Page 44 of The Wayward Son

“Hi, Brady.” She glanced at Jade. “Do you remember Jade Emmerson?”

Jade noted the change in Brady’s face. It was a look she hadn’t seen in a while. It was concern, with a touch of regret. She’d seen it often while growing up with her father. Most everyone in town knew how her father was. But the majority of them didn’t want to get involved. So she’d get the ‘poor girl’ look, followed by guilt for not doing anything to help the poor girl out.

The look passed, and he smiled at her. “Welcome back to town. Are you here to stay?”

“No. Just staying at the ranch for a couple of weeks.”

“It’s nice to see you again.”

“Thank you.”

Brady helped them pick out some fruit for Sawyer, and when they were looking at the berries, he said, “Tell your aunt I’ll set some of these berries aside for her.” He winked at Sage. “Maybe I’ll get a pie out of it.”

“You just might. I’ll let her know.”

They headed for the checkout stand, and Jade looked at Sage. “Is something going on between Brady and Aunt Genny?”

“Sort of. They accidentally, on purpose, ran into each other last year during Memorial Day weekend and had a weird backwards dinner.”

“A backwards dinner?”

“Yeah. I guess they started out with coffee, in case things got uncomfortable. Then they moved onto dessert, followed by dinner. Now they do that once or twice a month. If you ask her, she’ll tell you they’re just old friends. But I think there’s more to it than that.”

“That’s pretty cute.”

“Yes. It is. But Aunt Genny is so stubborn and determined not to ever depend on a man again.”

“She really got burned, huh?”

“Yes. It was before I was born. But she’s pretty much sworn off men since then.”

Jade smiled. “Until now.”

“Maybe. Brady is pretty sweet. I hope he can hang in there long enough for her to come around.”

“And Sawyer told me Lucy is spending quite a bit of time with your granddad.”

Sage smiled. “Yes. But I think they’re happy with the status of their relationship. Really good friends.”

“With benefits?”

“Eww. I hope not.”

Jade laughed. “You never know. They’re not dead yet.”

Chapter fourteen

"I'm not incapacitated."

Sawyer was in the comfy state between sleep and wakefulness when J.T. cursing in the kitchen brought him fully awake. He rolled onto his back and scowled. “Dude. What’s your problem?”

“You don’t have any coffee.”

Sawyer sat up. “There’s not a little left in the can?”

“No. It’s empty.” He turned the can upside down and let the coffee dust in the bottom of it waft down to the counter. “Why did you keep an empty can?”

Sawyer rubbed his face, then swung his legs over the side of the bed. He stood, trying to ignore the pain in his side. It was still tender, and he adjusted the waistband of his pajama pants to hit below the bruise. He crossed the room to the kitchen and took the can from J.T., then peered into it.

---