Page 57 of The Wayward Son

A few minutes passed, then she said, “Sawyer?”

“What?” He tried to keep the annoyance from his voice.

“I’m glad you’re here.”

“Go to sleep, Jade.”

“Okay.”

“How can you be lonely with three other people in the house?”

“I didn’t say I was lonely. I said I was glad you were here.”

“Hmm. Stop talking.”

“I did. You—”

“Shhh.”

When Sawyer woke up again, it was to the sound of Jake putting wood on the fire. The room was lighter, so the sun had come up. Though it was behind a layer of dark snow clouds. When Jake stood, he noticed Sawyer was awake.

“Sorry, didn’t mean to wake you.”

“It’s fine. What time is it?”

“Seven. When did you come to the house? You weren’t here when I got up to turn on the generator and check the fire.”

“I came over around four. I couldn’t get warm in the loft.”

“Yeah. Once the power goes out, it gets cold out there.”

Sawyer scowled. “Now, you tell me.”

“Sorry. I thought J.T. told you.”

“No. He’s never said a word about that.”

Jake smiled. “I guess he wanted you to discover it on your own.”

“Yeah. Thanks for that.”

Jake nodded toward the kitchen. “I’m going to go make some coffee. Do you want some?”

“No. I’m going to try to get a little more sleep.”

“Okay. I’ll keep the noise down.”

“No baby yet?”

“So far, so good. But I want to get the road plowed once you’re up.”

Sawyer laid his head back against the couch. “Yay. My favorite.”

“Get some sleep. I’ll give you another couple of hours.”

“Thanks.”

Jake left for the kitchen and Sawyer heard Jade stir behind him. He turned to look at her and she opened her eyes and gave him a smile.

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