back in the seat and tapped one finger on his chin. “Do you think I could try?”
“What kind of animal would you want to show?” Tony ignored the glare from Sabrina. “It’s a big commitment. You’d have to take care of it every day.”
Levi lifted his chin. “I can do it.”
“Maybe you should check with your mother before you decide anything.” Sarcasm laced Sabrina’s words. Her eyes never left Tony as she spoke. “I don’t think Tony is the best one to talk to about commitment, anyway. He never raised show animals.”
Tony winced at the subtle dig. “No. I didn’t raise animals when I was a kid.” He returned Sabrina’s stare. “I didn’t really understand how commitment worked then. Now I do.”
She shifted in her seat, but continued to hold his gaze. He held it as long as he could before turning his attention back to the window. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see her staring at him.