exactly high on his couldn’t-wait-to-do list.
“I won’t be able to swing that, but you’ll have your check on Friday. Guaranteed.” He wouldn’t drop the check off in advance of making the deposit, though. Kyle had been known to get preoccupied—okay, absentminded, to be more accurate—and giving it to him early could risk premature cashing and bouncing of the check. “Thanks for the extension.”
“You’re welcome, buddy. Have a good rest of your week.”
Sawyer repocketed his cell phone and stared down the snowy street. Winter was still wreaking havoc with his bottom line, but by late spring he should see an uptick in demand for outdoor gear. Continuing to tighten the rein on everything but the most necessary expenses for the next six or seven months might allow him, by autumn, to get that personal loan paid off.
Was it a wise move, then, to employ Tori part-time right now? While she’d help out behind the scenes, by her own admission she didn’t know anything about hunting, fishing or camping. But with her hired to take care of his brothers, he needed to uphold his part of the bargain. Make sure it was monetarily worth her while to remain in Hunter Ridge.
He owed his dad and his dad’s wife that much. And the boys.
He’d come up with the money.
Somehow.
He started up the truck and headed in the direction of the Outpost. As Therese had mentioned, he hadn’t visited Cubby and Landon in a while. But he wasn’t sure how welcome he was. Like he’d told Tori, it was an awkward situation.
What he hadn’t shared, though, was that he couldn’t help fearing that Dad’s wife may have told her parents that Sawyer had promised her he’d take care of things while Dad was out of town. Feared they were silently watching, waiting for a confession that their daughter’s death was his fault. But they’d been on an Alaskan cruise the week of the fire and, gradually, he’d come to realize it was unlikely that Vanessa had contacted them about what at the time seemed a trivial matter. But that didn’t ease the guilt when he was around them.
Who’d ever heard of a hot water heater blowing up and catching a house on fire?
* * *
When she walked into church Friday night a week later, Tori couldn’t help but remember the first time she’d stepped through the doors with her friend Sunshine last autumn—Labor Day weekend. She marveled at how far she’d come since then.
Emotionally battered and bruised, still in shock at the unexpected turn of events with her fiancé, she’d been drawn in by the brown-brick edifice with its old-fashioned bell tower and stained glass windows. Now, greeting those around her and helping the twins into a pew near the front where they could best see the play, she felt right at home. Knowing, too, that she’d helped design and sew tonight’s costumes for the high school–aged actors gave her an even greater sense of belonging.
Amazingly she had an almost stranger, Sawyer Banks, to thank that she’d be able to remain in town after all.
“Why are you smiling, Tori?” Cubby stared up at her intently as she helped him out of his coat. “What’s funny?”
“Not funny,” she whispered, banishing the image of Sawyer that lingered in her mind. “I’m just happy.”
About things having nothing whatsoever to do with Sawyer, of course.
“I’m happy, too,” he whispered back.
“You are? Why is that?”
“Because I like church. Landon and I used to come here with our mommy and daddy when we were little. They’re in Heaven now.” His forehead creased as he gazed up at a stained glass window of Christ walking along a rocky road, a staff in one hand and a lamb cradled in His other arm. “Did you know my mommy and daddy?”
“No, I didn’t. I wish I had.”
He settled back into the pew. “I miss them.”
She patted his hand. “I know you do.”
“Hey, look!” Cubby’s twin cried out in a too-loud-for-church voice. But fortunately others were still finding seats and no one seemed to notice. “It’s Sawyer. See?”
Tori and Cubby both turned to look where Landon was pointing. Sure enough, Sawyer was standing inside the main door, visually searching the growing crowd and looking, if she weren’t mistaken, slightly desperate.
“I bet he’s trying to find us.” Landon scooted out of the pew and Tori made a grab for him, but he escaped by mere inches and headed up the middle aisle toward the rear of the sanctuary. At least she managed to detain Cubby, who’d also slid out of the wooden seat. He was attempting to squeeze past her knees, which she’d pressed against the pew in front of them.
“Stay here, Cubby.” But how could she retrieve Landon and keep his brother corralled at the same time?
“We gotta get Sawyer, Tori. With all these people, he can’t see us.”
She wasn’t convinced Sawyer was there to find the boys. He looked more like a man on a mission who wanted nothing more than to get in and back out as quickly as possible.
Then an unexpected apprehension stabbed. Had something happened to Therese and Ray and he was here to find her and his brothers? She’d offered to take the boys to the church play so the couple could gather with friends in Canyon Springs, a town about thirty minutes away. It would be, Therese had confided before they departed several hours ago, one of a few out-of-town evenings without the children that they’d managed since taking the boys into their lives full-time.
Queasiness roiled her stomach as she stood, hoping Sawyer would spot her. Unfortunately, Cubby used the opportunity to squirt past her and into the aisle. She caught his arm. “Hold on a minute.”
She glanced back at their coats and her purse on the pew. Surely no one here would bother them, would they? Then Cubby grasped her hand and tugged. “Okay, I’m coming.”
Like fish swimming upstream, they wove between the arriving playgoers, and up ahead she could see Landon in earnest discussion with his big brother and pointing toward the front of the church. Sawyer, on the other hand, was shaking his head and looking around him, apparently still in search of an elusive someone. Spying her and Cubby making their way toward him, he cast her a resigned smile.
Cubby’s hand slipped out of hers and he barreled himself toward Sawyer. Fortunately, his big brother saw him coming and caught him before he plowed right into him. Lifted the boy into his arms.
“We found you!” Cubby grinned in triumph.
“That you did, bud.”
Landon punched Cubby’s foot. “I found him first.”
“Yeah, you did,” Sawyer soothed, with a reassuring pat to Landon’s shoulder.
“He can sit with us now, can’t he, Tori?” Landon turned hope-filled eyes on her. “We have lots of room.”
“Of course he’s welcome to sit with us, but your brother may not be here to see the play.” Her heart still hammering an anxious beat, she gave him a pointed look, hoping he understood her unspoken
