Country Romance - Carolyne Aarsen Page 0,41

been dropped in. Had quickly adjusted to being in this new place with his...yes...his sisters.

And his father.

All of this should make it easier for her when she left.

Then why didn't she feel happier?

She brushed his hair away from his face and pressed a gentle kiss to his forehead. "I think he likes you too."

Dean stared past Adele, his hands folded over his chest. "Why didn't I see my daddy before now?"

Adele was surprised this question hadn't come out sooner. But the poor kid had so many things dumped on him the past month he was probably still playing catch up. And now Adele had to think fast.

She stroked his hair, playing for time, seeking the right way to tell him the truth without hurting either his memory of Sally or his current situation with his father.

"Your mommy and daddy lived far away from each other," was all she could manage for now. It was lame, and she knew someday Wyatt would have to come up with a more satisfying answer, which would create its own problems. "And your mommy couldn't travel much because she was working and didn't have a good car. Then she got sick." She figured the more information and 'excuses' she piled on the fewer questions he might ask. Her own thoughts about Sally had taken a huge U-turn after finding out how Dean was conceived. No wonder her friend had been so elusive about Dean's father.

Dean nodded and gave her a quick smile. "I'm happy we're here all together."

This created another twinge of guilt that Adele pushed down.

But even as she did, her thoughts drifted to the kiss she and Wyatt had shared. The teasing of possibilities.

She swallowed, pushing them down. She couldn't allow herself to indulge in that. Hadn't her life taught her the danger of allowing connections to grow?

She kissed Dean’s forehead again, then stood. Could she leave him here?

There's no place for you here. You have your own plans you have to follow through on.

Besides, Leah was counting on her to start this new bakery, and there was no way she was letting her down. She knew too well what it felt like to be abandoned. She certainly wasn’t doing that to anyone else.

She closed the door to Dean's room, forcing down her emotions, reminding herself to be practical. Before she went downstairs, she stopped in at the girls’ room. They were each in their own bed, fast asleep. Maria had kicked her blankets off, so Adele pulled them up and tucked them under her chin. Maria's eyes drifted open and she smiled up at Adele. "I love you." Her sleep-slurred words created an ache that, combined with Adele's own mixed emotions, thickened her throat.

"Go to sleep, sweetheart," she whispered, giving in to an impulse and pressing a gentle kiss to her forehead.

Then, shaking off the motherly feelings that curled through her stomach, she made her way downstairs.

Wyatt still sat on the couch, but he had a photo album on his lap.

She sat down in a chair across from him, tucking her legs under her.

"I'm looking at baby pictures of me and my family," Wyatt said, his voice quiet, contemplative. I don't know if I'm just imagining it, or if it's real, but I’ve got to admit, Dean looks like I did when I was little." He held up the photo book. "Like this."

Adele hesitated, then walked around the coffee table between them and sat down beside him, looking at the grouping of pictures of several young boys. They wore blue jeans and torn T-shirts. One of them held a frog in his hand, the other two were looking closely at it. "Is this you?" she asked, pointing to the middle boy.

"Yep. For some reason, I loved frogs. My brothers, not so much."

"Which one is which?"

"The one on my left is Reuben, the other is Finn. My sister, Carly, was probably running away, screaming. She was such a girl."

"Is that an observation or an insult?" Adele asked, unable to stifle her smile at his comment.

"Not an insult, though when Finn called her that, it could be," Wyatt said with a shrug, glancing over the other pictures on the page. "But we teased the living daylights out of the poor kid. That's her there." He pointed to a picture of a young girl wearing an oversized cowboy hat, a tumble of wild blonde curls falling around her shoulders. She had her hands on her hips and a wry smile on her face.

"She looks like