by Liz Isaacson
That I’m still dealing with, he thought.
“But maybe we can try again.”
Silence came through the line, and Ames held his breath. She was going to say she didn’t want to see him. And then what would he do?
The same thing you’ve been doing the last six months, he told himself. You’ll be fine. At the same time, an alarm wailed in his mind, screaming that he wouldn’t really be fine.
“You can come to the park,” she said. “But honestly Ames, I’m not sure anything has changed. Whatever you were dealing with, I think you’re still dealing with. And I’m still not willing to relocate from Coral Canyon.”
“You’re in Texas right now,” Ames said.
“Temporarily,” she said. “I’m going to be a nanny for Wyatt and Marcy in the summers, while they’re in Wyoming.”
“Every summer?”
“Yes, I hope so,” she said. “I’ve always wanted to work with kids, and this allows me to do that. I’ll get to keep my job at the lodge and do something a little bit different than I’ve been doing.”
“Do you like it?”
“Yes—well I’ve only been doing it for two weeks,” she said. “But yes, I like it. Their kids are great. They’re great. And they live close to the lodge.”
“Is it a full-time position?”
“No,” she said. “Only a few hours each day, with a couple hours on the weekends. I have Sundays and Wednesdays off. Marcy said she’d love for me to stay with her when Wyatt travels.”
“He’s still traveling?”
“Yes. Sometimes,” Sophia said. She called to one of the boys, and Ames knew he needed to get off the phone. He still had to call his mother, and he had to be back by two so he could assure Colton he was alive and well.
“I’ll let you go,” he said, and the call ended.
He didn’t want his older brother to know about Sophia, or this new conversation. Colton had asked him about her several times since the phone call at Christmastime.
He thought about Sophia every day, at least once, sometimes more than that. There was a lot of time for a man to think while he was working on a ranch. He liked the quiet time between just him, and the sky around him, and the Lord. It allowed him a few minutes to reflect, where he could find the truth about things, and about himself.
“A lot of good it’s done you,” he muttered, picking up his phone again. He still didn’t know what to do with his life.
But the idea of training police dogs lingered, as did the very hopeful possibility that he could rekindle a relationship with Sophia. His phone rang again, and this time his mom answered with, “Ames, dear, how are you?”
She sounded positive and upbeat, and Ames took that to mean that Grams hadn’t died yet, and things were going well on the farm with the man that Gray hired to care for it during the summer.
“Good enough,” Ames said, deciding on the spot not to tell her about nailing his thumb to the wall. She’d only worry, and she’d find out soon enough anyway.
Everyone we’ll find out soon enough anyway. Before he knew it, he’d be the one they were all laughing at. He deserved it too, because who nailed their thumb to the wall?
He chuckled a little bit and said, “I’m doing great, Mom. How are things on the farm?” as he stood up and headed for the front door. He could connect this call to the Bluetooth in his truck and have it while he drove to the Founders River Park.
Chapter Five
Sophia laughed as the two dogs wrestled with each other about thirty yards away. She had her hands full keeping her eye on them, throwing them a ball, and making sure the four-year-old and two-year-old she was in charge of didn’t get hurt, lost, or too muddy.
Marcy was pretty laid back when it came to mud and blood and all of that. She claimed she had to be with three boys under the age of four. Sophia had been staying with her and Wyatt for two weeks, and she knew the definition of flexible now.
Sometimes Warren would eat breakfast just fine. Other mornings, he seemed to have woken up on the wrong side of the bed, and no matter what Marcy put in front of him, he wouldn’t eat it.
Cole had an affinity for sugar, and Sophia had caught him eating the powdered gelatin from the pantry. His hands and face, chin and neck, had been bright green. She could still see Marcy shaking her head and saying, “Yeah, that one will sniff out sugar like a bloodhound. The Jell-O goes in the top cabinet,” as if little boys getting Jell-O boxes and eating the powder was normal.
