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Jackson glanced over at the fireplace, where he’d thrown on a new log to ramp up the heat; the evening chill was growing fast. He’d never really thought about Texas having cold nights, but for him the predicted mid thirties tonight qualified. The house had a decent heating system, but Jeremy loved the idea of heating it with the fire. “Like the pioneers did,” he’d said.
Yes, his boy had come a long way in a short time. Today had been proof of that.
“Thanks for driving us out there,” Jackson said.
“I was glad to. Haven’t seen Maggie in a while.”
“She’s quite something.”
“She’s a dynamo. They’re one of the founding families, you know.”
“The originals?” he asked, remembering what she’d called them.
“Exactly. The Raffertys were in the middle of the last stand.”
Jeremy’s head came up. “I saw their name in the book Joey showed me. They were there and fought and everything.”
“Right alongside the Highwaters,” Nic agreed with a smile.
“Wow.” The boy went silent for a moment, then, not looking at either of them, he said very quietly, “Lucas’s mom and dad died.”
“I know,” Jackson said, almost as quietly.
“They put him in a home for orphans. He hated it and ran away.”
He hadn’t known that. “How did he end up at the Raffertys?”
“He was hiding there, ’cuz people were looking for him to send him back. But Keller let him stay. An’ now he’s adopting him.”
“Keller Rafferty is a good man,” Jackson said.
Jeremy looked up then. “Lucas said he was as happy as he could be. But that I was lucky to still have you.”
Jackson didn’t know what to say to that. How many sleepless nights had he spent thinking he wasn’t up to this, raising his son alone? How many times had he thought with utter certainty that Jeremy would have been better off if he’d been the one whose vehicle had been broadsided and sent flying by that stolen car?
“You are,” Nic said softly. “You have a father who loves you more than anything.”
And again, Jackson was at a loss for words. Which didn’t really matter because he doubted he could get them out past the lump in his throat, anyway.
Jeremy took another couple of bites, then gave Jackson a sideways look. One he recognized. And the shift in tenor made him able to speak.
“Out with it,” he said, smiling so the boy would know he was teasing him.
“Can we really go back and meet the other dog?”
“I think we can manage that,” he said, and if he’d been undecided, the look of excitement in his son’s eyes would have made the decision for him.
“But you said we couldn’t have a dog back... there.”
Back there. As if Jeremy also was already thinking of this as home, and L.A. as just that other place they’d lived.
“It wasn’t practical there,” he said. “Or fair to the dog, because it would be left alone so much.”
“They’re pack animals,” Nic put in. “And they need to be with their pack.”
“And their people are their pack,” Jackson added.
“So . . . we could have a dog here?”
