by Arlene James
Wyatt tucked his hands back into the pockets of his jeans to keep from reaching out and pulling her into his embrace.
“Like you said, Tyler will eventually figure it out.”
“If he has the chance,” she qualified. “I’d hoped this move would bring us closer together. I don’t intend to keep him away from his father. I just want a chance to build a closer relationship with him myself.”
“The B and B is a way for you to spend more time with him, isn’t it?” Wyatt realized suddenly.
She nodded. “I’d hoped he’d love it here as much as I do,” she said in a small voice. “I think eventually he will. If he spends enough time here.”
“Makes sense,” Wyatt admitted, though he was far from comfortable with the situation.
“What scares me most—” she went on in a voice barely above a whisper “—is to what lengths Layne would go to hurt me through Tyler. I—I really believe he’s too lazy and self-involved to actually...” She blinked back tears. “To physically hurt Tyler.”
Chilled by the prospect, Wyatt hurried to reassure her. “Surely not. He’d have to be psychotic to actually harm his own son.”
“Right.” She tried a smile, but it was wan and fleeting. “It’s just that...I’m not sure Layne is truly capable of loving anyone other than himself, Tyler included.”
Rocked, Wyatt said, “We’ll certainly pray that those fears are unfounded, and in the meantime you’re both safe here.”
“Yes,” she said, sounding as if she was trying to convince herself. “This is the safest place for us.”
“Well, thanks for telling me what’s going on.”
She nodded. “I—I was afraid to before. Afraid you’d insist on telling Layne where we are.”
“No, I won’t do that. Not at this point. But you should know that Tyler has asked Ryder to call his dad.”
Shaking her head, she clapped a hand over her mouth. Several seconds ticked by before she dropped her hand and whispered, “Thank you.”
“You don’t have to thank me,” he told her.
“Actually,” she said, “you’ve been pretty good about everything. You and your brothers.”
Wyatt grimaced, knowing he hadn’t been very nice in the beginning. “It was the shock at first,” he admitted. “And, well, I can’t let anything interfere with our plans.”
“I understand.”
“You don’t, really,” he said, bowing his head. What could he do except tell her then? “It’s Ryder.” He explained the situation, how Ryder had accidentally killed a young man while practicing for a cage fight. “It almost destroyed him, and he still carries a huge burden of guilt, though he and the trainer were both cleared, even of the negligence charge. That didn’t keep the press from hounding them mercilessly, though. I had to get him out of Houston.”
“Oh, no,” she said. “That’s heartbreaking. Ryder’s so patient and gentle with the kids. I can’t imagine him as a fighter.”
“Mixed martial arts was a fitness thing with him. But he has skills, and people noticed. Before I knew it, he’d signed a contract to compete in the MMA circuit. He won his first two matches. Then Bryan died in a freak accident... I thought we were going to have to bury Ryder, too.”
“I’m so sorry.”
“I’d appreciate it if you wouldn’t say anything to him.”
“I won’t.”
“We’ll make this work for everyone,” Wyatt promised. “Listen, do you mind if I speak to Tyler? I’d like him to know that he can come to me or my brothers with any questions or problems.”
She pondered that, then nodded. “If you need me, I’ll be sitting on the front porch.”
He smiled and turned toward the steps, silently praying for wisdom, discernment and the strength to avoid the temptation of Tina’s beauty.
The last thing either of them needed at this point was another complication.
No matter how lovely that complication might be.
Chapter Seven
Wyatt tapped on Tyler’s bedroom door before opening it. The boy lay atop his narrow bed, a book in his hands.
“What’s that?” Wyatt asked lightly. “Bedtime story?”
Tyler nodded and turned a page, letting Wyatt know that this interruption was unwelcome. Wyatt let him know that he wasn’t going away by coming fully into the room.
“Has your mom read that to you?” Wyatt asked, but Tyler shook his head.
“I read it myself.”
“Not many six-year-olds can read books all by themselves.”
Tyler dropped a finger onto the page and read aloud, “Look at the baby bird. It has no...no...feats...feats her.”
“Feathers,” Wyatt corrected. “It has no feathers. That’s very good, Ty.”
The boy frowned over the top of his book. “That’s not my name.”
Wyatt smiled. “It’s a nickname, a shortened version of your whole name. You know, Frankie is a nickname, too. I suppose someday he’ll outgrow Frankie and we’ll start calling him Frank, but his real name is Francis.”
Tyler dropped his book onto his lap. “What kind of name is that? I didn’t hear that name before.”
“Francis is one of those names that can be used for a girl or a boy, depending on how it’s spelled. Frankie is named after my mom, his grandmother.”
Tyler sat up in the bed. “I wouldn’t want to be named after no girl.”
Wyatt shrugged. “It’s our way of honoring our mom. She was great, and we loved her.”
“I’d hate to be named after my mom.”
Chuckling, Wyatt said, “Yeah, that wouldn’t work too well. There’s no boy equivalent of Tina. What’s her middle name?”
“Lynette.”
“Guess she could have named you Tyler Lynn.”
He shook his head. “I’m Tyler Walker Kemp.”
