One Summer in Santa Fe - By Molly Evans Page 0,47

known it? Psych 101, here we go. Self-analysis. Closing his eyes, a pang of remorse shook him. He just couldn’t be what Piper needed. Maybe he was broken inside and was unable to have a normal relationship, to see it through to what it could be. The word commitment apparently wasn’t a part of his vocabulary.

Now, he knew, it was best to let her go as she wanted. When you cared for someone you didn’t ride roughshod over them, or try to change their minds about something they were quite certain of, did you? Who was he trying to kid? In the end, they would probably go their separate way anyway. Piper had been right, he just hadn’t wanted to admit it.

But, dammit, he missed her. He blew out a sigh and turned on the wipers, then put the car in gear, but kept his foot on the brake. The windows fogged up on the inside, and he used the flat of his hand to wipe away the condensation. Having a car crash and ending up at his own ER was not going to be a way to spice up the weekend.

“Are we going, or what?” Alex asked.

“Yeah, we’re going.”

So they spent their afternoon a different way than anticipated and both of them loosened up, waiting for Caroline to return home.

“This is almost your last night with me,” Taylor said as they drove home, a pang of surprising longing spiking through his chest. What had begun as a nuisance and a favor to his sister had turned into a surprisingly good experience for him. For Alex, too, he hoped.

“Yeah. I kinda liked hanging with you, Uncle T.” Alex gave a quick glance at him.

“I liked hanging with you, too. I’ll have to make arrangements with your mom to have visitation weekends or something,” he said with a smile, reaching over and ruffling Alex’s hair. “I know I’m not your dad, but maybe you could spare me some time now and then.”

“My dad doesn’t really like me, I don’t think.” Alex shrugged and looked away.

A pang shot through Taylor as memories of his own father sprang to life. The man had taken the loyalty and commitment thing to the nth degree and had soured Taylor on life ever since. “Why do you think that?”

Alex fiddled with the hem of his shorts. “I don’t know. He kinda yells a lot, and when I’m at his house we don’t do anything. Just watch sports on TV.”

“Does your mom know?” Not that his own mother had been able to do anything to ease relations with his father. But Caroline would want to know, if she didn’t already.

“Yeah. She can’t do anything, though. The judge said I have to go.”

Taylor wondered if he could do something about it. If he could have a talk with Alex’s father. He snorted. He’d never liked the bastard, so he doubted that would go over well. If José didn’t want the kid, then he should give up his parental rights to Alex. That would be better than a parent who didn’t want his child and treated him like garbage. With his gut churning, he fought the urge to stick a fist up the guy’s nose and perform a lobotomy the hard way. Alex was a great kid and needed a better dad than the one he had. Taylor had survived because his uncle had helped him. He wanted to do the same for Alex. “Well, you can come to my house anytime you want to, okay? I’ll make sure you have a set of keys of your own.” This was a commitment he could make, one he vowed to never fail at.

“Okay.” Alex remained silent for a few minutes as they returned to town. “Can we have a party for Mom? I mean, like a welcome-home kinda party?”

“Sure. Got any ideas?”

“Cake for sure.”

“What kind?”

“Are you kidding? It has to be chocolate.”

Taylor laughed and let the tension of his past fade back to where it belonged. “Chocolate it is.”

They worked out plans for the next evening. They shopped and bought party favors, even a cake that Alex was sure she would like. Caroline was scheduled to have a late-afternoon flight into Albuquerque, then rent a car for the sixty-mile drive home to Santa Fe, declining Taylor’s offer to pick her up.

As they waited for her to arrive, Alex danced around in anticipation, unable to settle down for more than a second at a time. “Where is she? Can I call