Clean Lines (Cedar Tree #4) (15 page)

"Yup."

"Missed you too, Doc," he says, planting a kiss on my lips, "And I would like nothing more than to continue this and end up buried so deep inside you I'll never want to leave again, but I know your son is inside and we have stuff to discuss."

I try on a pout to hide the impact his words have on me, but it only makes him chuckle. Untangling himself from my limbs, he grabs my hand and pulls me to the guesthouse.

"Bub, you want something to drink?"

"Ginger ale, Mom."

Joe's asking Fox about the game we find him playing, while I get some coffee going. I figure Joe's trying to put Fox at ease a little because the tension was visible on his face the moment we walked in together. God only knows what is playing through his head and frankly, although I trust Joe, I'd like to know what is up.

After putting everyone's drinks on the coffee table I sit in the club chair and face Joe and Fox on the couch.

"Right," Joe clears his throat. "As you know, I've had to contact the Phoenix PD to let them know what Fox heard. Like I mentioned might happen, they’ve insisted on talking to him themselves. Now I'm not willing to tell them where you are until I know who I can and cannot trust. They weren't too happy about it, but with a bit of help, we managed to arrange a meeting in my office for Wednesday."

Fox is sitting very still next to Joe and other than nervously playing with the buttons on the controller in his hand and bouncing his leg, he's showing very little emotion. My own heart is pounding in my chest though, so I'm sure he's not doing much better.

"Am I in trouble?"

Joe quickly looks at me before turning his attention to Fox again. "You could be, but I'm not going to let anything happen to you. I hope you don't mind, but I have asked a lawyer friend to be present at the interview. Your mother and I will be there too, if they let me. I don't think you should worry about anything. You have some friends with really good connections who have experience dealing with stuff like this. Just trust us, okay?" He gives Fox's jumping knee a squeeze and throws me a reassuring smile.

I'm trying to decide whether to be angry at him for being presumptuous in making all these arrangements without consulting me first, or whether to be grateful for making sure we were taken care of. Guess the struggle is visible on my face, because he ends up sitting on the coffee table, his face inches from mine.

"There are a lot of things I'd like to do to lighten your load, but I can't. It's your life and you have to make decisions yourself. This though? This happened to be something I'm better equipped to handle, so I did. You can be mad, but it wouldn't make a difference. Let me shoulder this."

"You know you're sneaky when you're being all reasonable like that, right?" I tell him, lightly stroking my thumbs over the calloused palm of his hand I find myself holding. The light abrasion of his rough skin on the pads of my fingers has my nerve ends buzzing. The thought of feeling those rough hands skimming over the swells of my breasts, turns my nipples hard and I gasp audibly.

"Naomi," comes a low warning growl from Joe, right before the loud slam of the bedroom door that has the windows rattling in their frames.

Fuck
. Guess my son just had a front row seat on the chemistry between the sheriff and his mom. Works just like a cold shower.

Joe leaves shortly after that with a lingering kiss just outside the door, but not before cautioning me.

"Look, I'll try to pop in again, but for sure I will see you tomorrow at the pig roast. Oh, before I forget; please stick to Cedar Tree. I need you to try and get some time off work, call in sick if you have to. Apparently no one knows Maxim Heffler's whereabouts."

When he sees the confused look on my face at the name, he clarifies, "The guy who was on trial? He's the one we think Fox overheard his dad talking to. He's in the wind, and there is still the threat on you from the message left at your house. It's easier for Gus and the guys to keep an eye out when you are both here.  If you drive back and forth into Cortez, even with someone looking out for you, it would be too easy to track you back here from the hospital."

"But what about you? When you come here?"

"First of all, why would anyone assume I have a personal connection with you? And secondly, even if they did, all they would see is a sheriff doing what he's always done. Even when it comes to visiting here. Look, I know it's a pain, but try to lay low for a little, okay?"

No, I'm not okay with it but I'll deal, because I know I have to.

"L
et's go, Bub. Don't want to keep Emma and Gus waiting."

Fox is dragging his ass getting ready and it's getting under my skin. We were supposed to be getting a ride with Gus to Caleb and Katie's for their housewarming pig roast, but at this rate we'll be late. Grabbing my phone, I send a quick text to Emma to let her know to go ahead. I'll take my own car and be right behind them. My phone rings almost right away.

"You sure?" Gus wants to know. I should've known the uber-protective man would want to hear it directly from me before trusting a text message.

"Yeah. My son is being a pain in my ass right now. We won't be long. Just let them know we're on our way."

"Okay. Naomi? Just in case, keep the phone handy and lock the car doors from the inside."

"Will do."

Way to make a girl feel safe. I was gonna jump at shadows now.

I'm excited about tonight, or at least I was until Fox started being a pest. Even dressed up a little; put on the best jeans and a slinky top I found in the bottom of my haphazardly thrown together bag. I'm really going to have to do something about our clothes. We can't keep washing the same stuff over and over again. Even put on some make-up, all because it almost feels like a date tonight. With Joe.

I haven't seen him today, but he did call last night to say goodnight. That was pretty sweet of him. Fox had come out of the bedroom the moment Joe had left earlier and ignored my attempts at talking to him, so I'd let him be, but when I walked into the bedroom with my phone after I identified Joe as the caller, he rolled his eyes at me. Brat. Joe's voice tempts me, even over the phone, but having your son in the next room with a disapproving scowl on his face is a very effective reality check. So short and sweet it was, nothing more, but I did get a promise that somehow, some way, we would find some time alone. I can't wait.

