A Family to Come Home To (Saddle Falls)

by De Vita, Sharon

  “Oh yeah, Mama. I forgot.” With a grin, Riley turned, prepared to dash back upstairs, but Hannah caught her arm.

  “Whoa, sweetheart.” Amusement lit Hannah’s face. Riley was obviously in a tizzy about something this morning, and she had a feeling it wasn’t over cleaning her room. “Where are you going in such a rush and why are you looking for your blue hair ribbons?” One eyebrow lifted. “Did you forget that today’s Sunday and on Sunday we clean our rooms and do our chores?”

  It was a day Hannah had always preserved as family day. No matter what was going on in her life, on Sunday she and Riley had a leisurely breakfast, then spent the morning doing chores. She’d make a big, traditional Sunday dinner and then the two of them would rent movies, make popcorn and settle down in front of the television for the evening. It was a private family time that they both eagerly looked forward to and savored.

  “I didn’t forget, Mama, honest.” Riley rubbed her nose with the back of her hand and shoved her slipping glasses up her nose. “I cleaned my room and did all my chores.” She grinned at Hannah’s skeptical look. “Honest.” Riley tugged at her tangled tights, trying unsuccessfully to straighten them. “I have to go, Mama.” Riley grinned at her, still tugging at her tights. “I don’t want to be late. I need my ribbons ’cuz I want to look pretty on my date.” With a grin, Riley dashed out of the room.

  “Date?” Hannah’s brow rose in amusement as she went after her daughter. “Sweetheart?” she called as she climbed the stairs. “Uh, is there something you need to tell me?”

  “Riley?” Hannah stood in the open doorway of her daughter’s bedroom. Her daughter had cleaned her room, if you called stuffing everything under the covers and the bed and into the nearest drawer, cleaning it. Every single new outfit and dress that they’d bought for Riley’s start of school was crumpled in a pile or strewn haphazardly across the bed. Shaking her head, Hannah tried not to grin. “I think perhaps we should have a little chat.”

  “But I’ll be late, Mama.” Solemn eyes looked up at her as Hannah sat down on Riley’s bed. “And that wouldn’t be polite. You always say it’s not polite to be late.”

  Did her daughter have to start reciting her mother’s wisdom back to her right now? Hannah wondered in amusement.

  “I think you can afford a minute or two, sweetheart.” She drew Riley close, nestling her between her knees and brushing her long hair out of her eyes. “Now, what’s all this about a date?”

  Riley beamed, fidgeting from one foot to another. “I have a date with Uncle Jesse.”

  “A date with Uncle Jesse?” Riley nodded as Hannah reached down and straightened the little girl’s tangled tights. “I see. And when did all this happen?”

  Riley frowned, then shrugged. “I dunno, Mama.” Lifting her head, Riley grinned, shoving her long hair back. “Uncle Jesse said that since I was a big girl now and had a two-wheeler and was gonna go to school, I could probably go on a date with him.”

  Hannah was struggling not to smile, warmed beyond belief by Jesse’s unwavering kindness. “He did, huh?”

  “Yep.” Riley’s head bobbed up and down and then the smile slid off her face. “I forgot to tell you, huh?” Riley said with a guilty look, making Hannah laugh.

  “That you did, sweetheart.” She pressed a kiss to her Riley’s forehead.

  “But I can go, huh, can’t I, Mama?” Riley pressed her hands to her mother’s cheeks, her eyes pleading. “Can’t I?”

  “Absolutely, sweetheart,” Hannah said, watching as her daughter’s shoulders drooped in relief. “So, exactly where are you and Uncle Jesse going?”

  Riley shrugged, then chewed her lip. “I don’t know.” She looked up at her mother earnestly, worry on her face. “I’ve never been on a date, Mama.” She grinned suddenly. “But Uncle Jesse said it would be fun.”

  Hannah laughed. “I’m sure it will be.” She glanced at the clock on Riley’s dresser. “Do you know what time Uncle Jesse is coming to pick you up?”

  Riley’s head bobbed furiously and she turned to look at the clock with a frown. “He said when the big hand was on the twelve and the little hand was on the eleven.”

