Last First Kiss (29 page)

“
I swear on
my life I’ll do all that I can for you.”

She pushed open
the
door
,
and Wade heard the TV blaring and what sounded like the theme music to SpongeBob SquarePants
playing
. He walked behind Cathy as they entered the
living room
,
and
t
here Max sat
on his father’s lap
,
his hand
s conducting along to the music from the cartoon.

“Oncle Vade,”
Max
said when he saw him.

“Hi Max. Hi…I didn’t catch your name?”
asked Wade, looking at Cathy’s ex who was probably around his age,
and
slightly
overweight
with a goatee.

“Just what the hell is he doing here?”
he asked.

“This is Nick, Max’s father. Nick, Wade Lin
l
ey.”

“Max, why don’t you run along to your room
,
and I’ll be in to read you a story later,” said Wade.

“Really?” asked Max.

Wade nodded. “Yes, really.”

Max didn’t wait
a minute longer. He
slid off his dad’s knee and ran along the hallway.

“Nick, Wade knows everything.”

“What the fuck did you go opening your mouth for?”

“I’m sorry…it’s just…”

Cathy burst into tears and flopped onto the couch and put her head into her hands and sobbed.

“If you cooperate, come along with me and turn yourselves in
,
things are going to look that
much better for you,” Wade told him.

“Go along with you?” asked Nick.  He stood
,
and
the ex-cop in
Wade sensed he wasn’t going to come along the easy way
,
so
Wade
pounced on him and sent him flying onto the floor. Wade still had a pair of handcuffs he’d kept from his days on the force
,
so he dug them ou
t from his back pocket of his jeans and secured them on Nick’s wrists before pulling
them behind the man’s back.

“You mind if I call Sophie to come and look after Max while the two of you are at the police station?” asked Wade.

Cathy shook her head as a tear flew from her face. “
No, I don’t mind.
I think that might be a good idea.”

Wade got Nick to his feet and pushed him out of the door where the sheriff was waiting.
Wade
went back in and got Cathy and walked her outside. “
I’ll wait for Sophie to arrive
,
and then I’ll come down to the station
.
A
nd we can all give a statement
,
okay
?
”

Cathy nodded. “Take care of Max for me
,
will you?”

Wade nodded
, on the brink of tears himself. Not so much for Cathy but
for
that cute little boy now sitting in his room waiting for a story.

****

“You mean this nightmare is over?” asked Grans when Sophie and Wade returned to Mountainview that night.

“Yes, just about.
You’ll probably need to go before the judge again.
The prosecutor will ask that all charges be dropped against you seeing the new
evidence that’s been presented. And I’m suspecting that the judge will dismiss your case,”
said Wade.

Grans held her chest. “I can’t ever thank you enough,” she said. “I had visions of spending the rest of my life behind bars.”

“I told you I’d never let that happen
,
especially now you’re going to be my grandmother-in-law.”

Sophie liked the sound of that.

“Do you think the court will let us be Max’s foster parent until they figure out what will happen to Cathy?
After being around him this afternoon…well, I sort of fell in love with him,”
said
Sophie.

“I’d say there’s a good chance of that seeing how
we’ll be a married couple soon. And I guess it will be good practice for us for when we have one of our own.”

“That dear little boy,” said Grans. “I do hope everything gets sorted out for him.”

“Me
,
too,” said Sophie. “But he’ll have a home
with us as long as he needs one.”

“So do you think we
s
hould start planning a wedding now?” asked Wade.

“I think it’s about time we did,” said Sophie, leaning over and kissing her soon to be groom.

Epilogue

Sophie tiptoed along the hallway. Wade had told her to go and relax in the tub
,
and he’d take care of the baby while she did so. In the two
weeks since they’d brought Quinn, named for Grans’
s
maiden name,
home from hospital, Wade had been
fussing
around their newborn son almost 24/7.

She heard singing coming from the nursery. She peeked through the space where the door wasn’t fully closed and saw Wade about to put a new diaper on their son
and Max standing on tip-toe so he could supervise
.
Wade
lifted the little guy’s legs sliding
the diaper
under his buttocks while he sang to him
,
and Max hummed along.

Sophie couldn’t help it. S
he burst out laughing.

Wade looked toward the door.

“Is that your mama out there when she’s
supposed to be soaking in a tub of warm
water and bubbles?”

Sophie stepped inside the roo
m and joined
them.
.
Her life had certainly changed since returning to
Greenville
. Shortly after Sophie and Wade had gotten married, Cathy had been sentenced to five years in prison
,
but the attorney said she’d probably only serve three years. She’d given birth to a girl who
was being
fostered by a family in
Laramie
. Sophie and Wade had considered taking her
,
but then Sophie had found out she was pregnant
.
T
hey were lucky enough to become foster parents to Max
,
so Wade thought they’d have their hands full.

“I heard the singing.”

“Just humming a tune for my son while he gets his diaper changed.”

“I hope it’s not a crying in your beer song.”

“Nope, it’s a lullaby.
Isn’t that right Max?

“It’s a happy song, Aunt Sophie. Now can I go watch my show?”

“Yep, you run along
,
and after that it’s straight to bed,” Wade called after him as he ran out of the nursery.

“
A lullaby, really, that’s what you call a country song.
” Sophie rested her head o
n Wade’s arm as he lifted Quinn
up.

“Don’t you think we produced the best lo
oking little
boy in
Wyoming
?”

“I think in the whole world,” said Sophie.

“Yeah, I think you’re right.”

She smiled. There was no place she’d rather
b
e than here in
Greenville
,
Wyoming
with two of her very own cowboys
and Max.

The End

www.vanessadevereaux.com

Other Books by Vanessa Devereaux:

How I Met My Lover

Take a Chance on Me

Evernight Publishing

www.evernightpublishing.com