by T. L. Haddix
Sydney did a double take. “Um. What is that supposed to be?”
Sarah huffed out a breath. “It’s a baby blanket.” She lowered it to her lap and frowned. “I didn’t think it was that bad.”
“It’s not,” Sydney hurried to assure her. “It’s just…”
But Sarah was waving a hand. “No, don’t try to spare my feelings. I know it’s hideous. But I found this sweet, soft yarn, and I had to get it. Now if I can just get one of you grandkids to produce me some babies, we’ll be set.” She sent Sydney a pointed look that clearly asked “what are you waiting for?”
Sydney had taken a sip of tea, and Sawyer thought she was going to choke to death as she sputtered and coughed.
“What? No. Oh, no. Don’t you even look at me. Noah’s the oldest. He’s the one who’s neglecting his duty as a grandson.” She set the drink aside and shook her head, her hand going to her chest.
“That boy’s so danged ornery, he might stay single for the rest of his life out of pure stubbornness,” Owen grumbled. “I think we’re going to have to resort to having them adopt us some babies, Sarah.”
She sighed. “Well, I don’t much care how we get babies. We just need some. It’s been almost twelve years since we had a baby in the family. Sawyer, any chance you’ll be getting married soon?”
“Uh… that’s not on my radar, n-no,” he stammered. He narrowed his eyes at Sydney, who was snickering at his discomfort. In retaliation, he reached out and tugged on the end of her ponytail.
That was a mistake. Her hair was softer than he could believe, silky and seductive. Everything in him shifted, his fingers itching to take it out of its ponytail holder and comb through the luscious, dark-chocolate strands. It took every bit of control he had to move his fingers away to a safe spot on the back of the couch.
“Well, I think we’ve gotten a really good start here tonight,” Sydney said, oblivious, as she turned her attention away from him. “I appreciate the help and the time, you two. I should be able to take this and run with it tomorrow.”
Owen spread his hands. “Glad to help and you know it. Mr. Grainger seemed like a nice enough guy, and I figured he might have better luck with you than with the people the library recommends. Don’t get me wrong—they’re good people. But he needed a professional, not a hobbyist.”
“I’m not anything approaching a professional genealogist,” Sydney protested as she set the keyboard on the coffee table in front of her and stood. “But I think we can definitely provide him with a professional result.”
“Absolutely we can,” Sawyer agreed. “As a matter of fact, if this goes well and if you don’t get overwhelmed, it might be a service we can add. I don’t know how much call for it there is, but at least we’ll have it if someone else comes along.”
He stood, as well, realizing as he looked down on her just how petite she was. She usually wore heels in the office, and seeing her without shoes on now was a bit of a jolt. Her forehead barely came up to his chin.
“Well, before you go, I was hoping I could ask a favor,” Owen said. He grimaced a bit as he got out of his chair. “They delivered a package here this afternoon that actually belongs to Noah. Given how peeved he is with me at the moment, I don’t particularly want to face him. Could you walk it down to him, Sydney?”
“Sure. I’ll be glad to.”
Sarah led Sawyer into the kitchen, where she got the biscuits and a small jar of apple butter while Sydney was getting her shoes on. “I hope she takes a flashlight. It’s not fully dark yet, but there could be snakes or elk or anything.”
“I can walk down with her. It’s not that far.”
“Would you? Oh, Sawyer, that would be so nice of you. I know she’s perfectly capable of making it down there and back by herself, but ever since Owen and I were dating and I almost stepped on a snake, I’ve been horrified by the creatures.”
“I’ll be glad to provide an escort.”
Sarah smiled up at him, pleased. “Do you have a flashlight in your truck? I can get you one if you don’t.”
“You really think I’d not have a flashlight? You know me better than that,” he teased.
She reached up and pinched his cheek gently. “Yes, I do.”
They met up with Owen and Sydney on the porch. “I’ll walk down with you,” Sawyer told her, taking the package from her. “I could use the exercise after that meal. I’ll just drop this food off at the truck first.”
He was a little surprised Owen hadn’t delivered the package himself, but maybe Noah was that upset. And remembering the older man’s grimace as he got up, Sawyer wondered if maybe age wasn’t catching up to Owen a bit. He was, after all, eighty-one. Even if he was slowing down, he was still the most active octogenarian Sawyer had ever seen. Regardless of the reasoning, Sawyer was glad to help out. He didn’t particularly like the idea of Sydney walking the half mile down the ridge to Noah’s by herself in the near dark any more than Sarah did.
Sarah waited until they’d disappeared behind the barn before turning to Owen with a narrowed gaze. “The grimace was a nice touch.”
He grinned, unabashed. “I figured it couldn’t hurt. But what was with the baby blanket? You hate knitting.”
She walked over to him and slipped her arms around his waist, gratified to feel him return the embrace. “Was it too much?”
“Eh, maybe a little. Probably not, though. How’d you get him to go with her?”
“Oh, I just mentioned how I’ve loathed snakes ever since you and I were dating and I almost stepped on one. And I worry so about my grandbaby being out there in the dark by herself.”
