He’d spent far too many years wishing for her.
He’d fix this and make her happy the rest of her life because he didn’t want to live without her.
He’d show her every day how much he loved her. She’d never have cause to question how he felt about her and that he was completely, irrevocably devoted to her.
Now if he could only figure out how to make her believe him.
All his texts thus far had gone unanswered. He didn’t take it as a bad sign. She hadn’t answered any of Dede’s calls or texts, either.
The front door opened behind him. He turned and stared up at Dede. “Have you heard from her?”
She gave him a sad frown. “No. Not yet. I thought she’d be home for dinner or at least in time to put the boys to bed.”
He completely deflated and hung his head. “She’ll be here soon.” The assurance didn’t ease his mind or heart. It probably did nothing for Dede, either.
“I told you, you didn’t have to wait out here.”
“I didn’t want to intrude.”
“Well, they heard your truck pull in earlier and they refuse to go to bed without a bedtime story from you.”
He glanced at Dede over his shoulder. “I’m not sure Sierra would appreciate that given how she walked away today without giving me a chance to explain.”
“The boys don’t know that. They’re anxious and worried that their mom isn’t here. They didn’t buy that she had to go to work, especially after they saw how upset she was earlier. I think you might have a better chance of convincing them she’s okay than I did.”
He sucked in a breath and let it out, but it did nothing to loosen the band of regret and worry wrapped around his chest, making it hard to breathe.
He couldn’t deny the boys or let this opportunity to see them go.
He stood and faced Dede, letting loose one of the apologies he thought he owed. “I’m sorry about how this went down. I wanted to talk to her today about what I knew about David, but after the balloon ceremony this morning and her getting called away to work, I let it go, hoping we’d have time alone after the boys’ ride to talk.”
“Sierra told me a little of what happened with Heather. I’m beside myself. I don’t know what to do. Heather won’t take my calls, either. I’ll give her time to get herself together.”
“Then what?” The bitter question put Dede on the spot, but Mason didn’t care. Heather didn’t deserve any coddling from her mom. She’d wronged Sierra in the most hurtful way possible. And he’d gotten caught up in her web of lies and deceit.
He had no sympathy for Heather.
If David were alive, he’d kick his ass for treating his wife so callously and leaving her to deal with the fallout of his bad behavior.
There was no good way out of this for Sierra.
She had to live with knowing her husband and sister betrayed her. Worse, she had to explain to the kids and try to do it in a way that didn’t make her the bad guy by disparaging their father and aunt. Impossible.
But Sierra had a big heart and she’d try, all the while her heart would be breaking. But she’d suck it up and do right by her children because she loved them enough to take the hit herself.
“Both my girls are hurting.”
“Heather doesn’t deserve sympathy for what she’s done to Sierra.”
“David was a part of this, too.”
“And Heather is your daughter and you’re loyal to her. I get that it’s easier to blame David. He’s not here to answer for what he did. But you should have seen Heather today, she outright came on to me. She didn’t even ask if I was seeing someone. She just thinks she can have whatever she wants.”
“Did Sierra hear that?”
“I’m pretty sure she heard the whole exchange. Heather didn’t seem to know Sierra and I are seeing each other. We’ve kept our relationship quiet. But she does know Sierra and I have always been close and we were spending time together with the boys at the ranch. Amy knows because she watched the boys while we went on a date, but Sierra never had a reason to say anything about it to Heather other than in a casual way because the boys were always around.”
Mason rubbed his hand over his tense neck. He thought about their conversation. “I don’t think Heather really likes me. We barely know each other, but I’m a good catch.” He didn’t say that out of conceit, but because it was true for Heather. “To Heather, I look like great husband and father material. I’ve shown that I want a family of my own, so she decided to insert herself into my life as the perfect potential wife.”
Dede put her hand to her chest. “How did we go from talking about you being a father to those boys this morning to this?”
He held his hands up and let them fall. “It’s been a hell of a day.” And he hated that he’d hurt Sierra. “I better get upstairs to the boys before they get restless and more worried about their mom.”
He left Dede on the porch lost in her thoughts about the day and her daughters and how they were going to fix this. Mason wasn’t so sure it could be fixed, but for Hallee’s sake, he hoped Sierra was willing to try.
Mason stood in the doorway and stared into Danny and Oliver’s room. The night-light between the two twin beds highlighted their faces and solemn eyes. He hated seeing them upset and worried about their mom.
“Hey, why aren’t you guys asleep yet?”
“Where’s Mommy?” Oliver’s bottom lip quivered.
“She’ll be home soon.”
“Something is wrong.” Danny sat up and studied Mason, looking for any sign that he knew why their mom wasn’t here.
So Mason gave it to them straight. “Your mom is very upset right now. She and Heather had an argument. Your mom is deeply hurt and sad. She needed some time to herself to sort out her thoughts.”
“She’s mad at you, too, isn’t she?” Nothing much got past Danny.
Mason wondered if he’d picked up on the tension between his mom and dad when David was still alive.
“I kept something from your mom. I should have told her right away, but I didn’t want to hurt her, either. I ended up hurting her anyway because I waited too long to say something.”
“What?” Oliver asked.
Danny leaned forward, wanting to know, too.
“That’s between me and your mom. I was wrong. I will apologize as soon as I see her.” That was the best he could do to show the boys that even adults screwed up sometimes and had to take responsibility and apologize when they did.
Mason moved into the room and stood by Danny’s bed. He leaned over and pointed at the books on the blanket. “Want me to read these?”
Danny hesitated a moment, still taking Mason’s measure and deciding that he wasn’t going to dismiss him yet. He nodded and scooted over so Mason could sit beside him, propped against the headboard.
Oliver jumped out of his bed and climbed up onto Mason’s lap, lying down his chest, his head on Mason’s shoulder.
Mason opened the first book and started reading about pirates and treasure. He got the words out, but his focus was on Oliver and Danny so trusting and sweet, pressed against him.
He loved these boys.
He already thought of them as his own. He wanted a thousand more nights like this with them. And Sierra.