Page 13 of Nick
“Let me explain—” Sarah reached for him again, her fingertips grazing the fabric of his shirt as if she was trying to bridge the chasm that had opened between them.
He stepped back, the motion brusque.“There’s nothing you can say.”
Nick’s words were a barricade, thrown up to shield himself from the pain of her treachery.A silent command hung in the air between them: do not cross.
“I did it for—” Her plea was cut short as he raised his hand, palm out, stopping her midsentence.
“Stop, Sarah.Just stop.”His voice was cold now, any warmth frozen over by the ice of his fury.Pain and protectiveness warred within him, each vying for dominance as he looked past her to the boy who shared his blood.
“Javier,” he said softly, addressing the child, who watched the scene with wide, confused eyes.Nick mustered a smile for his son, a poor attempt to shield him from reality.“Why don’t you show me those toys?”Nick gestured toward the colorful pile by the steps, hoping to divert the boy’s attention.
“Okay!”Javier’s innocent excitement was a balm to Nick’s roiling emotions, even as it underscored all he’d missed.
Sarah’s voice was a whisper behind him, a ghost of their past.“I never wanted—”
“Another time, Sarah,” he said without turning.He took Javier’s small hand in his.
Nick knew the reckoning would come, the time when he would have to face the entirety of Sarah’s choices and his own absence.But for now, he would focus on the little boy who looked up at him with eyes full of trust.
It was the only thing he could think to do to keep the remnants of his shattered world from crumbling completely.
Chapter 6
“WILL YOU STILL HELPus?”Sarah asked after Javier finished showing Nick—Javier’s father, she acknowledged—all his toys.
She stood motionless, her heart hammering in her chest as she watched Nick’s internal struggle play out in the set of his shoulders, the way his hands clenched and unclenched at his sides.The air was thick with tension, an electric charge that seemed to buzz against her skin.
She held her breath, waiting.
Finally, he exhaled a slow, deliberate breath, his gaze fixed on the dusty ground before lifting to meet hers.“I’ll stay,” Nick finally said.“I’ll help you.For Javier.”
Relief flooded Sarah, the anxious knot in her stomach loosening slightly to give way to a flicker of hope.
“Thank you, Nick,” she managed to say.
Nick’s jaw tightened, a small tell of his own inner conflict.“We’ll be back first thing in the morning,” he promised.“We’re going to check into the motel out on the interstate—the one about thirty miles from here.”
“Okay,” Sarah said, nodding, wishing she could think of something else to say, a way to make things right with him.
But he refused to listen to her.
Moments later, Sarah watched the taillights of Bronx’s vehicle disappear before she let out a breath.Javier, clutching her hand with his small, warm fingers, tugged gently.
“Tia Una said it was almost time for bed,” he announced.
Sarah smiled.“Tia Una is right, as usual.”
“But it’s not even dark yet!”
“It stays light out later in the summer.But it will be night soon.We should go inside.”
Una waited for them just beyond the threshold.
“Did he take it well?”Una asked as she closed the door against the coming desert night.She reached out, her touch light on Javier’s head, ruffling his tousled hair affectionately.
Sarah hesitated, her gaze lingering on the curiosity dancing in Javier’s eyes.“As well as can be expected,” she said truthfully.“He’s here.He agreed to help us.”
Una nodded and followed Sarah to Javier’s room.Sarah tucked the edge of the worn blanket around Javier’s small form, her fingers lingering on the soft fabric.