“Walker is your mom’s maiden name, so you are named after her.”
Tyler’s mouth dropped open. Obviously, he’d never made the connection. “I don’t want to be named after her! She’s stupid!”
Shocked, Wyatt had to work to keep his cool. “Your mother is not stupid.”
“She is! My dad says so.”
White-hot anger flashed through Wyatt, but he tamped it down. “Real men don’t call women stupid, Tyler.”
“Even if they are?” the boy shot back.
“Your mother is an extremely intelligent woman,” Wyatt stated, “and I don’t ever want to hear you say she’s stupid again. She’s brilliant and obviously talented. Just look at what she’s done with this room.”
Tyler glanced around, clearly puzzled. Three of the walls had been painted a rich, deep blue. The fourth had been painted a restful green to match his bedspread, which was covered with colorful race cars. On the green wall, she’d hung an old mirror, the simple frame of which she’d painted yellow to match the chest of drawers beneath it. On either side of the mirror, she’d hung yellow-and-white-checked flags. Car posters had been placed strategically around the room, on the yellow closet door, at the head of the yellow-painted bed, on the ceiling above it and over a short set of yellow shelves filled with books and toys. All in all, she’d done an amazing job with nothing more than a couple of cans of paint.
“What’s more, yours is the only room in the house that’s finished,” Wyatt went on. “She put you first. She always puts you first.”
Frowning, Tyler picked at his bedspread. “If she’s so smart, how come she was such a bad wife my dad had to divorce her?”
Wyatt had to think about how to answer that. He couldn’t break Tina’s confidence about how her marriage had ended, but he couldn’t let Tyler go on believing the divorce was Tina’s fault. Walking over to the bed, he sat on the end and fixed Tyler with a blunt look.
“It takes two people to make a marriage work, Tyler, and it tak
es two people to destroy one.”
“He wouldn’t of cheated on her with that other woman if she’d been a better wife,” Tyler shot back.
Wyatt felt his jaw drop. “Your father told you about that?”
Tyler nodded. Wyatt couldn’t tell if he was confused or ashamed. Maybe both.
“He had no business telling you that,” Wyatt stated evenly. “Do you even know what cheating means?”
Sullenly, Tyler shrugged. Somewhat relieved, Wyatt chose his next words carefully.
“Your mom could have told you about your dad’s cheating, but she didn’t want to make him look bad. She wants you to love and respect your father. Whatever he says, their divorce was not your mother’s fault, certainly not hers alone. Someday you’ll understand that. Meanwhile, I hope you’re big enough, smart enough and brave enough to trust that your parents’ divorce has nothing to do with you. They both love you. You need to leave it at that. And so does your father.”
“He says he’s gonna run her out of money and take me to live with him,” Tyler revealed, sounding worried. “And then I won’t see her no more.”
Obviously, Tina had been right about everything. To tell his young son about his cheating and blame Tina for it was the act of a selfish, egotistical individual. Obviously, Layne Kemp wasn’t fit to be a father, but Wyatt wouldn’t say so to the boy.
“Your mother will never let that happen,” Wyatt assured Tyler. “You’re the most important person in the world to her. She made this move to Oklahoma so she can spend more time with you and give you a great life. You need to stop giving her a hard time about it. And when you see your father again, I hope you’ll let him know that you want to spend time with both him and your mother. You do, don’t you?”
“Yes,” Tyler whispered.
“Good,” Wyatt said, standing up, then leaning over to help ease Tyler down onto his pillow. “I’m glad to hear that. And if you ever need to talk about stuff, Ty, you can always come to me. Or my brothers. Okay?”
“Okay, Wyatt,” Tyler said.
Wyatt ruffled the boy’s reddish blond hair, pleased to get a grin out of him. Then he tucked the covers around him and said good-night before slipping from the room. Unfortunately, now he had to tell Tina what Tyler had revealed.
* * *
Hearing the door open at her back, Tina inwardly sighed. She’d been arguing with herself about the wisdom of letting Wyatt talk to her son in private. On one hand, Wyatt had a right to check her story, which he was no doubt doing. On the other, she could never be sure anymore how Tyler would react. She had no secrets now, so she didn’t worry that he would expose her, but she could only hope that he wouldn’t make an enemy of Wyatt.
Wyatt walked across the porch and sat down on the top step beside her. The night breeze swirled his scent around her, an earthy smell, part grass, part wood and part male. Her heart skipped a beat. She closed her eyes, focusing on thoughts of her son.
“Did you find out what you needed to know?”
“We established that I can call him Ty from now on.” That surprised her, and she looked around, eyebrows raised. “The rest of us have nicknames. Everyone but you.”
She relaxed. “Unless you count Mom as a nickname.”
“There is that,” Wyatt agreed with a smile, but then he sobered. “I’m afraid you’re right about everything you said about your ex. He told Tyler that he cheated on you.”
She gasped. “He told Tyler?”
Wyatt took her hand in his, nodding. “But he told Tyler it was your fault for being such a bad wife.”
“Oh, that’s so like Layne!” she exploded bitterly. “He doesn’t care that he’s burdened his son with information that he’s too young to understand. All he cares about is vindicating himself and hurting me.”
