Page 2 of When Love And Destiny Collide

"He's probably more scared by your aggressive reaction than by the car stopping."

"You're lucky I didn't hit you, kid!"

"Kid?! Now you're calling me a kid? You big, arrogant, angry, offensive, never-grew-out-of-my-toddler-stage dumb-a—"

"Daddy, look!" Davey interrupts, pointing toward the front of the girl's car.

I tear my gaze from her and look where Davey is pointing. We all watch as a family of ducks calmly waddles across the road.

"One, two, three, four," Davey counts. "There's four babies and a mama duck."

The young woman turns back to me, crossing her arms and glaring triumphantly.

"You're pretty," my five-year-old murmurs, his eyes wide with admiration as he gazes at her.

"Thank you," she smiles, her voice soft and kind. "You're sweet."

When her gaze shifts from my son back to me, the warmth in her eyes vanishes, replaced by a blaze of fiery hostility.

"Alrighty then," she says, her voice laced with contempt. "There’s nothing I can do about your sour disposition. But since your son and your car seem unscathed, I’m leaving."

"Wait," I start, trying to salvage the situation. "I'm—."

"No, no," she interrupts, raising her hand, her sapphire-blue eyes piercing into mine with unsettling calm. "Don't bother apologizing. You're clearly not from around here, so let megive you a heads-up: we have ducks. Sometimes, the occasional raccoon, possum, or deer. Try not to run over any of them while driving on our roads."

"Pardon me," I say, struggling to rein in my temper.

"You heard me," she says, turning to walk away.

"I'm not finished talking, young lady."

"Well, I'm done talking to you, Sir."

With that, she climbs into her car and drives away, leaving me seething.

"Can we go now, Daddy?" my son's voice slices through the tension, but not my rising blood pressure.

"Yes, get back in the car. Make sure you buckle up."

Sapphire? Since when do I describe any shade of blue as sapphire? And when did I become asir?

I climb back into the car, my hands gripping the steering wheel as I try to focus on the road ahead. Returning to Cold Spring was never part of the plan, but this town is my home. My brother, Jon, and his family are the only ones we have left. Davey needs strong family ties and a sense of belonging. He'll have cousins to play with and his aunt and uncle to help me raise him. Staying inJapan made no sense after Marian left, abandoning our fifteen-year marriage and our son without a second thought about how her absence would affect him.

Her “Dear John” letter was stapled to divorce papers and a signed custody agreement granting me sole custody of our son.

***

"Shay!" I exclaim when my sister-in-law opens the door.

"Noah!" she cries, throwing her arms around me. "Come in! Hi, Davey! Oh my goodness, when did you get so big?"

"I'm five now!" Davey announces proudly, holding up five fingers.

"What took you so long?" My brother's deep voice is a resounding welcome and music to my ears.

"Jon!" I exclaim, rushing to hug him tightly.

"We would've been here sooner, but we almost got into a fender bender just a few miles from here."

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