Page 7 of Stay

“But you asked her to take care of meals sometimes, so she’ll eat dinner with us, right?”

“Well, yes, maybe sometimes…if she wants to. But if she’d rather eat out here, we’ll need to be okay with that, okay, son?”

He tilts his head up at me and nods, but his expression is serious.

“I don’t have to go to Arizona if I don’t want to, do I?” he asks.

“Your mom will want you to come see her sometime in the summer, but she said she’ll come here during the school year as much as she can.”

He wrinkles his nose. “I don’t like leaving you or our family, and I don’t like leaving Landmark Mountain.” He stands up and kicks the tip of his shoe on the hardwood floor.

I walk over and put my arm around his shoulder. “Your mom loves you and she’ll be missing you a lot. I bet there will be things you love about Arizona. You need to give it a try before you decide you don’t like it.”

He buries his face in my stomach. He’s still small for his age. The Landmark boys’ growth spurts didn’t come until a little late in the game, but once we started growing, we didn’t stop until wewere beyond six feet. I’m curious to see how it goes for my boy, although I’m in no rush whatsoever for him to grow up.

I hear sniffles and pull back, tilting his chin up. Tears are running down his face and it’s so rare that he cries, I find my throat constricting as a lump forms inside.

“Owen, what is it? Talk to me.”

He shakes his head and the tears keep falling. I lead him to the chair and sit down, pulling him into my lap. For a few seconds, he leans his head on my shoulder. It reminds me of all the nights I sat with him in the middle of the night, wondering how I could possibly be a good dad to this precious boy but promising him that I’d die trying.

“Mom acts like I’m in the way.” It’s muffled, his head still against me, but then he pulls back and looks at me. “You know how we have all these new people in our family now?”

I nod, feeling gutted by what he’s just said about Tracy, but not wanting to do anything that might keep him from saying what he needs to say.

“They’ve only been around a little bit,” he says, “but I’m more…I-I feel more likemearound Uncle Jamison and Aunt Sofie and Aunt Marlow and Dakota and Aunt Ruby…”

He lists all the people my siblings are dating or married to, and Dakota, Marlow’s little girl, who immediately took to Owen. Over Christmas, it was decided he’d call his aunt and uncles’ partners uncle or aunt whether they’d gotten married yet or not. There’s no doubt in my mind that it’s only a matter of time before Jamison proposes to Scarlett, and Wyatt and Marlow are already engaged.

I’m the oldest of five, but Scarlett was the first one to fall in love, the baby of the family, and I never would’ve thought I could love the guy she chose as much as I do. He’s been a great man for her from the beginning, but my brothers and I had always thought no one would deserve her. We were proven wrong withJamison Ledger. And then Theo’s high school sweetheart came back after eight years. Technically, I guess he was the first one to fall in love way back then. We’d all grieved when she left because she was like family to all of us—but once we knew the reasons behind her leaving and that she was here to stay, we welcomed her back with open arms. Theo and Sofie got married last fall. And in the middle of all that, Wyatt, my middle brother, hit it off with Sofie’s best friend Marlow when she moved to town, and she has the cutest daughter in the world, Dakota. That little girl has all of us wrapped around her finger, and I suspect the baby they’re expecting will too. Even my grump of a brother Callum has found love now. I would’ve never believed he’d find someone who made him want to come out of his cave, but Ruby is that person.

And every single one of them has made Owen feel more special than his mother has.

“And Pappy too,” he adds.

Pappy is Jamison’s grandfather, and we all love the man.

“Can’t forget Pappy,” I say, sounding choked up. I clear my throat and trace circles on his back. “Have you ever told your mom you feel this way?”

I’ve tried to talk to Tracy about this before myself, just from seeing how Owen is around her when she comes to pick him up. I’ve subtly suggested activities I thought they might enjoy doing together, or I’ve passed along books he likes, thinking she could read them so they’d have something to talk about…anything to develop more of a bond.

“She gets upset when I cry for home, so I try to not cry in front of her.”

“I didn’t know you cry for home. Why didn’t you tell me?”

His little shoulder lifts and he lays his head back on my chest. “I didn’t want you to think I’m a baby. And Jeff was okay. I wishthey weren’t getting a divorce. He was fun sometimes, but now that he’s gone, it’ll just be me and Mom again, and I don’t?—”

I wait, but he doesn’t say anything.

“It sounds like we should have a talk with your mom. Would you be okay with that?”

“Would you ask her if I can just stay with you?”

My heart cracks a little more. “I think it’d be better if we talk about this, see if your relationship can get better. I don’t want you to have any regrets later about missing out on time with your mom.”

“I really don’t want to go to Arizona,” he says, his voice breaking again.

“It wouldn’t be for long, son, but if you feel the same way when that time comes, we’ll figure something out with your mom. I’ll go with you or ask her to keep coming here. I don’t want you to be anywhere that you’re not comfortable.”

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