Owen kissed her soundly. “Think they’ll figure it out?”
“I doubt it. They’ll be so busy being thankful that we’re not focusing our matchmaking on them with other people that they’ll never realize what we’ve done. Do you really think they’re attracted to each other?”
“You saw the way they interacted. What do you think?”
She rested her head on his shoulder. “I think they’re circling each other and the potential is there. What they end up doing with that potential, I don’t know.”
“Amelia was watching them like a hawk this weekend. I asked her why and she brushed me off,” he said, taking her hand. They moved to the porch swing and sat down. He put his arm around her shoulders, covering her hand with his as he spread her fingers out on his knee. “But I’ve not known that little Cupid for her whole life and not learned how to read her. They set something off with her. That’s what initially made me start looking at them.”
“It would be nice to add him to the family,” Sarah admitted.
“Yes, it would. He’s a good man. A bit stubborn, but God knows he’d need to be to deal with Sydney.”
Sarah laughed and placed a kiss on the hand that rested on her shoulder. “That’s the truth. We should go in, just in case. I’d hate to embarrass them.”
“Go in? I suppose I could go to bed early tonight,” he said, his voice dropping as he feathered a kiss over her temple.
“I wasn’t necessarily thinking about bed, but now that you’ve mentioned it, that does sound nice.” Sarah closed her eyes briefly, thanking God for the man beside her. Even after more than fifty years of marriage, he was still her world just as she was his, emotionally and physically.
“We’ve had a good run, you know that?” he said as they went inside.
“I do. And it isn’t over yet. I’m not ready to finish our book, not by a long shot.”
Owen kissed her again. “Neither am I.”
Chapter Eighteen
Sydney didn’t know if Sawyer was aware of what her grandparents were up to or not, but she wasn’t about to point it out to him. She knew good and well that nothing would come of their walk, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t enjoy the man’s comp
any while she had it.
The evening was gorgeous, warm without being hot, not a cloud in the falling-twilight sky. She slowed to a stop as they came around the far side of the barn, taking in the magical sight unfolding across the rolling land on top of the mountain.
“Look at that,” she said, her voice hushed with something approaching reverence.
Sawyer whistled low, turning around in a circle to take it all in.
Hundreds, if not thousands, of lightning bugs danced and sparkled in the trees and floated above the wildflowers that covered the pasture. Sydney knew the science behind the show, but right that moment, the science didn’t matter. A night bird called from somewhere in the distance, its cry haunting and soulful.
“I never get tired of watching this,” she confessed. “This is one of the things I missed the most, not counting family, when I was away. I don’t know how I lived anywhere else, seeing this now.”
Instead of teasing her for being softhearted, Sawyer surprised her by agreeing. “My place is like this in the evenings and in the mornings. Different creatures, obviously, depending on the time of day, but it’s peaceful, it’s quiet, and it’s kind of a sanctuary. Of course, I don’t have anything approaching the scale Owen and Sarah have here. But it’s home.”
Sydney crossed her arms over her chest, feeling vulnerable as they started walking again. The path to Noah’s house was more than wide enough for them to walk side by side, but thanks to the canopy of trees on either side, it felt intimate. “How long have you lived there? Since you came to Hazard?”
“No. I bought the place about ten years back. Helping me rehab it was one of Noah’s first jobs when he came home.” He glanced at her. “How are things with you and Archer?”
The question was unexpected. “They’re fine. Why?”
“I just wondered, that’s all. I know you worry about him with regards to your biological family.”
Sydney shrugged. “I kept a close eye on him while Cade and Grant were here. He seemed okay with the idea of us meeting. And he told me yesterday that he liked them, hoped they came back. That he was glad we’d connected.” She let out a long sigh. “It’s hard to explain. I don’t wish I’d known Ted or that I’d grown up with him instead of with Daddy. But there’s some curiosity that’s been there. I kept tabs on him and his family via the Internet, or at least I did until a couple of years ago. That’s one of the reasons I was so surprised to see the boys—they don’t look anything like their pictures. They’ve grown up.”
Sawyer’s quick flash of a smile was visible in the growing dark. “They look a bit like you. I always thought you were Emma’s double, but there’s something of the boys there, too.”
“I know. And that makes me sad. Not because I don’t want to look like them but because I don’t want Daddy to… I don’t know how to explain it. I’m probably being ridiculous.”
“No. I understand what you mean. I don’t know my own parents all that well. Nan raised me for the most part. And I always felt guilty when I did spend time with Mom and Dad because I thought it meant I was taking something away from her.”
Sydney stopped walking. Tipping her head to the side, she studied him. “I had no idea. And yes, that’s exactly how I feel—like I’m stealing from Daddy if I think about them.”
“You know Archer doesn’t believe that any more than Nan does,” Sawyer said quietly.
She scuffed the toe of her shoe on the ground. “I hope he doesn’t. But that fear’s always there. So how come she raised you and not your parents?”
