Harvest Rest

by Teri Blake

  He leaned back on the bench and stared out over the water. “I’ve never lived right on the beach, and until now, I’ve never had much reason to come down here other than work.”

  “You’re missing out.” She laughed. Living there had been a dream of hers since she was a child and visited on vacations.

  “Am I? Seems like I get the best of both worlds right now. The bustle of the boardwalk and the quiet of my house in town.” He draped his arm around her.

  Even though she was hot, she leaned against him and he then leaned his head against hers. Together. Side by side. Just as she’d suggested. It almost felt like a date. If she could remember what dating was like. Except dating usually ended with a kiss.

  She sat forward and turned to face him, caught a glimpse of his lips and couldn’t tear her eyes away. He had a stubbly chin and she wondered if it would scratch against her own? Would his kiss be different from Rob’s?

  Sawyer leaned forward and cupped her cheek, then guided her face toward his own. Her heart tripped over itself and she wasn’t sure what to do. Should she let him kiss her? Wasn’t that cheating? And did she care since her husband was so far gone?

  She closed her eyes to pull back and he dropped his hand. “Karla, I want to, but I can’t. I can’t be that guy.”

  “I don’t want you to be that guy. Thank you.” She reached out and squeezed his hand. Their first kiss would be all the sweeter after the divorce was final.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Channyon rested her head against the steering wheel after another long day at work. All she had to do was walk up the sidewalk and she would be met by her sisters and a warm supper, but her energy had flagged hours ago.

  Teens who came into the pizza place where she worked weren’t always respectful and she’d had her fill of people. She pushed back against the steering wheel and sighed. It wouldn’t take that much effort to walk up the hill.

  Someone tapped on her window and she jumped. She craned her neck to see who it was and Becker waved slightly with a goofy grin on his face. For once, he didn’t look at all like an expensive lawyer. She jumped out of the old Suburban and ran around to meet him, then flung her arms around his neck. He laughed as he lifted her up off the ground.

  “I’ve missed you,” he mumbled in her ear.

  Unexpected tears welled and she couldn’t hold them back. “I missed you too.”

  The moment he set her back on her feet, she held his face and kissed him like he’d been gone for a year. In all reality, he had. She hadn’t left right away, but their relationship had gone sour a year before. She’d lived with Karla for five months, making it almost a year since they’d parted, at least mentally.

  The kiss didn’t last nearly long enough. She wanted to haul him upstairs to her room and lock the door. Why not? They were married, after all. Becker left tiny kisses along her neck and she shivered.

  “I’m not leaving you again and you’re not leaving me either. That’s not a threat. We talk when there’s something wrong from now on.”

  She nodded, because even though he would want to hear her agreement, she couldn’t say a thing. He tilted her head to look him in the eyes. “I mean it, Channyon. This separation has torn me apart. I can’t do my job when I’m thinking about you. I can’t live my life when I’m worried about you.”

  “I don’t want you to.” She held his hands to her cheeks. “This has been so hard for me too. I didn’t know who I was anymore. I didn’t want to stay here because I couldn’t think, couldn’t understand, what to do to feel…normal again. I was sure I wanted to stay away from you but I was so wrong.”

  He slipped his hands back into her hair and she held him tight around the waist. “I feel like we should say our vows all over again. Like we should promise to never let anything like that come between us.”

  She shook her head and found her voice. “No, our wedding was perfect. We were the ones who weren’t. You wanted to find solutions because you couldn’t know that I was torn up inside. I wanted to be the mother of your children. Not just the mother of a child. It sounds so selfish now, but that’s what I wanted.”

  “It’s not selfish. That was our dream. But I took it too far. When you got your diagnosis, I was stuck on a child. Any way we could get one. I didn’t realize you weren’t even considering any other way. I know there’s still some hope. They didn’t say it was impossible. If you’re holding onto that, then I’m okay with waiting and doing this the natural way or even talking to a doctor...”

  Becker had been gone for three weeks and during that time she’d come to realize that she wanted children, no matter how it happened. If they adopted, she would love that child as if it were her own. If either the parents decided they wanted the child back or if the child decided to leave once he or she was older, she would still have the time to give that child the love she wanted to give. If they had one of their own at some point, she wouldn’t be partial.

  “I’ve had a lot of time to think. I don’t want to stop trying, but I do want to end the pressure. I think we should look into adoption. Maybe even a child who is beyond the toddler stage who might not get adopted otherwise.”

  The boy’s story had hit her hard. She thought of the children in foster care who might be part of the system their whole lives and never know that the home they are in will be the last one they have to move into.

  He kissed her gently. “Are you sure? I don’t want to smother your dreams. This might seem like the easy route, but it isn’t. Adoption is beautiful…but hard.”

  “I want to. We’re both old enough now that if we wait much longer, there won’t be any choice left to make. Let’s change the life of at least one person. Let’s make one life as happy as we possibly can.”

  He led her away from the Suburban and up toward the house then stopped and turned back toward her. “I want to be sure you’re sure…” He took both of her hands in his. “If you’re sure, then we make a plan to go home. The construction is almost finished, and I’m not needed. I want to focus on us.”

