“Time.” Jake’s brows drew together as he glanced at her. “Becca, it’s been almost twenty years. Do you realize Jesse is twenty-five now?” It was hard for him to imagine his little brother as an adult. Sadness for the time, years and memories that had been lost echoed through him.
“Yes, I know, but that’s to our advantage, Jake.” She smiled when he glanced at her. “He’s an adult now, and maybe, just maybe, he’s looking for you.”
“Me?” He shook his head. “You mean the family?” When she nodded, he glanced at the ceiling again, thoughtfully. “I never thought of that Rebecca.”
“Well, it is a possibility.” She laid a hand to his cheek. “And if we keep looking, and he’s looking, well then, maybe we’ll be able to find one another.”
“I hope so,” Jake said glumly. “For Tommy’s sake, for the family’s sake I hope so.”
“Jake?”
“Hmm?”
“I called Mr. Barker today from the Saddle Falls News. I accepted his job offer, but I explained I’m only available part-time since now that I’m married, I’m going to want to spend some time with my new husband and family.” Rebecca raised her left hand in the air and smiled at the thin gold band that graced her finger.
“Good.” Jake caught her hand in his, looking at his own matching gold band. “I talked to Tommy today, too.”
“And?”
He turned to her. “Well, I was going to keep this a surprise, but how would you feel about us living in the little coach house when we get back?”
Her heart leapt. He knew how much the little coach house meant to her. “Live there?” She frowned. “You mean instead of the big house with Tommy, Jared and the boys?”
“Yeah, that’s exactly what I mean.” He watched her eyes fill with joy, with tears, and felt his own heart fill with emotion.
“Oh Jake, I’d…love it.”
Smiling, he brushed a tear from her cheek, his gaze filled with love. “I know how you feel about the place, and how happy you were there when you were a child.” He pressed a kiss to her forehead. “And now, I think it’s only fitting that it be our home,” he added softly. “Yours, mine and the family we plan to have.”
She had to swallow a lump in her throat. “Jake, thank you.” He never failed to surprise her, never failed to touch her with his love, his caring, his concern.
“While we’ve been gone, Tommy had a contractor friend of his start renovating the kitchen and baths. The work should be finished in about three weeks. Once that’s done, I figured you could start decorating and shopping for furniture, you know, so you can make the house what you want.”
“We, Jake,” she corrected with a smile. “What we want.” She snuggled close. “I love you, Jake,” she whispered, her heart so full she thought it would burst.
“And I love you, too, hon.” Jake stifled a yawn, glancing out the window at the growing darkness. “But we’d better get some sleep. We’re going home tomorrow.”
Home?
Rebecca glanced at her husband, the man who’d changed her life and her heart forever, the man who’d given her life meaning, and she knew without a doubt that after all the years of loneliness and haunting memories she was already…home.
ISBN: 978-1-4592-1368-5
WITH FAMILY IN MIND
Copyright © 2002 by Sharon De Vita
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* Silver Creek County
† The Blackwell Brothers
†† Saddle Falls
** Lullabies and Love
With Family In Mind (Saddle Falls Book 1) Page 20