He didn’t answer immediately, just shifted the package from one hand to the other. “My mom was just sixteen when she had me. Just barely sixteen—she got pregnant when she was fifteen. Dad was a few years older. He supported me, but he didn’t have much to do with me, and they didn’t get married until Mom was twenty-one. And when they did get married, at first Nan kept me to give them a little time to adjust to being together. You know how it is—no matter how well you think you know someone, the game changes when you get married.”
“Right.”
“Well, by the time the first year came and went, she was pregnant with my first brother. And then my second brother came along after that, and before anyone realized it, time passed.”
Sydney was horrified. “Time passed? You were their child, Sawyer. You don’t just forget a child like it’s a…a purse or something you stopped using.”
He shifted, uncomfortable. “It wasn’t like I never saw them. We visited. I had sleepovers. And they didn’t live that far away, only about twenty miles or so.”
She wasn’t buying it. He was too defensive, too stoic about the whole ordeal. “Bull. I don’t think I like your parents very much. Nan? She’s adorable and feisty and we’d get on like gangbusters. But your parents? Oh, no. You just don’t do that to a child.”
To her surprise, he laughed. “What are you going to do, drive up to Pittsburgh and punish them?”
“Don’t give me any ideas,” she said. “They left you with Nan, all by yourself? I can’t get my head around that.”
“It wasn’t like they abandoned me. Dad supported me until I was eighteen. You don’t have to defend me, you know. I survived just fine.”
She had to pinch her lips together to keep from protesting. Finally, she shook her head. “At least you had Nan.”
“Yes. Sarah reminds me a lot of her, if that makes you feel any better.”
It did. A child could do a lot worse to be raised by someone like her grandmother. “Let’s get this package to Noah before we get eaten by some woodland creature,” she said, changing the subject and resuming the walk. “Have you ever been down here?”
“To his house and workshop? No.”
“You’re in for a treat, then.”
When they reached the clearing that surrounded the small house, there was just enough light left in the day for Sawyer to look around. As she watched, wonder dawned on his face.
“Oh, my God. This is unreal.”
“It’s pretty impressive,” she said with a smile.
Noah had filled the acre or so of cleared land with a cottage garden, with gravel paths leading to various beds of flowers and plants. Along the paths and around the perimeter of the garden, he’d placed intricately carved animals and fairy-tale creatures, the carvings so lifelike Sydney often had to take a second look to make sure they weren’t real even though she’d seen them before.
“This is unbelievable,” Sawyer said. “How is it that he doesn’t have tourists stopping by to see this?”
“You know it’s set back off the road a good way, and even if they did get lost and find their way here, there’s a big, tall fence along the front of the property. Plus he has that gate down at the foot of the driveway. You may have noticed my family guards its privacy quite rigorously.”
His look was hard to interpret. “It hadn’t escaped me. And I know why Noah is so reclusive.”
“You do?” Sydney was skeptical.
“Yes, I do. He worked on my house, remember, and that wasn’t a short project. The place was falling down. I worked alongside him quite often. I know about Moira and what he can do.”
“He told you?” she asked in a hushed voice.
Sawyer gave a half shrug. “He didn’t have much choice. I kept finding him talking to himself, or so I thought. I was starting to worry. He had to explain who he was really talking to.”
“Oh.”
The idea was staggering. As far as Sydney knew, Noah had never told anyone outside immediate family about his abilities. The threat of the secret being exposed was what had led to his rift with Eli.
“I just… he doesn’t trust people. Even if you did catch him talking to Moira, for him to admit that… And you don’t seem freaked out.”
He spread his hands. “I’ve
seen a lot over the years I couldn’t explain. I was shocked at first, and no, I didn’t believe him immediately. He had to prove it. But it kind of made sense once he told me and the shock had worn off. I don’t envy him.”
“I don’t, either. I think it’s a big part of why he’s still single, if you want the truth.” She wanted to ask him if he knew any other of her family’s secrets, but she didn’t quite know how to approach the subject. Besides, they’d reached Noah’s door, and she could see him coming through the house to greet them.
“What are you two doing here?” he asked, stepping outside.
“Playing mailman.” Sawyer handed the package over. “This got mis-delivered.”
Noah smiled. “Sweet. New router bits! Come on in.” He held the screen door open.
“No fiddle tonight?” Sydney asked.
“You just missed it.”
“Hmm. Maybe next time.” Sydney led the way inside, stopping by the tall counter that divided the hall from the kitchen. A large calico cat was perched atop a barstool, waving her plume of a tail slowly as she raised and lowered her front feet in a soft rhythm.
“Hi, Fig, how are you?” Sydney gave her a finger to sniff, then accommodated her by scratching the side of her face. “Are you keeping Noah in line?”
The cat gave a happy purr in response, then reached out her front paws to grab Noah as he went by. He set the package on the counter and picked her up, holding her like a baby.
“That’s a big cat,” Sawyer said as he watched them interact. “What in the world do you feed her?”
“The good stuff. And she is big, twenty pounds plus all this fur. She’s got some Maine coon in her family somewhere. Don’t you?” he asked.
Fig nudged his chin, and Sawyer laughed. “Where’s the name come from?”
