Collin was out of the diaper in a flash and pushing his feet into the big-boy underwear. After he had them pulled on, he ran over to Sophia and did a little dance, shaking his tiny butt. “See me, Mommy?”
Sophia giggled. “I see you, bub.” She glanced at Wes. “Where’s the tiny toilet he’ll need?”
“I don’t believe in that method.” Wes produced a toilet seat cover. “Just set this on top and place his stepstool in front of the toilet.”
She smirked. “You’ve done a lot of potty training?”
“When parents come in and ask for advice, I provide them with proven techniques.” He held the seat up. “My research has indicated this is an easier approach. Unless you think you’d enjoy cleaning out the tiny toilet instead of simply flushing the big one.”
Well, when he put it that way . . . “We can try this way first. Any more advice, Dr. Sawyer?”
“As a matter of fact . . .” Wes pulled out a large tub of toy cars. “Collin, every day you don’t wet your superheroes, Mommy will give you a car.”
Collin’s eyes rounded at the giant container. “I wan’ ’em!”
“They’re all yours. Just don’t wet the superhero. Or poop on him for that matter.”
Wes went as far as setting the toilet up and going over how to use it with Collin. The little guy sat there a short while and then stood in front of it like a “big” boy, but nothing happened.
He tired of trying and went to play in his room. Sophia thought Wes would head on out but wasn’t sure if she was pleased or disappointed when he took a seat on the couch and patted the cushion next to him.
“Mind if we have a chat before I go?”
Hesitant, Sophia walked over and sat down beside him.
“You’re sad a lot of the time,” Wes commented while looking her straight in the eye. “I don’t like it, and so earlier I thought teasing you a little would lighten your mood.” He shifted and placed his arm on top of the couch behind her. “I’m not good at that, obviously. I just . . . I wanted to make you laugh again. Instead, I offended you. Please know that wasn’t my intention.”
Floored by his sincerity, the only thing Sophia could do was sit there and nod like a bobblehead.
“When my wife was sad or upset about something,” he began barely over a whisper, “the only thing I had to do was tease her and it always seemed to make her feel better. I had no business trying that with you.”
His admission hit Sophia low in her belly, finding it endearing that his wife’s happiness took such precedence in his life. And then he went and tried to do the same with her and she ruined it by cold-shouldering him for it.
Clearing her throat, Sophia said, “No, I’m sorry. You did nothing wrong. It’s on me and my personal issues.” She wondered if she would ever be able to participate in a healthy relationship, or if the toxic relationship with Ty had poisoned any hope of it happening.
“Okay.” Wes nodded and then scanned the room. He seemed ready to move on to another topic, but Sophia knew she needed to reassure him that it most certainly was one of those “it’s not you; it’s me” situations.
She briefly placed her hand on top of his. “Thank you for trying to make me feel better. That was very considerate of you, and it actually worked until I went and made it awkward.”
One side of his mouth kicked up, producing that darn dimple. “I did?”
Sophia snickered. “Yes, you did with your unruly mouth.” She lowered her voice and said, “That’s so unbecoming of you, Doctor.”
“Your husky voice is uniquely appealing,” he admitted out of nowhere, flooring her again. She never knew what to expect to come from his lips anymore.
She wrinkled her nose. “I sound like I have a permanent cold.”
“I like it.” A blush warmed his cheeks as he removed his arm from behind her and stood, clearly trying to avoid round two of awkward moments for the day. His attention moved to the door as if he were planning to make an escape. Before he moved, a squeal came from Collin’s room.
The little guy came racing down the hallway and into the living room while waving his underwear in the air like a flag. “I not wet ’em!”
“That’s great!” Wes squatted down and helped Collin slide his underwear back on.
“I get a caw now?”
Wes chuckled and ruffled her excited son’s curls. “Sure. . . . Wait. . . . Did you peepee?”
Collin bobbed his head exuberantly.
“Where?” Wes asked slowly.
Collin took off toward to his room with Sophia and Wes on his heels. He pointed to the tiny garbage can in the corner.
Wes moved over and peered inside before giving her a sidelong glance. “At least he didn’t go on the floor.”
The hilarity of the moment hit her and sent Sophia into a fit of laughter. She laughed until her sides hurt and her face was damp with tears. Wes watched her in awe for a few beats before joining in.
When she regained her composure, she pointed at the offensive problem. “You found it, you clean it.”
Surprisingly, Wes scooped up the can and walked out of the room without protest. As he passed by her, he taunted, “That’s progress, miss, whether you want to admit it or not. He didn’t wet ’em.” The last part was mimicked in a toddler voice, cracking Sophia up all over again.
After the can was washed out with bleach and Wes went over how to use the real potty once more, he opened the giant container and handed Collin a car. He then produced a book from one of his bags about a super kid learning to go to the potty and read it to Collin while they all sat on the couch. It was a silly rhyming book and Wes kept erupting into boyish giggles while trying to read it straight-faced.
In the midst of the giggle-reading, Collin grabbed Wes’s face with both hands and mushed until Wes had fish lips. “’Top laughin’, Wes. I not know what you say.”
Needless to say, it took a long time for both Collin and Sophia to settle down later that night after Wes left. The ache in her jaw from grinning gave her a reprieve from the ache in her heart, and for that she was thankful for the silliest night she and her son had enjoyed in quite a while.
Weston Sawyer, unbeknownst to him, had given Collin the best birthday gift of all, and it had nothing to do with the contents of those three shopping bags.
No, it had everything to do with the time spent making memories that were filled with laughter and grins. Not tears and grimaces.
10
Sunset Cove was beginning to feel like more trouble than it was worth. As Wes stared down at one of the local thorns in his side, he had to wrestle with his manners to keep them front and foremost. Said thorn had shown up under the guise of delivering baked goods several long minutes ago with a sidekick in tow. His eyes flicked to Dalma and took in the blue three-piece suit she was wearing with a pair of camouflage rain boots. Blinking several times, he refocused on what Bertie was yammering on about.
“They said—” Bertie began with her eyes squinted.
“And who are they?” he interrupted.
Bertie overlooked his sarcastic question as she shoved the platter of cookies into his hand. “That girl is in need of some help. They said she’s gone and caught anorexia.” She tsked and patted the side of her fluffy gray hairdo. It was freshly teased and had a purplish tint it didn’t have the last time she visited to deliver brownies and gossip on some other person he’d never heard of before.