I did call the hospital yesterday afternoon and told them I had a family emergency and wouldn't be in until at least after next Wednesday, thinking that would give us some time. I was too chicken to deal with Jenna directly though, and left the message with the secretary. I tried to ignore the calls from Jenna that started flooding my phone after and haven't listened to the messages yet. Nothing I can do, or rather, want to do, about it now.

Funny, where before I would try and rebuild my life on securities, now it seems to have turned into one big risk. Both dangerous and scary, but also exciting. Kinda liberating to let go of the reigns, make a few contingency plans and then just see where it takes you. That's how I feel now, a little like floating on threats and possibilities. A weird state for me, but one I decided to run with for now. Not like I had much of a choice, and to be honest, as far as work goes, I wouldn't be too upset at this point if I lost my job, although I'd rather leave on good terms and of my own choice.

So I'd wear my slinky top, despite the chilly evening, and pretend I was going on a date. Well I did, until Fox gets a load of my get up and finally decides to speak.

"It's a pig roast, Mom. Not a club. And if you're going all dolled up desperate to try and catch the first guy that looks at you twice, I'm not coming."

Boom
. That's the sound of my ass landing firmly back on earth. Just for a moment, I feel the tears welling up, but I force them down.

"I will ignore that deliberately hurtful crap you just spouted, because I don't want to believe you mean it, but Fox, if that’s the way you treat people? Don't expect to receive any better treatment yourself. I may not have been the best mother these past sixteen years, but I've tried. Lately I've laid everything on the line and there isn't much I wouldn't do for you, but I won't stand by and let you belittle me. Not after the way I was treated for years. Did that make you feel better?"

I wait for an answer, looking at my tall son standing in front of me, his head now turned away, unwilling to meet my eyes. An almost imperceptible shake of his head tells me enough.

"Didn't think so. This is what you need to know; I like Joe, and he seems to like me well enough too. So for now, we'll see where it leads. That's all. I have that right and I don't need your approval for that, although it would be nice if you gave the man a chance, given the trouble he has gone through for us—for you. Now I'd like you to get ready. We have a party to attend."

With that I turn my back with my fingers crossed, hoping I somehow got through. Knowing words or even gestures might be too much to ask from a teenager, I'm pleased to hear his heavy footfalls make for the bathroom. Which is where he's been holed up for the past thirty minutes.

"Fox! Come on. You're taking longer than I do to get ready."

Finally the door opens and Fox comes out. Dressed in clean clothes and obviously showered with his hair wet, but a persistent scowl still in place. I can live with that. I hear it's all the rage with the teenage crowd. What I don't expect is the big bear hug my boy wraps me in, pinning my arms to my side. With his head on my shoulder I can barely hear the muffled
'Sorry,'
but it's there. Wrestling one of my hands free, I stroke his head and press a kiss to his hair.

"Forgotten," is all I say.

Pulling up to the big barn Caleb and Katie have converted into a gorgeous home, I see half of Cedar Tree is already present and accounted for, but the one truck I'm scanning for isn't there. I'm a bit disappointed Joe isn't here yet, but the night is still young.

Most of the crowd is concentrated around the kitchen and outside on the big back deck. Looks like Malachi is in control of the pig, with Neil hovering nearby. Like a moth, Fox ventures over to the flames as well, where Mal seems to take him under his wing after throwing me a wink. I don't know the man well, but I know he is trustworthy.

I spend some time mingling and chatting with Arlene, thanking her for the tip on the old feed-store, when I hear Caleb's voice from an upstairs window.

"Mal! Get Naomi and come up here."

The urgency in his voice has me jump up and make my way towards Mal who is obviously looking for me.

"I'm here," I tell him and together we make our way inside.

I know what we'll find. I've seen Katie grimacing a few times with her hand pressed against her lower back. I told her last week when I examined her that her cervix was already dilating and had even started thinning, which is pretty unusual in a first timer. So I'm not surprised to find her in a bed soaked with amniotic fluid, when I quickly have to begin rattling off my demands. One peek tells me this baby is ready; its little head crowing, showing us a shock of black hair with each contraction.

This is my passion, I don't think, I simply operate on what I know. This is almost instinct; muscle memory from my favorite year interning on the maternity ward in Phoenix. With a few reassuring words for the parents and Mal acting as gopher and nurse, this birth was as smooth as any woman has a right to give birth. By the time Katie and Caleb pull their newborn son on her chest, my slinky top is a sticky mess and I'm sure my make-up is smeared all over the place, but I wouldn't trade this night for anything. When Katie asks Malachi, her brother-in-law, to cut the cord instead of Caleb, the moment is so emotional, I almost lose it. This is what family should be. This is what I dreamed of having all those years ago, when I was young and hopeful. But now there was just Fox and I, no one else. Not really.

I slip into the bathroom to wash up as best as I can and compose myself before heading back in to check on Mom and baby.

An hour and a half later, Katie is lying in a clean bed, with little Mattias at her breast. She only needed two little internal stitches for a tiny tear, since Mattias wasn't a particularly tiny baby, despite being born a bit early. Mind you, one look at the paternal side of his family and you wouldn't be surprised. Those Whitetail men are massive.

"Here's a clean shirt," Caleb walks up and hands me a T-shirt, something I desperately need.

"Thanks," I smile at him, but he just looks at me with an impassive face before lifting me up in a bone-crushing hug.

"No. Thank you for... for everything. Just thank you." The normally level and contained Caleb can't hide the emotion pouring out in his voice.

"My pleasure and my privilege," I whisper to him, my eyes on Katie.

A kiss on my forehead and Caleb lets me go, turning back to his wife and child. Mal went back downstairs to 'man' the barbecue and the bar and I'm about to head down when Katie calls from the bed. "Would you take Emma and Arlene aside and send them up in the elevator when you go down?"