One Summer in Santa Fe - By Molly Evans Page 0,20

his hands around his mouth. “Alex! Where are you?”

“Coming! I’m coming.”

Turning, Taylor huffed out a sigh of relief as Alex came running out from behind a clump of cedar trees and straightened his clothing.

“What were you doing?” Taylor asked.

“I had to…you know,” he said, and turned a vibrant shade of red. “I drank a lot of water.”

Relief shot through Taylor, and he placed a hand over his face, wiping away the lingering fear. Suddenly, the day had ceased to be enjoyable. “Why don’t we head home now? I don’t think I’m in the mood for a picnic,” he said. Without another word, he gathered the fallen equipment and began placing it into the packs.

Alex looked at Piper with tears in his eyes that he tried to control. “Am I in trouble?” he whispered.

“No, you’re not.” Piper reached out to hug the boy against her side. “I think your uncle was just really worried about you.”

“I just had to go to the bathroom,” he said, and wiped his face on his arm and pulled away.

“I know. Sometimes we adults don’t say the right things at the right times.” She patted his shoulder and cast a glance at Taylor, who continued his task. “He’ll be okay. Don’t worry.”

Nodding, Alex kept his gaze downward and pulled away from Piper, apparently not convinced by her words of reassurance.

Taylor picked up the stuffed packs and looked their way. “Ready?”

Without a word, the three returned to the vehicle. The drive back was solemn and tension vibrated in the air. Attempts to draw Taylor into conversation failed, and Piper settled down to watch the scenery.

When they returned to Taylor’s house, Alex climbed out of the vehicle and raced through the garage into the house. As Taylor and Piper entered a bit more slowly, the slam of a bedroom door echoed through the house.

“You really hurt his feelings,” Piper said, and carried the untouched picnic lunch into the kitchen.

“I hurt his feelings? He scared the devil out of me,” Taylor said, and tossed the packs onto the floor.

“And you yelled at him for it. Why don’t you go talk to him?” she said, and picked up the picnic basket and set it on the counter.

Taylor stared at Piper. “What the hell am I supposed to say?”

“‘I’m sorry’ for starters.”

“About what? Being cautious? Being safe? For being scared out of my mind?”

Starting to feel as upset as Alex, Piper frowned at him. “For being a stubborn, pigheaded uncle who doesn’t know how to say he’s sorry when he was scared and not angry. He thinks you’re mad at him, that he did something wrong.”

Taken aback at that, Taylor looked at Piper. She was completely serious. “When I was his age…” He stopped. When he had been Alex’s age, he’d been hospitalized twice by his father for supposed injuries sustained in falls from rocks.

“What is it?” Piper approached him and placed her arm on his, her anger forgotten and her gentleness moving out to him.

Taylor sat down abruptly on one of the kitchen chairs and shook. She knelt in front of him and placed her hand on his face, raising it until his eyes met hers. “What’s wrong? You can tell me, Taylor.”

“Caroline is going to have to come back. I can’t do this anymore, Piper. I just can’t do it.”

“You have to. Your sister is depending on you, and Alex…needs you. I think more than you know.”

“There’s so much you don’t know about me, about why this was an impossible task to begin with.” Taylor raised his hands to cup her face. “Caroline should never have asked me. Being alone and on my own is the way I live my life. I don’t have it in me to care for a child.”

“You do, Taylor. You just have to dig deep inside yourself to find it. I know what it’s like to have the responsibility of a child thrust on you. But it’s something we do for family, right? Why don’t you go talk to Alex? He’ll understand. You just have to talk to him.”

Looking into her clear blue eyes, Taylor wanted to reach out to her, wanted to erase the events of the day and lose himself in her soft touch, in the honey sweetness of her woman’s body. But that was out of the question. He wouldn’t use her that way. No matter how upset he was right now, he wouldn’t do it.

Heaving out a long sigh, he nodded. “You’re right. I’ll go talk to him.”

Piper stood, but