Currant Creek Valley(36)

He wasn’t sure if that changed his ambivalence about the man at all but he had liked her mother. If Harry had convinced Mary Ella to marry him, Sam had to be inclined to think more favorably about him.

“If you don’t mind me bringing my son along, fine. I can be there tomorrow, late afternoon.”

“Great. See you then. Now I suggest you get a move on, son. Alex is a woman of her word.”

He had already figured out she would be. He nodded to both men and hurried to his pickup.

At the motel, he quickly changed out of slacks to cargo pants and suitable hiking boots. Back in his pickup, he was keying in the street address she had given him to his GPS when his cell phone rang.

Maybe she was backing out. Surprised by the fierceness of his disappointment, he reached for his phone and was happy on several levels when he saw his brother’s home phone number, the one Ethan used to call him.

“Hi, Dad!” his son chirped when he answered.

He suddenly missed Ethan with a fierce ache. “I thought you would be sleeping. I tried to call earlier but Aunt Cheri said you were still at Luke’s party. How was it?”

If not for the huge birthday celebration thrown by one of Ethan’s classmates—the party he had been hearing about for weeks—Sam would have driven down to pick up Ethan that night to bring him back with him.

“It was really fun! Luke has a swimming pool and a slide and a trampoline. I was very careful to follow all the rules. Only one person at a time is permitted to jump on the trampoline, Luke’s mom said so. It’s a safety issue. I waited to jump until everyone else was done and having cake.”

He wasn’t sure how he felt about having a son afraid to do anything he wasn’t supposed to. Pretty ironic payback for a guy who had broken as many rules as he could, once upon a time.

“I can’t wait to see you tomorrow,” he said.

“What time do you think you’ll be here?” Ethan asked. “I want to set the alarm on my watch.”

He laughed, even as he had another qualm. Since Kelli died, Ethan had been obsessed with setting alarms, keeping to schedules, probably out of some need to control the world around him that had turned so confusing and scary.

He wanted Ethan to be a regular kid, breaking rules, taking chances, missing the bus once in a while. Embracing life.

“I should be there around ten, then we’ll come back here and have two whole days together. You’re really going to like Hope’s Crossing, I promise. Remember how nice it was when we came that day last month? They’ve got a park here with a cool climbing wall and a rocket you can play on inside. In the winter, we can go sledding and maybe you can learn to snowboard.”

“I don’t know about that. My friend William said his brother broke his leg snowboarding.”

Further evidence of Ethan’s fears. “It can happen sometimes, but it’s a pretty fun sport if you know what you’re doing.”

“I guess.”

“We can talk about it. We have a few more months to go before it snows again. Meantime, get some rest and I’ll be there after breakfast tomorrow. I’ll see you soon.”

“Love you, Dad.”

“I love you, Eth. More than anything.”

They hung up and he stared out at the night for a long moment. His son was his priority. He had to be, especially during the transition phase while they both tried to adjust to their changing circumstances.

Ethan had lost so much. First his mother, then the relationship he had once had with his grandparents. Now he was losing something else important—his home for the past eight months, the cousins he loved and the aunt and uncle who had stepped up to help Sam.

Was it any wonder his son wanted to control as much as he could in his life? It was up to Sam to give him the most stable, supportive environment he could when they finally settled into life here in Hope’s Crossing.

He was somber as he followed the GPS directions to the trailhead. As much as he wanted to see Alex again, he almost wished he had never gone to her restaurant earlier—and certainly that he hadn’t pushed so hard for an opportunity to spend more time with her.

He liked her, probably too much. When he was with Alexandra, he could forget about the weight of responsibility dragging at him like that seventy-five-pound pack he’d been thinking about earlier—the constant worry that he wouldn’t be able to give his son what he needed, that he wasn’t enough.

He needed to be focusing on Ethan and creating the best life he could for the two of them, not remembering that moonlit kiss the other night.

He would enjoy his impromptu hike with Alex tonight and spend the time trying to ease things back to a friendly footing, he decided. He didn’t see what other choice he had.