Page 2 of The Wayward Son

“Yeah.”

“He said you had a place here in Missoula. I said I’d like to look you up sometime and he gave me your address.”

Sawyer shook his head. “I haven’t seen Steve in two years. Not since he moved to Washington.”

“Well, apparently, he’s a fan.”

“That still doesn’t explain why you’re here now. In a wedding dress.”

“I explained the wedding dress part.” She took a deep breath. “I didn’t want to go to anyone in my current life. Most of my friends are his friends. They’ll all assume it was something I did. His family never really approved of me.”

“What about your Aunt? Or your—”

“Don’t say it. I haven’t seen my father since I was seventeen. And he died two years ago. Good riddance. As far as Aunt Joy goes. She told me from the beginning I was marrying Seth for all the wrong reasons. So all I’ll get from her is an ‘I told you so.’ She was right, of course. But that doesn’t mean I want to hear it.”

“So, I was your next best choice? I haven’t seen you in eight years.”

“You were always good to me, Sawyer. You got me. And I needed to go to someone who wouldn’t judge me or try to console me. I just needed someplace to go so I can catch my breath and figure out what to do next.”

Sawyer sighed. “Okay. What do you need me to do?”

Jade struggled to her feet. “I need to get out of this dress.”

Sawyer stood, too. “Right. The bedroom is right there. Wear whatever you can find that will fit you.”

She gathered her skirt and headed for the bedroom. Then she stopped at the doorway and turned to him. “There are like a thousand buttons down the back of this thing. I need you to unbutton them for me.”

Sawyer hesitated, then walked over to her. “Turn around.” There were a lot of buttons. But the count was around twenty, not a thousand. They were small and round and very hard to undo. Jade stood with her arms crossed and tapped her foot, which made her bounce up and down.

“Hold still. It’s hard enough without you bouncing around like a jackrabbit.”

She sighed loudly, but stopped tapping her foot.

When he finished, he stepped away from her. “Can I just say one thing?” She turned to him. “This dress is…preposterous.”

Jade started laughing. “I know. It’s ridiculous. I think my mind was taken over by some little wedding gremlin about a year ago. It’s been in complete control ever since.”

“Go take it off and tell that gremlin to take a hike.” He looked at her hair. “And do something about the hair.”

“I’ll need to take a shower to get all the hairspray out.” She touched her face. “And this makeup.” She shook her head. “Me in makeup? Again, what was I thinking?”

“Just go shower. I’m sure you’ll feel better afterwards. And honestly, you’re a little bit scary right now.”

She shook her head, then threw her arms around his neck. When she stepped back, she patted his chest. “Goodness. When did this happen?”

“Go change. I’ll go put some coffee on.”

She headed for the door. “I’d rather have something a little stronger.”

“Beer?”

She glanced back at him.

“Bourbon?”

She gave him a thumbs up, then closed the bedroom door.

Sawyer went to the small kitchen. He wasn’t a big drinker. Though he'd overindulged a few times in the last couple of years. Usually with J.T. But he preferred beer over anything else. Andwhen he was getting ready for a fight, he didn’t drink anything thing other than water. But tonight he’d make an exception.

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