Free The Way Home (Lights of Peril Book 2) by A. C. Bextor Page B

behind, as he always is. I’m smiling at her and she’s scowling at something I’ve said. I grin to myself thinking it was probably something at her expense.
    The picture is so beaten up and looks like it has been handled often. My heart avoids beating for a moment, as I continue to notice that this is the only picture that hangs loose in his wallet.
    I don’t make a comment about the image as we are on the way back to the house. I’m worried about Patrick. He’s so little, and as a new mother, I’m concerned about every sneeze, and now he has a fever. I’m about to get out of Ace’s car as I turn in my seat to him to tell him goodbye.
    He stops me before I can reach for the handle. “Wait, bug. I’m walking you to the door. Don’t move.”
    “Okay, I won’t move.” He’s on edge. I can’t tell if he’s nervous or just being protective again.
    Once we ge t to my front door, I can see Honor through the window, holding a sleeping Patrick in the rocker. My boy appears to be completely crashed on Honor’s chest and Honor looks like he’s smelling Patrick’s hair. The smell of a new baby is truly spellbinding, I don’t care who you are.
    Ace and I are standing at my door. I’m waiting for him to leave now that he knows I’m safely escorted, but he doesn’t. He’s looking around the house, as if he’s expecting the boogey man to come charging at us, out of nowhere. I never got a chance at dinner to find out why he seems on edge.
    “Sadey, thanks for spending this evening with me. I had a good time.” His only dimple is highlighted by the porch light and his chiseled features look even more prominent. Beautiful man.
    “Thank you for getting me out of this house. I had a good time and I’m sorry about the abrupt ending.”
    “Sadey, t here’s a lot of things I need to tell you, things I know I should have told a long time ago, but didn’t. I just don’t know how, exactly.”
    He moves my hair from my face, putting it behind my ear. He has beautiful eyes, big and brown and full of life, just like mine once were. He leans close to me and through my alcohol induced state I lean into him, meeting him half way.
    I feel his lips on mine and it isn’t u nwelcome, just unexpected. It’s quick and innocent but it’s definitely the same lips I used to kiss before. He’s familiar and I’m clinging to that.
    “Goodnight, b ug. If you need me tonight to be here to help with Patrick, you let me know, okay? I can sleep on your couch again, it’s not a problem.” He turns from me to leave, heading back to his car.
    “Why the picture?” Unsure where the hell I’m coming from here or what angle I’m working as I blurt this out, but hell if I don’t feel like putting him on the spot.
    “Shit.” Turning around to face me again, he starts to walk towards me. He’s looking at me he runs his hands through his thick brown hair in frustration.
    I’ve seen him bald, crew cut, and now he wears it long enough that it touches the collar of his shirt. All looks fair the same on Ace, he’s a handsome man.
    “Sade, you know why the picture, don’t make me say it.”
    “Say what? I guess I really don’t understand.” What the hell is he talking about?
    “Sadey, I ’ve missed you, okay? I’ve thought about you. I missed being here, do you understand that? I missed being around you, touching you, holding you, laughing with you. I missed you before I even fuckin’ left town that night. You chose Hem, not that it was any kind of competition, but you were with Hem, I was never even given the consideration.”
    I stand there, just looking at his face. I’m speechless and I’m processing this, but at an alcohol induced pace.
    Then he continues. “I love you. I’ve always loved you. I never had a chance to tell you that before you and Hem ... the baby, the marriage … I had to leave. I love you and I’ve never loved anyone . Jesus Christ, I did not want to say it like this; out here, at night, when you’re