Sophia had quickly learned that the boys did not eat at any time except when Marcy or Wyatt deemed it mealtime. Otherwise, they were stinkers at mealtimes, and no one could enjoy their food.
She loved them with a fierceness she didn’t understand, though. So when Cole got out of the lazy stream and started toddling up the bank, she said, “Come get a drink, baby.”
He did what she said, and Sophia held the water bottle for him while she dug a couple of beef training treats out of her pocket for Winston and Willow, one of whom had brought the ball back for her to throw again.
“Hungry,” Cole said, and Sophia smiled at him.
“Yeah, it’s almost time for lunch,” she told him. She scanned the grass beyond where they were playing, reached for the ball when she didn’t see Ames or his big, black truck anywhere, and tossed it again for the dogs.
They both took off after it, and Sophia enjoyed watching to see which one would end up with it. If it bounced just right, Willow could leap into the air and catch it. Winston was faster than her, but he wasn’t as coordinated, and he sometimes bobbled the ball when he tried to catch it, which opened the door for Willow to steal it from him.
Winston got it this time, and Sophia called, “Good catch, Winsty,” as if the dog cared that she’d been watching. Warren and Cole cared. Besides being told they were hungry, the boys’ favorite words for Sophia were, “Watch me, Sophia. Watch me.”
They were the cutest boys on the planet, so she had no problem watching them. Warren had definitely inherited more of his mother’s fair features, while Cole had a dominant Walker gene in his blood. He was Wyatt’s twin, and Marcy said they had the same rebellious streak and tendency to cause trouble.
Sophia had never seen Wyatt Walker cause trouble, but when the Walker family got together…Sophia couldn’t look away. She couldn’t hear afterward either, that was for sure. They were a fun-loving group, with a lot of children, more on the way, and dozens of dogs and horses—some of the miniature variety.
Warren especially loved his grandfather’s miniature horses, and Sophia had been down to Gideon Walker’s little farm at least three times in the two weeks she’d been in Three Rivers.
“Hey,” a man said, and her heart leapt into the back of her throat.
She spun around to find Ames Hammond standing there, just as tall, just as dark, and just as delicious as he’d always been. “Hey,” she repeated back to him.
He didn’t smile at her, which set Sophia’s nerves on edge. She reminded herself that Ames could come across a bit cold. She pictured him holding his hand to his chest, and that he was just a human. A mighty fine specimen of a male human, but a human nonetheless. When he got cut, he bled red just like everyone else.
Winston and Willow came trotting back to Sophia, and they got Ames to crack a smile. The foster dog she’d had last fall had loved him too, and she watched as Ames bent down to give the canines a quick pat.
“Let me round up the boys, and we’ll go over to the food truck,” she said, turning away from him.
“Okay,” he said. “Can I ask you something first?”
She turned back to him, not willing to give him the easy way out by looking somewhere else. She had plenty to dominate her attention too, but she kept her gaze leveled on him. “Okay.”
“Would you go to Cy’s wedding with me?”
Sophia blinked at him, surprise rendering her mute for a moment. “With you?”
“Yeah.” He bent and picked up the slobbery ball.
“You
use this,” she said, handing him the throwing stick. “Then you don’t have to touch that.” She eyed the gross ball. “And I’m already going to the wedding.” Her best friend was getting married, for crying out loud. “I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”
“Right, I know,” he said, throwing the ball for the dogs again. “Oh, wow. Look at them go after that thing.”
Sophia did, and joy filled her when Willow leapt and caught it above Winston, who didn’t seem to know where the ball even was.
Ames laughed, the sound rich and full. “Did you see that?”
“I’ve seen it,” Sophia said, trying not to show how impressed she was. She took a few steps toward the river. “Come on, Warren. We’re going to go get hamburgers now.”
“Hungry,” Cole said again, and Sophia swept him up and into her arms.
“Yes, baby,” she said, smiling at him. “I’m hungry too. We’ll get you a cheeseburger, okay?”