  She nodded her absolute agreement. “I’ll need to put in notice at work. It’s just a pizza place, but they’re always short on staff. It wouldn’t be fair.”

  He kissed her nose. She laughed at his strangely sweet behavior. He was like a whole new man, or rather, the same man but improved. “I agree with you. Let’s not leave anyone on bad terms.”

  “Have you rented a room yet?” She hoped he hadn’t. It was already evening though, and chances were good that he stopped at a hotel before coming to see her.

  “I haven’t. I couldn’t wait to see you first.”

  “Good. Don’t.” She was ready to be his wife again. All the hesitation was gone, the pain forgiven. He’d taken her healing seriously and slowly. He’d let her work through everything and now she wanted him back, completely.

  “What should we say to your sisters?”

  It felt so strange to be standing in the middle of the front lawn in the almost darkness talking about her sisters who were probably not more than fifty feet away in the dining room, waiting for her.

  “Nothing yet. Though if you stay here with me, they won’t wonder too much.”

  He frowned slightly. “I want to take you home, Channyon. Are you all right with that? My practice is back home in Missouri. I’ll start over again here if I have to, but it would be easier for both of us if I don’t have to.”

  They would be able to come visit whenever she wanted to. Becker might not be able to come as often, since he’d be working, but not always. Home was with him. Her sisters would be welcome to visit whenever as well, they just couldn’t live with her anymore.

  “We’ll tell them this weekend after I have a chance to put in my notice and transfer the title to my Suburban to Sonica. She’s always wanted it anyway.”

  He looked behind her at the old rusty vehicle that had seen her through many years and many miles. “The gift that keeps on giving… Aren’t you worried she’ll be straddled with repair bill
s?”

  Channyon wacked him playfully on the arm. “No. It’s never done anything to deserve talk like that. Well, except when it has trouble starting if you don’t run it long enough before turning it off, but that’s just because it’s old.”

  “I’m sure she’ll take good care of it. Anything else?” He held her hands firmly, as if he was worried she’d walk away again.

  “I feel horrible leaving Karla and the kids. It’s been so long since I got to see them. The kids grew up without us and now…”

  “Now they’ll get to see us when we come for Christmas or whenever you want to come back for a visit. And now that you know there is no Rob around, you can call Karla and talk to your heart’s content.”

  “I don’t know about that, but I do know that I can’t live apart from you. So, I’ll do what I need to. I obviously can’t live in two places at once.” And she couldn’t start the process of becoming a family with Becker if she worried over her sisters. They were capable of taking on their problems and reaching out to her if they needed anything. Phone lines worked both ways.

  “Are we missing anything?” Channyon closed her eyes and tried to think of all the reasons they’d been angry with each other and only the big things that they’d already talked through came to mind.

  “Supper.” He laughed and turned back toward the house.

  “I’ll order pizza. I’m not really in the mood for sitting at the table with everyone right now.”

  He laughed and caught her in his arms again then kissed her. “I’ve been waiting forever for that. But in seriousness, I haven’t eaten all day and I’d like to let everyone know that I’ll be here for a few weeks before we just shutter ourselves away in your room for the evening. Don’t you think?”

  She wanted him all to herself, right away. Waiting after so long was like torture. “But…”

  “I know. But let’s do this the right way now so we don’t have to deal with hurt feelings later. I want to leave with your relationship with your sisters completely solid.”

  While she agreed, she didn’t want to. “Fine. But supper tonight is country fried steak with mac and cheese.” Becker was a great man, but he hated macaroni with any type of cheese sauce.

  He turned to head for the door, then stopped. “Maybe we tell them and then I take you out to supper?” He waggled his eyebrows.

  “But I like my sister’s cooking…”

  With a dramatic sigh, he went to the door. “Then I suppose I’ll put up with elbow noodles…for you.”

  She couldn’t help but laugh at the melodrama. “Do you bring that acting into the courtroom? It was pretty good.”

  Becker clutched his chest. “You wound me. I wasn’t acting.” The chuckling he couldn’t quite hold back gave him away.

  Karla opened the door. “I was wondering what was taking you so long. I thought I saw you park a half hour ago.”

  A half hour ago she’d had no energy and no desire to even walk to the house. Now, she wanted to quickly eat and tell her sisters Becker would be staying with them for a few weeks so she could yank him upstairs and remind herself why she was so attracted to him.

  “I did. But I got distracted.”

  Becker grinned. “I’m good for that. May I come in?”

  Karla held the door open wide for both of them. “Sawyer couldn’t make it, so there’s plenty. Come on in and sit down.”

  “He’ll sit, but I get his mac.” Channyon felt like a kid again. Excitement coursed through her.

  “Hey! No fair. What if I like it?” He followed her to the dining room and sat where Channyon pointed.

  “Well, I guess you can try it first.”

  Aryn and Sonica both gasped at the sight of Becker. “You’re back!”

  He nodded. “I am,” he said as he reached for her hand. “And I think I’m staying in the family for good this time.”

