Page 41 of Two Hearts' Accidental Heroes

Johnny led him into a cozy room near the kitchen where a roaring fire was blazing. Several paintings were displayed across the room, and Rick glanced at the entire wall of beautiful artwork in awe. Most of the paintings were depictions of the Dragonfly Pointe Inn.

He shook his head dazedly. “John. I’ll bet you’re proud of your mom?”

“I am. Grandma says that I’m going to get to live with Mommy and see how I like it.”

“I think you will.” The kid looked so much like Shanna, with his white-blond hair and deep blue eyes. “We’d better go back into the kitchen and see how your mommy is doing.”

This time, Shanna was crying in full force when they returned.

“Thank you, Grace,” Shanna said. “I can see that you’ve taken good care of him.”

“He had some horrific nightmares at first—I gather he had a woman taking care of him, but it was a tense situation. The man that she lived with was apparently Johnny’s grandfather, so we won’t get into that. For the most part, he seems to have gotten over the nightmares during the past year that he’s been living here with me,” Mrs. Montgomery said. “This home belonged to my parents, and when Wesley’s father was killed, I moved home, where I could truly be at peace. It was a difficult marriage. Wes mentioned that he told you about my husband, so I don’t need to tell you why. Johnny was named for my father, Shanna, who was the kindest and most decent man I’ve ever known.”

Resting her hand over Grace’s and squeezing it with definite reassurance, Shanna turned to Rick. “Grace thinks that the two of us should go ahead and take Johnny along with us to the cabin tonight and see how it goes. Maybe we can go out to eat together, and go for a walk near the lighthouse, if it’s not too cold?”

“I’d like that,” Rick said, looking down at Johnny, who was still holding his hand. “How about you, John?”

“What’s Grandma Grace going to do?”

“I’m going to pack up all our clothes so we can go on an adventure together tomorrow. And you can come back before we leave and gather any toys you want to take along with you,” Grace replied. “We’re all going off together on a plane.”

Johnny’s eyes went wide. “Will I be coming back with Grandma?”

“You’re going to live with your Mommy for a while and get to know her. But I’m sure you’ll be coming back to visit me, most likely for a while during the summer when you’re out of school,” Grace answered.

An hour later, Rick, Shanna and Johnny were on their way back to the cabin.

Chapter Twenty-One

Her son.

After all these years, she could hardly believe she was here with him. She wasn’t sure what she’d expected, but not this talkative, curious kid who seemed so well-adjusted, despite everything he’d been through.

She got a kick out of the way that he’d attached himself to Rick, probably because he’d apparently had women taking care of him most of his life. But when he’d gotten tired at the end of the day after going for a long walk and going to the nearby restaurant to eat, Shanna had been the one he’d snuggled up to on the couch near the roaring fire that Rick had started when they’d returned after dinner.

It felt like she had a real family, Shanna realized. There was the tender way that Rick kept looking into her eyes. It was something that she’d never experienced before.

She was taken aback at how much she desired him. For the first time in her life, she wanted to know what it would be like to be with a man who wanted her for more than an object of sexual gratification.

But that would have to wait, despite her sudden yearning. They barely knew each other. She felt like she was lacking, never having had the opportunity to even finish high school. Look at Rick. He’d mentioned he was in the Air Force and had been working in search in rescue until he’d been injured and recruited by Jake.

Shanna gently stroked Johnny’s cheek. He was a handsome boy, but it made her nervous to say so, thinking of what could have happened to him in the hands of someone like her father.

“What’s wrong?” Rick whispered.

“I was just thinking about what could have happened to Johnny if my dad would have followed through with his threats,” she admitted.

“Oh, Shanna,” Rick groaned. “I have a feeling you’re going to be having trust issues for the rest of your life.”

“I know enough to realize that I’m going to have to get help, Rick, and talk with a shrink. It might be a long time before I feel any sense of self-worth. I don’t even have a high school degree,” she said softly.

“I don’t look at you like that,” he said. “Even a man like Wes saw the real you. What you need to do now is just celebrate the fact that you’ve found your son.” Rick sighed. “Shanna, I’m telling you now, nothing you do is ever going to make me turn away from you. Maybe you’re not ready for marriage or a relationship yet, but I’ll wait for you, no matter how long it takes.”

Tears filled her eyes. “You’d do that for me?”

“I’d do that for us, Shanna. Like you said, I’ve always been with you, no matter how lonely you were, but you’ve always been there with me too. I could never shake away my thoughts of you, no matter how I tried to tell myself that there was nothing I could do. It was a video image of you that brought me back to Crystal Rock, you know.”

“I didn’t,” she whispered.

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