Page 102 of Wild Then Wed
The room quiets just a little, the card game stalling mid-deal. Sage looks toward the window. Miller stops mid-sip. Even Ridge straightens in his seat.
Boone peeks through the side window beside the door, just a sliver.
He turns around and looks at me. “Wren—it’s for you.”
I frown. “Wait…what?”
I’m already getting up, confused, my pulse ticking up for reasons I can’t name yet. Who would show up here for me? I don’t have spontaneous drop-by friends. I don’t have spontaneous drop-byanyones.
Boone stays close behind, looming like a watchdog as I pull open the front door.
Sawyer.
Standing on our front porch with snow in his hair and a cheesecake in his hands.
My brain short-circuits for half a second. “Sawyer?”
He half-smiles, that crooked little thing he does. “Hey. Just wanted to stop by. Say happy Thanksgiving.”
Before I can figure out what to say, Mom materializes at my shoulder.
“Sawyer!” she beams. “What a pleasant surprise.”
“Thank you, Mrs. Wilding,” he says, polite, and a little shy.
Mom narrows her eyes at him. “I told you to call me Molly.”
Then she pulls him into a hug, cheesecake and all.
“Let’s get him out of the snow,” she says, already taking the dessert from his hands and turning back toward the kitchen. “And he comes with gifts!”
Sawyer shrugs, laughing under his breath. “My mom always taught me not to show up at someone’s home empty-handed.”
Mom glances over her shoulder. “I knew I liked that woman.”
She disappears inside with the cheesecake, and the room shifts again. Quiet, curious eyes flick toward us from around the table. Ridge gives me a look. Miller gives me a different one.
Boone lets out a sigh and goes back to sit next to Lark, as if Sawyer’s presence has officially been cleared.
I turn back to him. “You came?”
He shrugs. “Yeah.”
“Why?”
He meets my eyes. “You said you wanted me here.”
“Yeah, but…” I shake my head, still stunned. “I didn’t think you’dactuallydrive over here. In a snowstorm.”
“Do you want me to go?”
He half-turns, like he might, like he’s giving me the chance to pretend this didn’t happen.
I grab his elbow before I can think better of it. “No. Stay.”
His expression softens. Something warmer flickers there and he nods once. “Okay.”
As we walk into the dining room, Sawyer leans down just enough that I can hear him over the conversation and clinking forks.