Cole smiled and pressed one of his chubby cheeks right against hers. Love filled her for this boy, and she was well-aware of the weight of Ames’s eyes as he watched the exchange. Warren came running up the bank to the grass, soaked from the waist down.
“Good thing is so hot today,” she said when she saw him. “You’ll have to see if you can get a bit dry before we get in the car. Your dad won’t be happy if you get in soaking wet.”
“Okay,” Warren said. “Can I get a cwili cweese dog?”
Sophia grinned at him and bent to pick up her bag while still balancing Cole on her hip. She now kept everything under the sun in it, from a pair of nail clippers, to Band-Aids, to a portable charger for her phone. “Do they have chili cheese dogs at the hamburger truck?”
“I don’t know,” Warren said.
“Let’s go find out,” Sophia said. She glanced up to look for the dogs, yelling at them to come back. They did, and Ames grabbed the ball with the throwing stick.
“I have their leashes in my purse,” she said, turning toward him so her purse was within his grasp. He only dug around for a moment before finding them, and he clipped the leashes to the dog’s collars and fell into step beside her.
“So is that a no on the date to the wedding thing?”
She glanced up at him, not truly allowing herself to meet his eye. “I’m already going to be there. I’m the Maid of Honor.”
“Okay,” he said.
“You know she’s my best friend, right?”
“Yeah, and he’s my twin,” Ames said, a flash of his attitude rearing its head. “I just thought it would be nice to go together.”
She heard more than he said, something she’d always been very good at when it came to Ames. What he was really saying was that if he had a date, he’d have somewhere to belong. Someone to belong to, among a crowd of people who already had a place to be and someone to be with.
For some reason, though, her annoyance with him kept her from readily accepting his invitation to be his date to his twin’s wedding.
Not for some reason, she thought. He ghosted you at Christmas, and he still wouldn’t be talking to you if you hadn’t rescued him in the drugstore last night.
She kept all of that to herself, though, because there was no need to drag it all out into the open. The feeling of helplessness she’d felt last holiday season still stung, and she still felt it keenly. He didn’t just get a free pass on that because he’d “been dealing with some things.”
What things? she’d wanted to throw back to him on the phone. She had experience giving Ames’s bad boy attitude right back to him, and it usually didn’t go in her favor. He was extremely intelligent, and incredibly well-spoken, and before she knew it, she was the one who’d done something wrong by questioning the mighty Ames Hammond.
Sophia was surprised at the bitterness coursing through her, because she didn’t normally hold on to friendships anyway. She’d moved a lot growing up, and she’d learned how to fit in, how to make new friends, and how to let go of old ones easily. If she hadn’t, she wouldn’t have survived her teen years.
Those years were also why she steadfastly wanted to remain in Coral Canyon. She had connections there. Real friends she didn’t want to lose. It had gotten harder and harder to say goodbye, and if she stayed in Coral Canyon, she didn’t have to use that word.
They arrived at the food truck, and Sophia took a few seconds to study the menu board. “You’re in luck, Warren,” she said. “They have chili cheese dogs.”
The little boy cheered and asked her to read him what they had to drink. When she got to lemonade, he said, “That, Sophia. I want lemonade.”
“All right,” she said, stepping up to place their order.
Ames crowded in beside her as she finished and said, “This is all together. I’ll have the double bacon cheese with sweet potato fries. And another lemonade.”
“You don’t need to pay for our lunch,” she said. “Marcy gives me money for that.”
“I have plenty of money,” Ames said, almost out of the corner of his mouth.
“You’re kidding,” she said dryly, and she walked away, because she didn’t want to argue with him in public. She’d said he could come to the park, but now she wished she’d told him she didn’t want to see him anymore.
Then you’d be bitter and a liar, she thought.
Ames finished paying and stepped over to where she waited with the boys and the dogs. The big cypress trees in this park provided a lot of shade, and it was needed on these hot summer days.
“I’m sorry about Christmas,” he said. “I know you’re still mad at me, and I’m sorry. If I could go back in time and call you, I would.”
