The Family Gathering (Sullivan's Crossing #3)(78)

“What?”

“Would you talk with your mom about this? Tell her your honest feelings? She really needs to know how you feel.”

“Why don’t you just tell her?” Trace asked.

Tom shrugged. “I might not see her for a couple of days. She’s working and I’m working and we have two houses and six kids to take care of. I’ll try to remember to, but she’d probably appreciate it more if it came straight from you.”

“Okay,” he said weakly. “Sure.”

“Thanks for being honest with me, Trace,” Tom said. “See you later.”

“Yeah,” Trace said.

Tom started down the walk and then he turned. “There is one more thing. I’d consider it a privilege if you could accept me as your stepfather. We couldn’t do this if we didn’t care about each other’s kids. Your mom is really looking forward to having daughters. It would make me proud to add you and Cole to my family. Just so you know.”

Trace didn’t say anything.

Tom didn’t really expect him to.

*

“Do I thank Sid for this born-again Dakota Jones?” Cal asked.

“Born-again?”

“You’ve gone from the AWOL Dakota Jones to Dakota the family man.”

“No, it’s not Sid’s doing,” he said with a laugh. “It could be, if she’d give in a little.”

They were in Dakota’s Jeep, headed for Denver. It was Monday, Dakota’s usual day off. Maggie wasn’t due back in Denver until Wednesday, so she stayed home with Elizabeth; they were going to Sully’s, where Maggie would help in the garden and Elizabeth would probably eat dirt.

Sedona had been released from the hospital and was staying at Maggie’s for a couple of days. Bob had come to Denver to check her out and fly home with her, but her brothers asked if she could stay long enough for them to see her.

“Sid is definitely one of the things holding me in Colorado,” Dakota said. “It hasn’t been very long for us but I like it. Don’t get too excited. She’s going to string me along for a while.”

“And why is that?”

“I guess she wouldn’t mind me telling you. She went through an ugly divorce and is coming up a little short in the trust department. She’s not inclined to bet on a man.”

“Especially one she hasn’t known very long?” Cal asked.

“I’m starting to think the longer we’re together and the better she gets to know me, the more it terrifies her. She’s going back to LA sometime soon to give her old boss a hand. But I think it’s more than that. As far as I know she hasn’t been back since Rob brought her out here. I bet she wants to know if there’s anything about that old life she misses.”

“Any worries that she’ll move back?”

“I have no idea.”

“And if she does?”

Dakota sighed and concentrated on the road. “I’m not likely to give up easily.”

“You seem altogether different than the man I thought I knew,” Cal said.

Oh, really? Dakota thought. I ran away from home, spent a lifetime in the Army, went to war a bunch, lost the love of my life to a terrorist, went to jail for a while... Why would I change?

“There are things you don’t know about me,” Dakota said. “I’ve been too private. There was a woman who changed my life.”

He told Cal about Hasnaa. They talked all the way to Denver.

Cal looked at Dakota’s profile.

“You can start over and enjoy a happy life. Look at how things have turned out for me. I lost Lynne but then I found Maggie. I guess you thought that only happened to you, huh?”

“If you tell me it happens to everyone, I’m going to be very disappointed. I think I’m special.”

Cal laughed. “I hope Sid takes pity on you, because I like having you around. Never thought it would happen,” Cal said.

*

Sedona greeted them at the door. Though it was July, she wore slacks, a sweater set and fashionable leather flats. From the time she discovered life after the farm, she opted for country club casual clothing, never jeans. While Sierra still wore jeans with tears in all the right places, Sedona always looked like a schoolteacher.

Cal and Dakota took their turns hugging her. She touched her hair and said, “I haven’t had a proper hair color in quite a while and I’m getting gray.”

“You look great,” Dakota said. “Let’s get some coffee or something. Then you can tell us how you’re feeling.”

Bob came from the kitchen to shake hands with the men. He thanked them again for all their help, especially in finding Sedona.

“Sierra couldn’t come with us,” Dakota said.

“She called. She said the demands of the new addition to their household has her running low on energy. I’ll catch up with her when we’re both doing better,” Sedona said.

They all sat at the kitchen table with coffee and some bakery coffee cake that no one touched. Dakota tried not to look too hard at Sedona but his dark, heavy brows betrayed his emotions. She seemed fine, but every action and movement was as if she’d just awakened from a nap.

“It’s going to take a little time for Sedona to get used to the medication. It may even have to be adjusted. But as Sedona tells it, she doesn’t feel any inner turmoil,” Bob said.