  “Eleven this morning?” It was ten-thirty now, which would give her a half hour to help Riley get ready. “Well, sweetheart, I think it’s only fair that Mama help you get ready for your first date, don’t you?” Hannah stood up, taking her daughter’s hand, grateful it would be a few more years before she had to ready her for a real date. “Now, let’s find your blue hair ribbons.”

  “He’s here, Mama. He’s here.” Riley was standing with the front door wide open, her nose pressed against the screen, nearly bouncing out of her new patent-leather shoes. “Uncle Jesse’s here.”

  With a smile, Hannah closed her checkbook, satisfied it was balanced, and went to stand at the front door with her daughter. She couldn’t prevent the smile when she saw Jesse climb out of his car. He was carrying a small bouquet of multicolored wildflowers.

  “You’re here,” Riley cried, pushing open the front screen door and bolting down the porch steps to throw herself at Jesse. “It took forever,” she said, clinging as she gazed up at him.

  “I’m sorry, darlin’, but I had to make a few stops first.” He laid a hand to Riley’s head as his gaze drifted to Hannah. She was standing in the doorway, dressed in a pair of short shorts and a white cotton T-shirt. Her legs and feet were bare, and her hair was pulled up into a ponytail atop her head. She’d never looked more beautiful.

  “Uncle Jesse, I told Mama about our date.” Riley slid her hand into his and Hannah tried not to think about how right—how perfect—Jesse looked with her daughter. Or how happy her daughter looked with him. The thought brought a little pang to her heart.

  “You did?” Jesse went down on his knees so he was eye level with her. “Well, darlin’, since I didn’t want your mama feeling bad because we were leaving her all alone for a while, I brought her a present from us.” He winked at Hannah as he handed Riley the bouquet. “Why don’t you go give your mama her present.”

  “’Kay, Uncle Jesse.” Riley skipped back toward the front door and shoved the flowers at her mother. “Here, Mama. It’s from us.”

  “Thank you, sweetheart,” Hannah said with a smile, taking a deep whiff of the fragrant blossoms and letting her gaze meet Jesse’s. She was touched beyond measure. “And thank you, Jesse,” she added quietly. Just looking at him caused her pulse to scramble wildly, and she had an uncommon urge to simply touch him. The thought shook her. She shouldn’t be having such thoughts about Jesse and she knew it. He was just being kind, just being a friend. There was absolutely nothing more to it. Couldn’t be more to it. Not for her. And certainly not for him. “Would you like to come in? Have some coffee?”

  Jesse shook his head, giving Riley’s hand a gentle squeeze. “Thanks, darlin’, but me and Miss Riley here have plans.” He glanced down at Riley and gave her little hand a quick, gentle squeeze. “Don’t we, darlin’?”

  “Yep.” Riley started tugging Jesse’s hand toward the car. “Could we go now, Uncle Jesse? I’ve been ready forever.” She tugged him along as he turned back to Hannah.

  “We’ll be back around four,” Jesse called to her, digging in his jeans pocket for his keys. “Don’t worry,” he said when he saw her chewing her lip. “I promise I’ll take very good care of her.”

  She nodded, still worrying her lip. She felt foolish telling him that she couldn’t help but worry. In the five years since Riley’s birth, her daughter had never gone off alone with anyone. Not anyone.

  Hannah’s gaze shifted to Riley, wondering if she was feeling any distress or separation anxiety. Hannah couldn’t help but smile. Her daughter looked as if she couldn’t wait to get going, and didn’t seem particularly bothered by the fact that she was going off alone with someone other than her mother for the first time.

  “Jesse, would you like to stay for dinner?” Hannah called impulsively, realizing she and Riley had never shared their special day
or Sunday dinner with anyone before.

  Two very new things in one day. For a women who prided herself on calm, careful stability, and always thought everything through twice, then thought it through again, she was sure being carefree today, she thought in amusement.

  There was just something about Jesse that seemed to make her forget her usual calm, careful resolve.

