Page 23 of Long Road Home

“You are really good, you know,” I said, for lack of something actually worthwhile to say. I had no idea how to act around this kid. Part of me wanted to pull him to my chest and give him a huge hug, cry all over his hair.

The other part wanted to slam my fist into walls until they were demolished I was so damn pissed off.

But pissed off wasn’t going to help anyone.

He crossed his arms over his chest and scowled. “I heard you yelling at my mom.”

Aw crap. If he heard me threatening to bring lawyers in, making inroads into a relationship with him would be a thousand times more difficult. I took the risk. “What’d you hear?”

His gaze went to the house and back to me. “Nothing. Just loud voices.”

Good. That was better at least. I handed the ball out to him and waited until he took it. “I apologized to her for that. I shouldn’t have yelled. But I’m not going to lie, I’m really angry with your mom. I won’t always handle that the right way, but I can promise you that for you, I’ll try to.”

He bounced the ball at his side and then passed it straight to my chest. It came hard and fast and I barely had time to grab it before it slammed into me.

Toby grinned. That grin hit me in the stomach and spread to my limbs. “Mom said your sister came last night. What’s she like? She got kids?”

I figured Rebecca had disappeared here. It explained her blowing up my phone all afternoon. I could only imagine what she let fly when she saw Destiny. Colorful language was most likely included.

She also had a dead husband and a fiancé and an upcoming wedding, but that seemed a bit heavy for a ten-year-old. “No kids. Although she’s getting married in a few weeks. You know the actor Cooper Hawke?”

“Yeah. Who doesn’t? What about him?” My sister had no idea who he was until he showed up on her ranch last summer. And the only movie she’d still seen of his was last spring when they went to his movie premiere. He was currently doing more producing than acting so he didn’t have to travel as much.

“He’s marrying her. He lives with her here, on the cattle ranch they run.”

He looked at me skeptically. And it was so similar to my own, or Rebecca’s, or our father’s, that burn in my gut went deeper. “No way.”

“Yeah way.” I grinned back at him. “While you’re here I’ll take you out there. You can meet them and if you don’t know how, I can teach you to ride the horses.”

“They have horses? Really?” Something fresh sparked in his eyes.

His first genuine smile at me. It felt like I’d scaled a mountain without climbing equipment. It was a first I’d remember forever.

“Yeah. They have all sorts of animals. Kids love hanging out there and chasing the goats and chickens.”

I bounced the ball back to him.

“That could be cool,” he murmured, and his eyes slid toward the house. “Can Mom come?”

Rebecca and Destiny together might set off a bomb. Even with hundreds of acres of land for them to spread out it was still too close. And who knew how much time Destiny would want to spend around my family. I’d figure out a way to make it work.

“You bet.” He passed me back the ball. “What else do you do for fun?”

Toby rattled off a dozen things, mostly playing with his friends, biking, video games. And I memorized every single word he said as we moved our passing the ball back and forth to dribbling and a little bit of one-on-one action, fake shooting the ball against the garage like there was a hoop there.

At some point, Destiny came outside, sat in a chair on the front porch and sipped a glass of water, watching us while we talked, laughed a little bit, and by the time the sun was starting to set, I wasn’t nearly ready for the night to be over. I might not have been able to pack them up and take them to my place, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t spend as much time with him as I wanted.

She owed me that.

I grabbed the ball, and reached out without thinking, ruffling the top of Toby’s head. He jolted and then settled, and I pulled my hand back. “You kick ass, kid.”

He grinned up at me, slid his hand through his hair where I’d touched like he needed that feel of me and that beautiful burn I’d felt all night grew sweeter. Less angry. A whole lot more hopeful this kid of mine could actually like me.

“Thanks.” He shuffled his feet and reached for the ball in my hand. I pulled it back and grinned.

“How about I head to my place and grab my Xbox and we can play a few games you were telling me about?”

“You don’t have Fortnite.”

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