Dodge the Bullet (35 page)

“What’s going on? The last time we talked
you were happily nursing him back to health. What changed?”

“Everything changed. I knew I couldn’t do
it, I knew it. Why did I listen to you in the first place?
‘It’s
just sex,’
” Sarah mimicked sarcastically. “
‘You need it and
he needs it.’
God what a fool I am.”

###

Dodge ducked under the deck when he realized
Sarah was talking about him and how she regretted their being
together. Anger lurched up from his belly like a flame. She’s the
one who'd started it! He’d told her it’d be a mistake, but no, she
wouldn’t listen and now he was paying the price. Part of him wanted
to walk away and lick his wounds in private, but the other part
couldn’t make his legs move. If he had to sit under the deck and
eavesdrop to find out just how wrong he’d been to fall in love with
her then he’d do it. She sure as hell wasn’t going to be honest.
The river, gurgling over rock and earth, made hearing difficult. He
moved closer to her voice and found himself standing directly under
where she sat on the deck.

###

“What the hell are you talking about?” Sarah
could tell Jenny was losing her patience. “Just spit it out
already.”

“I’m in love with him! I knew I couldn’t
sleep with him and not get attached. I knew it. But no, you said,
‘just do it’ like it was no big deal to have sex and walk away.
Well, here’s a news flash for you, Jenny. I’m not wired that
way.”

Sarah heard a very deep, “What?” from
somewhere outside. She stood up and looked over the rail. “Who’s
out there?” She called, still holding the phone to her mouth.

“Have you forgotten who you’re talking to?”
Jenny asked.

Dodge appeared from under the deck and stood
with his hands on his hips. She couldn't see his face until the
spotlight illuminated and Kevin came around the corner from the
garage.

“Dodge?” Kevin called.

Dodge didn't turn, but stared up at Sarah.
“You’re in love with me?”

Sarah gazed over the edge of the railing at
the man she loved, the man who didn’t love her back. “I…what are
you doing here?”

“I heard you,” he said. “You said you’re in
love with me.”

“Is that him?” Jenny asked. “Is he
there?”

Sarah let the phone drop to her side. His
stance was like that of a gunslinger about to take down his mark.
Even in the dark she could see the fire in his eyes. He was
spoiling for a fight. She threw the phone in her vacant chair,
shrugged off the throw and gripped the railings.

“I…I…What do you care? I’ve given you a
perfect reason to tuck tail and run. Not like you needed one. I
can’t even believe you’re still standing there after what I
said.”

“You think just because you said you love me
I’m going to take off?”

“No, I thought you’d just hide out in the
barn like you’ve been doing, act like nothing ever happened between
us. Maybe if you try hard enough to pretend nothing happened,
you’ll convince yourself its true.”

“Oh, that’s priceless coming from you.” He
kicked the gravel with his boot and spun around before glaring up
at her again. “Who’s been hiding out up here for days on end? Were
you ever going to work up the courage to tell me to my face?” He
cocked his head and waited for an answer.

At least she could barricade herself inside
when she couldn’t listen to any more hurtful words. She stared down
at him with her lips tucked tightly closed.

“You turned my life upside down and then
left me dangling in the wind like yesterday’s garbage,” Dodge
shouted. “And now you have the audacity to say that you love
me?”

“I didn’t mean to fall in love with you,”
Sarah spewed back. “Why would I do this to myself?” She flailed her
arms in the air. “I guess you get the last laugh. You were right, I
can’t do casual! But I won’t be some cliché woman who tries to pin
you down just because I was stupid enough to fall for you.” She
felt as deflated as a day-old balloon. “You’re just as free as when
we met, Dodge. My feelings are my problem.”

He turned from her and walked around the
side of the house, past Kevin and out of her view. She felt her
knees buckle and had to stifle a sob in her throat. In the silence,
she heard a distant voice calling her name. It was Jenny, she
realized, still on the line. She put the phone to her ear. “Well,
that went well.”

###

Dodge entered the garage with the
single-minded determination to face Sarah and end the madness once
and for all. When he glanced up at the stairs, he realized he had
an eleven-year-old to get through first.

“What are you doing here?” Lyle asked.

“I need to see your mom.”

“She doesn’t want to see you.”

Kevin walked past Dodge to stand at his
brother’s side. “I think she does, Lyle.”

“What do you know?” Lyle shouted at his
brother. “You’re so busy making kissy faces with Shiloh, you don’t
know anything.”

A blush rose on Kevin’s neck before he
tucked his embarrassment aside and gently placed his hands on
Lyle’s shoulders. “She’s in love with him. I just heard her.” He
jerked his head toward Dodge. “And so did he.”

“That’s not true. She loves Dad.”

Dodge kneeled down so he and the boy were
eye-to-eye. “You’re right, Lyle. She does love your dad. She always
will. I’m not trying to replace him or step into his shoes. No one
could ever do that. My mom died when I was little and I wouldn’t
have let someone else try to be my mom.”

“You’ll never be my dad.”

“I know that, son. I don’t want to be your
dad. I’d like to be your friend again. We’ve got a lot in common.
Starting with the fact that we both love your mom.”

Kevin patted his brother’s shoulder. “You
know she’s been sad since we came back. If they love each other…”
he shrugged, “it makes sense. I want Mom to be happy again, Lyle. I
know you do too. He makes her happy and as much as I hate it, Dad’s
not coming back.”

Lyle looked up at Dodge and twisted his
mouth into a grimace to hide his quivering chin. “Alright. You can
see her, but don’t make her cry.”

Dodge’s knees cracked as he stood up and
patted the boy’s shoulder. “I’ll do my best.”

###

The doors to the deck flew open. Sarah
turned and saw Dodge, his face lit with annoyance. Lyle and Kevin
stood beyond him in the den, their eyes huge.

“Hang up the phone,” Dodge ordered.

She stood in shocked amazement, but didn’t
move.

“Hang up the damn phone.”

“Why?”

Dodge ripped the phone from her hand,
slapped it closed, and threw it in a chair. “Because when I tell
you I love you I’d like to have your full attention.”

Sarah would have slipped to the floor if he
hadn't grabbed her shoulders and yanked her against his chest.
“Wait…what?”

Dodge leaned down and kissed her. Sarah
could barely open her eyes when he'd pulled away.

“I love you, too. Damn it.” He twisted his
body toward the door to speak to Kevin and Lyle with Sarah tucked
tight in his arms. “I’m in love with your mother,” he announced in
the same conversational tone he might use with a friend. “Do you
two have a problem with that?”

Sarah watched in amazement as Kevin and
Lyle, stunned into silence, shook their heads with matching baffled
grins.

“Good.” Dodge returned his gaze to Sarah.
“Do you have a problem with that?”

“No. I don't have a problem with that.”

He kissed her again. “Say it back.”

Sarah held on to him with everything she
had, stole a glance at her sons watching raptly from inside the
den, and looked into the eyes of her future. “I love you, A.J.”

The End

Christy Hayes writes romantic women’s
fiction. She lives outside Atlanta, Georgia, with her husband, two
children and two dogs.

Discover other titles by Christy Hayes

Angle of Incidence

Heart of Glass

Shoe Strings

Misconception

Connect with Christy Hayes Online:

http://www.christyhayes.com

http://www.twitter.com/#!/SeaHayes