  “We’ll bring dinner back with us,” Jesse called with a wink. He opened the door and helped Riley inside the car, secured her seat belt tightly, then double-checked it. When he shut the door and started to round the car, he turned back to Hannah. “You’ve got a few hours to yourself, Hannah. Try to do something fun,” he said with a mischievous smile. “Something just for you, darlin’.” He blew her a kiss that sent a heated shiver over her as if he’d actually kissed her and not been standing five feet away. “You deserve a day off.” With a wave, he climbed into the car, started the engine and drove off. Riley, her nose pressed against the window, waved frantically, a wide grin of happiness on her face.

  Hannah stood there for a long moment, the bouquet still in her hands, touched almost to tears, finally understanding Jesse’s “date” with her daughter.

  Jesse was giving her a day off, some time to herself with no responsibilities or worries. She pressed the flowers to her nose and couldn’t prevent the warmth that spread through her from settling in her wary heart at his kindness, his caring.

  He was, she decided, an incredible man.

  And he’d chosen to spend the day with her daughter, giving Riley the benefit of his time and attention. Making her one very happy little girl.

  Hannah’s smile widened and the warmth spread deeper. Slowly, she shut the front door, then locked it, before making her way to the kitchen to put the flowers into a vase.

  She couldn’t remember a time when she was all alone and had hours stretching ahead of her with nothing to do, no responsibilities and nothing tugging at her time.

  With a happy sigh, Hannah realized she had almost five long, lovely hours to do anything she wanted.

  Jesse, she thought, sniffing the flowers one last time before arranging them in a vase, what on earth are you doing to my defenses?

  More importantly, what on earth was he doing to her scarred and wary heart?

  She wasn’t going to waste a perfectly lovely day worrying. Instead, she planned to do exactly what Jesse had suggested; she was going to do something fun.

  Feeling a little bit decadent, Hannah poured herself a large glass of iced cola, then went into the pantry and grabbed a bag of potato chips. Laughing at her own foolishness, she walked into the living room, pausing at the bookcase. She couldn’t remember the last time she actually had the time to sit down and just read a book. To get lost in another world for a moment, a world where she was just a casual observer with no responsibilities.

  Spotting the newest Nora Roberts novel she’d been dying to read, Hannah grabbed it, then set down her soda before sinking into a chair. With another happy sigh, she tucked her legs under her, opened the bag of chips and the book, then leaned back and began to read.

  “And then, Mama, the elephant gave a big loud snort and water came squirting out of his nose. All over everything.” Riley covered her mouth and collapsed on the blanket in a fit of giggles, startling a flock of birds in a tree overhead.

  “It sounds like you had a wonderful time at the zoo,” Hannah said with a laugh, rubbing a hand across her daughter’s head. “But I think you’d better eat something.” Hannah reached across the blanket and pulled a piece of fried chicken out of the basket Jesse and Riley had brought back with them, and handed it to her daughter.

  When Riley and Jesse had returned just a little over half an hour ago, she’d just finished her book and had been wiping a tear from her eye, wishing her life was more like one of the heroines in a book—with a happily-ever-after.

  The sight of her daughter standing in the doorway beaming, exhausted and totally disheveled, had brought Hannah back to reality. Riley had a lime-green mustache from the snow cone she’d had, as well as a few stains on her new blue school dress from using it as a napkin. She’d lost one of her blue ribbons somewhere along the way, and her new patent-leather shoes were scuffed, but Riley had never looked happier, warming Hannah’s heart.

  When Jesse had pulled a large box of fried chicken with all the fixings from the back seat of his car, they’d decided to have a picnic in the backyard.

  Jesse had offered to set things up for their outdoor picnic, so Hannah went inside to give Riley a bath and change her into her pajamas, knowing her daughter was about to collapse.

  Now, sitting on the blanket, under the warmth of the low setting sun, listening to her daughter recall her day, Hannah couldn’t help but be struck by how normal it all seemed.

  So unbelievably normal.

  Like a family, she thought. A real family. Oh, they’d been their own family, just the two of them, but adding Jesse, adding a man to the equation, seemed to change things substantially. And Hannah wasn’t sure how comfortable she was with the situation, especially knowing Jesse was leaving and Riley was growing more and more attached to him.

  As was Hannah.

  They were like a family, she thought again, trying to curb the deep pang of longing that had blossomed earlier today when she had watched Jesse and Riley leave together.