  That wasn’t a question. Even when she’d been angry with him, she’d never really considered filing for a divorce. She couldn’t have found a lawyer to file one, or afforded one, but most importantly, she was sure there had been hope in the back of her mind the whole time.

  “Yes, here to stay.”

  Karla clapped. “Good! Then we’ll have a celebration. Sawyer tells me that the main construction is now done. They are moving on to finishing so we have lots of things to celebrate.”

  Aryn and Sonica glanced back and forth to each other, but for once, Channyon couldn’t read them. Had she already lost her connection, just by agreeing to follow her husband home?

  “What’s wrong?” She sat down and tried to catch their eyes.

  “We’ve been wondering if and when Becker would come back. We’ll have a lot of decisions to make.”

  Becker rested his hands on the table. “I think we should have a talk at this party, once everything is determined. Then no one will have to worry.”

  Channyon nodded. “There’s nothing set in stone yet, except that Becker is staying here, with me. We haven’t decided how long yet.”

  Karla sat down and grabbed her class of wine. “Well, welcome back to the family.”

  Maisy and Davin laughed then Davin got serious. “I’ve never had an uncle before. Might be cool.”

  Maisy hit him in the arm. “You’ve had one your whole life, you doof. You just didn’t know it.”

  Channyon hated when they fought. “Not exactly. Only five years and three months.” She turned to Becker. “But who’s counting?”

  He dug in his pocket and pulled out a ring box. “I am. This is a band to go with your other wedding band, since you never got an engagement ring. It’s for our new start together.”

  Her chest ached with more unshed tears. She’d turned from a woman who never cried to a puddle. When he slipped the ring on her finger, she gave up the effort. The ring was just beautiful, an understated bezel set diamond in a gold band.

  “I went back to the store where we bought your wedding band and this engagement band was supposed to go with it.”

  It was bigger than the ring in her jewelry box upstairs, but not huge by any means and would fit nicely with her other ring. She wanted to run upstairs and get it so she could see them together.

  “Thank you. So much.”

  Karla clapped, then left to get the food. Aryn grabbed her hand to see the ring and Sonica stood up and came behind her to get a better look. “It’s really beautiful, Channyon,” Aryn batted tears from her eyes.

  She wanted to reassure Aryn that her time would come, but she wasn’t so sure Aryn would take it even if it did. Just like Channyon had gone through with Becker, things that hurt had to be dealt with and Aryn wouldn’t tackle her issues with men. It was too easy and too much fun to just keep them on a string.

  Karla set the platter of steaks on the table. When she returned with the side dish, she set it down then settled in her chair. “I think Friday night would be a good night. Sawyer can come then.”

  Becker smiled and nodded. “I think that’s a good day for a party.”

  A buzzing noise came from Aryn’s spot and she turned deep red as she fished her phone from her back pocket. “Sorry.” She flipped the phone to silent then furiously typed something and swiped it to send.

  “Who was that?” Karla’s eyebrows rose.

  Aryn reached for her portion of steak. “Tim. I invited him to come over Friday.”

  “Then it will be a party indeed.”

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  White Christmas lights strung over the metal patio awning frame gave the perfect amount of light for a quiet party with only a few guests. Most of those coming already felt like family, even if they weren’t. Finally, she would get her evening of rest.

  Both Maisy and Davin were staying with friends and Sawyer had come early to help. Karla stayed mostly in the kitchen preparing the food and he went outside to arrange tables and chairs, put out gnat traps, and string the lights. He was almost finished.

  Karla pulled the au jus from the oven and sealed it with tin foil
to let it rest, then went out to join him. For the last few days, they’d been dancing around each other, not wanting to get too close, nor too far apart.

  She didn’t want to push things too quickly, but there was no reason they couldn’t become amazing friends while they figured out their feelings. If it wasn’t going to work out, they’d find out better as friends than lovers anyway.

  He stood next to the railing that spread over three sides of the patio. “I folded up the awning and put it in the shed for the night. Might not be able to see the stars with the lights, but over the water…” He shrugged.

  “It’s possible. The stars are clearer out in the country, but with the twinkle lights and the city close by we may not see them. I suspect the stars won’t be a topic of conversation anyway.”

  He turned to her and moved over to make room at the rail even though there was plenty without moving. She stood next to him and took a deep breath. Her backyard faced the backyards of two other people and her inn, which was currently completely torn up. None of her neighbors were out that night.

  “Looks like we’ll have a fairly private party.” He quickly glanced at her, then back to the neighbors.

  “Looks that way.” She hated that he felt uncomfortable and didn’t want him to. “Sawyer, about that…whatever it was. I don’t hold it against you. I lost my wits for a moment too.”

  “But I’m the one who made the move. I shouldn’t have. You’ve been clear that you don’t want to look at anyone until you’re divorced and I think that’s great. I don’t know what got into me.”

  “I do. It’s a little thing called attraction. I know, because I feel it too.”

  He covered her hand with his and squeezed gently. “Just know that I won’t let it happen again. I guess I just missed you after not seeing you for so long.”