No wonder Tyler was acting out. He had to be so confused and angry. She’d tried to protect him from the truth of his father’s infidelity, and all along Layne had been feeding him a warped version of what had happened. Her poor boy. Suddenly, it was all too much. She burst into tears.
Long, strong arms came around her from the side. “Please don’t cry.”
“I’m s-sorry,” she stuttered, scrubbing at the tears.
“No apology necessary,” he crooned, brushing back her bangs. “You didn’t tell your son things he shouldn’t know, and you’ve read your ex correctly. Take comfort in that. Ty says he’s filed for custody in an effort to bankrupt you, so now we can plan accordingly.”
We. Even as she told herself how foolish it would be to take Wyatt literally, that one tiny word comforted her. She gulped down the remainder of her tears.
“I thought he was my white knight,” she went on. “He asked me to marry him the day after my mother’s funeral. I felt rescued and grateful. I thought he loved me.”
“I’m sure he did,” Wyatt said softly, “as much as he was able.”
“He isn’t able. It wasn’t long before I realized that I’d married the male equivalent of my mother.” She straightened, breaking contact with him. “Layne refused to split anything, and because his parents’ names were on the deed to the house, he didn’t have to let me back inside, so all I had was what I left with. Thankfully, I never added him to my car title, or I wouldn’t even have transportation.”
“Layne didn’t even provide for his son?”
“He agreed to child support, but he hid most of his income. By the time he finally signed the papers, all I wanted was to be free of him. And custody of my son.”
“Sounds like you had your priorities right.”
“Doesn’t matter. I always vowed I’d never get divorced. I don’t want to be like my mother. She was married five times.”
“Whoa. That had to be tough for you.”
“It was. She couldn’t be alone but she couldn’t be in love, either. Until my marriage busted up, I never realized how hard being alone could be.”
“You’ll find the right man.”
“No,” Tina said, “I won’t. I haven’t dated since the divorce. And I don’t intend to.”
He seemed surprised. “Don’t you ever want to marry again?”
She shook her head. “How could I be sure it wouldn’t turn out like the first time?”
“You have to trust yourself. You have to believe you won’t make the same mistake twice.”
“But I can’t believe that,” she countered. “My mother is proof that you can make the same mistake repeatedly.”
“You can, but you don’t have to, especially if you pray about the matter.”
She rolled her eyes. “Do you think I haven’t prayed about this? For so long I believed that no self-respecting man would want me. When Layne showed interest, I thanked God. But I was just fooling myself.”
“How could you possibly believe that no man would want you?”
She lifted her shoulders, muttering, “My mother was very beautiful.”
“So are you.”
She stared at him skeptically. Suddenly, everything changed. Her heartbeat stuttered to a stop. She held her breath, watching as he fought the urge to kiss her. Part of her hoped he would, if only to prove that she was desirable, lovable; part of her wanted to bolt, in case that kiss proved to her just how truly vulnerable she was. She didn’t move so much as an eyelash.
After a long moment rife with tension, he leaned back slightly and shifted his gaze. Unexpected disappointment crashed through Tina, but she had lots of experience in keeping a placid, enigmatic expression.
“Listen,” he said, “don’t worry. I’ll talk to Jake and Ryder, make sure they understand the situation. They don’t need all the details, but I promise they’ll agree with me. You and Ty are safe here.”
Tina stared up at the night sky. “I can’t tell you how much I appreciate your understanding.”
“I’m just glad you told me,” he said sof
tly. “I wouldn’t have wanted to unintentionally put you or Tyler at risk.”
He pushed up to his feet then. Keeping her seat, she looked up at him. Oh, how she wished he was not so disturbingly attractive. That coupled with his kindness and his strength made him very nearly irresistible. It was the last thing she needed right now.
She hadn’t counted on wanting Wyatt Smith’s support, his understanding, his advice, his faith. Him.
Maybe she was more like her mother than she even knew. All the more reason to focus entirely on her son.
After Wyatt left, she went upstairs to check on Tyler. He was sound asleep, so she kissed his forehead and tiptoed from the room.
The next morning, she greeted him with great good cheer. “Happy Easter!”
Nothing was said of his discussion with Wyatt the night before. Tyler seemed pleasant enough initially, but the situation quickly deteriorated into all-out rebellion.
He didn’t like the clothes she’d laid out for him to wear to church. He didn’t like his breakfast, though any other day he’d have begged for cold cereal. He didn’t like the idea of going into a Bible class of strangers, even if they were his own age. And he really, really did not want to ride to church with Tina.
“I want to ride with Frankie!” Tyler insisted for the umpteenth time, refusing to get into her car.
Tina dug deep within for patience. “We don’t have time for this.”
“Tell you what,” Jake said, coming through the back door and setting Frankie onto his feet. “We’ll get you a second safety seat for Wyatt’s truck. That way we won’t have to take the time to move the seat. That’s what we’ve done for Frankie. When we get the extra safety seat for Wyatt’s truck, you can ride with Frankie. But for today, you ride with your mom. Deal?”