  They’d looked like a father and daughter going out on an outing together. Something she’d always wanted but had never been able to give her daughter.

  Watching Riley and the way she seemed to blossom under Jesse’s attention and affection made Hannah realize that as much as she’d tried to be both mother and father to her precious daughter, it just wasn’t possible.

  Riley was desperately in need of male attention and affection. It was so obvious from the way she responded and reacted to Jesse, Hannah could scarcely believe she hadn’t been more aware of it before this.

  Perhaps because until now all the Ryan men had filled in the gap and done a very good job of making Riley feel very much a part of their family. But it wasn’t until this very moment that Hannah realized how much her daughter had missed having a father of her own.

  Hannah glanced away, unaware that Jesse was watching her intently. She had accepted full responsibility for being a single parent, but until now she hadn’t realized that perhaps her own pride and her own past was hurting her daughter.

  “You all right, darlin’?” Jesse asked quietly, laying his hand over hers. With a forced smile, she turned to him, aware that Riley was sitting between them.

  “Fine, Jesse.” She forced her smile wider. “Just fine.”

  “You haven’t eaten much.” Cocking his head, he studied her, sliding a hand to her cheek. It was warm from the warmth of the sun. “Don’t you like fried chicken?” he asked in a tone of voice that made her laugh.

  “You make it sound like not liking fried chicken is a national offense.”

  He laughed, and the sound floated on the quiet air. “Darlin’, where I come from it is.” His eyebrows drew together. “If you’d like, I can run out and get you something else.”

  She squeezed his hand, so warm and gentle under hers. “No thanks, Jesse. I love fried chicken actually.” She glanced at Riley who was busy munching on a chicken leg. Her daughter’s eyes were drooping. Riley was utterly exhausted. “I guess I’m just not very hungry.”

  “Something troubling you?” he asked in concern, and she shook her head.

  “No, not really.” Slowly, she withdrew her hand from his, knowing it would be easier to think if she wasn’t touching him.

  “Well now, darlin’, there’s no. And then there’s not really,” he said with a wiggle of his eyebrows. “Seems to me they’re two different things.”

  “Uncle Jesse?” Riley tugged on his shirt, interrupting their conversation. “Should we tell Mama about the surprise now?”

  Hannah’s mother’s alarm went off and she lifted an eyebrow, encompassing both Jesse and her daughte
r with one glance.

  “Surprise?” she asked with a bit of nervousness, making Jesse grin.

  “You said we had to wait to tell Mama until she had a full stomach. Is she full now?” Riley asked as Jesse grabbed the little girl and tumbled her into his lap.

  “I imagine she is,” Jesse said, bending to nuzzle Riley’s neck, which made her giggle.

  “A full stomach?” Hannah repeated in concern, pressing a hand to her forehead. “And exactly what kind of surprise would have to wait until I had a full stomach?” She was almost certain whatever it was, she didn’t want to know, not if the matching mischievous grins Jesse and Riley were wearing was any indication.

  “Guess what, Mama?”

  “Oh Lord,” Hannah muttered, hanging her head, feeling as if the other shoe—one Jesse had deliberately filled with cement—was about to drop. “What, darling?” she asked, lifting her head and forcing a smile.

  “Ditka’s going to be a daddy.”

  Hannah blinked. Several times. Then her confused gaze went from Riley to Jesse then back again. “This is what you had to tell me on a full stomach?” she asked in confusion. “That Timmy and Terry’s dog is going to be a father?”

  “Not…exactly,” Jesse began slowly, sharing a look with Riley. They both started giggling, making Hannah even more nervous.

  “Then what…exactly?” Hannah asked carefully, still looking from one to the other.

  “Remember what you said, Mama? You said that we had to wait a while to talk about getting me a puppy and it’s been a while. A real long while,” Riley pointed out with a dramatic roll of her eyes. “So could I have one, Mama, huh? Please?” Riley looked at her expectantly, tongue caught between her missing front teeth, a look of pure pleading in her eyes.

  Hannah merely groaned. “Is Ditka really having puppies?” she asked Jesse, who nodded his head slowly. “Traitor,” she muttered under her breath, making him laugh. He caught her with his free arm, dragging her close.