Free Welcome to Bluestone 1 - Bluestone homecoming by MJ Fredrick

want to
consider. And he had no business getting involved with her. But he
couldn’t think of anything else.
    “Dad! Dad! You got a bite!” Max snatched the
hat from Leo’s eyes and Leo squinted against the sudden brightness.
Max’s expression was more animated than Leo had seen it since he’d
been back—since...too long.
    Leo curled into a sitting position,
apparently much slower than Max wanted. The boy pulled on his arm
until he got to his feet and approached his wobbling pole. Max
didn’t let go as he picked up the pole and felt the unfamiliar
wriggling.
    “Like this, Dad, like this.”
    Max dragged Leo’s hands into position on the
rod and lent his slight strength to help him tease the fish along,
let the line play out, then reel it in. With his son’s help, the
memories returned, the thrill of the catch. Max was laughing, the
most beautiful sound in the world as the fish flashed above the
surface of the water. The fish sensed freedom and dove. Max lunged
for the pole and helped Leo pull the fish up. The three of them
watched it dangle in the sunlight before Leo reeled it in, swinging
the end of the pole over the deck, where Max hopped happily,
hanging on Leo’s arm.
    “It’s a big one, Dad! Wow!”
    “Get the camera,” Leo’s dad said, and Max
bolted for the Canon he kept in his knapsack.
    “Hold it by your face, Dad,” Max instructed,
holding the complicated-looking instrument in front of his
face.
    “You know how to use that thing?” Leo
teased.
    “Dad. I’m nine. Of course. Smile.”
    Leo did as he was instructed and listened for
the clicks as he watched his son’s small fingers play with levers
and buttons, adjust lenses, just as he’d seen his own cameramen do.
His grin widened, then when Max would put the camera away, he
stopped him.
    “Let Grandpa take a picture of both of us.
You helped, right?”
    He saw a moment of hesitation, then Max
nodded and shoved the camera at his grandpa. Leo refused to let his
eyes mist as Max snuggled against him for the picture, his small
hand closing over Leo’s on the line. He faced his grandpa and Leo
could sense his pride.
    “Got some good ones.” His dad lowered the
camera, his own eyes misty.
    “Time to let him go.” Max pulled away and
reached for the fish.
    Leo watched his son carefully and deftly
remove the hook from the fish and toss the creature back into the
lake. Pride swelled and he ruffled his boy’s hair.
    They went home for lunch. They sky clouded up
and threatened rain, so Leo drove Max to Target and bought a gaming
console. They spent the rest of the day playing bowling and skiing,
which his mother thought was ridiculous. But Max was happy and Leo
would do anything to keep that smile on his face.
    “Don’t spoil him. That’s not going to do any
good,” his mother chided when Leo was cleaning the dishes after
dinner.
    “One day like this isn’t going to spoil
him.”
    “There will be limits on that video game in
my house, you know?”
    “For me, or him?” Leo teased.
    Nora folded her arms and leveled her
no-nonsense look at her son. “What are you going to do, Leo? Are
you moving here? Are you going to go back overseas?”
    “I don’t know, Mom.” Leo set the last dish in
the drainer and leaned on the counter, dishtowel wadded in his
hand. “I haven’t even been back a week. I’m still trying to figure
things out. Yes, he’s lonely, yes, I see that he’s unhappy a lot of
the time, but the kid lost his mother.”
    “Two years ago. He should miss her, but he’s
just—I’m worried for him, that he feels abandoned.”
    By him. Yes, he knew. That was why he was
here, wasn’t it? And his mother wanted to know if he was going to
stay. He didn’t want to lie to her, but didn’t know the truth, not
yet.
    “I came here. That’s all I’m ready to decide
yet.” He really needed to talk to his editor about that leave of
absence.
    His mother set her jaw in a way that reminded
him of Max. “You should give him his