She looked at him again, studying that handsome face. He wore anxiousness in his eyes today, and he hadn’t shaved that morning. “Would you really?”
“Yes,” he said.
“What things were you dealing with?”
He looked away, and Sophia nearly scoffed at him. She pulled the sound back down her throat and waited for him to explain. “You’ve met my brothers,” he said. “That alone should give me a pass for at least a month.”
Sophia let her smile come out, but she shook her head. “Nope. But nice try.”
Ames grinned too. “How about if I told you you were the only one who knew I’d quit my job? Well, I did tell Gray a couple of days before Christmas. Everyone else found out literally moments before you called me. I was stressed.”
“You didn’t tell them you quit your job?”
He shook his head. “Didn’t seem relevant.”
“You didn’t think your brothers and parents would want to know you quit your job? That wasn’t relevant to you?”
“They’re always giving me advice,” he said. “I don’t need their advice.”
Of course he didn’t. Ames Hammond knew all. “And now you’re here in Texas. How did that happen?”
Ames gritted his teeth, which made his jaw jut out on the sides. She told herself that she was allowed to ask him questions. He was the one who’d come to the park to see her.
“Felt like the right thing to do,” he said.
“Okay, no,” Sophia said, having heard enough. “I’ve heard that from you so many times, and it’s hardly ever true.” She adjusted the shoulder strap on her bag so it wasn’t digging into her collarbone. “If you’re not going to at least tell me the truth, I’ve changed my mind. I don’t want you here at the park with me.”
Of all things, Ames grinned at her. “There’s the Sophia I know.”
“Don’t do that either,” she said. “You don’t know me.”
Surprise crossed his expression. “I don’t?”
“Coming to my cabin and eating my food for two weeks doesn’t count,” she said. “And besides, Ames, that was nine months ago. Nine. You don’t think I’ve changed in nine months?” Exasperation filled her, and thankfully, the kid in the truck called her name.
“Food’s ready, guys,” she announced to the little boys. “Let’s find a patch of grass to sit on while Ame
s picks it up.” She didn’t look at him to confirm, but he went to get the food.
She pulled a small blanket out of her bag and spread it on the ground several feet away from the main activities surrounding the food truck. Ames brought over their burgers and hot dogs, and with the boys eating happily, Sophia dared to look at the cowboy billionaire who’d shown up in her life again.
“I came to Three Rivers to get away from Denver,” he said. “That’s the truth.”
“Why’d you need to get away from Denver?” He’d told her he felt a responsibility to be the Hammond that stayed in Colorado. It was where generations of Hammonds had been born and raised and lived. And yet, she’d found him bleeding in a drugstore in Texas.
“Everything felt stale,” he said. “I was stale. I was…nothing.” His voice quieted to the point that she could barely hear the last word he said. “I wanted something new. A fresh start, in a fresh place.”
“How long have you been here?”
“A couple of months,” he said. “Five or six weeks, actually.”
“Not long,” she said.
“Not long,” he repeated. He took a bite of his burger and then another. After swallowing, he said. “I came to join the police force, but they put a hiring freeze on a week or so before I was set to come.” He looked out across the park, his thoughts clearly somewhere else. “I came anyway.”
“Hmm.”
“I came to find myself,” he said quietly. “For a while there, I thought I’d just be happy if I could find a girlfriend. Maybe someone I could fall in love with and start a future together with. But…I don’t know.”
“Sure, you do,” she said, repeating something he’d said to her in her cabin in Coral Canyon. He was good at seeing when someone was hiding something, which had made him an extraordinary cop.
His eyes met hers, and she nodded at him, hoping to encourage him. “What I thought I wanted wasn't really what I wanted.”
“So that’s why you didn’t call. You didn’t want a girlfriend anymore.”
“I want...all of that,” he said slowly. “I do. I just want to know that I’m in the right place for it. I need to be ready for the girlfriend and the wife and the family. And I wasn’t.” He finished his bacon burger and wadded up the wrapper. “Again, I’m sorry I didn’t call or text.”
