Finding Home (7 page)

A dimple appeared in his cheek. 
“You get used to it.”

As she circled around him, letting
her hand slide along his tattoo, she felt puckered flesh under her fingers and
then noticed where the smoothness of the swirls in the design were
distorted.  She felt his muscles tense as she traced the scar then slowly
moved back around to his front, looking up at him in question.

“What happened?” she asked quietly,
surprised she hadn’t noticed it when she had her hands on him last night.

“Got shot,” he replied.

“In the Army?”  He nodded. 
“But, I thought you guys wore Kevlar.”

“This one got under it.  Shot
came in from an angle.”

“Was it life-threatening?”

“Not really.  It was toward the
end of the fight and I got treatment not too long after receiving it, so I was
OK.”

Overcome, she stood on her toes and
pressed a soft, tender kiss to his lips.

“Thank you, Colt, for your
service.  I can’t believe what you guys go through.”

He cupped her face in his hands and
kissed her, then just folded her into his embrace and held her, cradling her
head to his chest.  Sarah wasn’t sure what was going through his head at
the moment, but she had to think he liked what she’d said, even though he
hadn’t responded verbally.

“So, what time is Evan’s game?” he
asked, breaking the silence.

“One o’clock.”

He pulled his phone from his pocket
to check the time.

“I need to run home and shower and
change, but then I can be back here and we can go together.”

That surprised her.  “You
wouldn’t mind going with me?”

He flashed a smile at her. 
“Babe, I’m an umpire because I love baseball.  Spending a day at the
ballpark is not a hardship.”

“Well…OK, if you’re sure.  But
let me make you breakfast first.”

“Yeah, sure,” he said with a wink.

“Come on,” she said, leading him to
the kitchen.  “Have a seat.”

He sat at her tiny breakfast bar and
watched as she pulled out ingredients for pancakes, eggs and bacon.  Her
kitchen was a really small galley style and her preparation area was a small
two-foot square area.  It looked like everything in the kitchen was
original to the 1950s era house. 

“This was your parents’ house?”

She nodded.  “We moved here when
I was eight.”

“And you’ve been here ever since?”

“My father’s medical bills were
through the roof.  My mother took care of them with his life insurance and
then paid off the house.  But it took all her savings.  So, when she
passed, all I had left was this house.”

For some reason, the thought of her
here in this tiny little house all alone disturbed him.  It was good that
she was able to keep the house and not have to find somewhere else to live when
she was only eighteen, but it was such a sad house, not where someone in her
twenties should have to live.  He wondered again about her birth
family.  She’d said she really hadn’t given much thought to them, that she
considered her adoptive parents her family but he wondered if, someday, her
thoughts about finding her birth family would change.  And he wondered, too,
if that was something he could help her with.

When Colt went home that night, he
sat down at his computer and began a search on Sarah’s adoptive parents,
growing increasingly frustrated when he couldn’t find more than just the basic
information on them.  Sarah had told him that her adopted mother said her
birth mother was from Wyoming.    He tried to find information
about Sarah’s adoption but he could find no records of an adoption by Jesse or
Linda Sauter in Wyoming or in Texas. 

It was late, so he picked up his
phone and sent a text to Tessa, just asking if she were awake.  When she
immediately tagged him back, he called her.

“Hey, big guy.  What’s up?”

“I’m sorry to call so late, Tess, but
I’m wondering if you could help me.”

“What do you need?”

“The girl I’m seeing was
adopted.  Both her adoptive parents are dead now and she has no other
family.  She doesn’t know much about her birth family, except that her
adopted mother told her that her birth mother was from Wyoming.  I’ve been
looking online but I haven’t been able to find an adoption record under her
adoptive parents’ names in Wyoming or here in Texas.  Can you help?”

“Give me the names of all
involved.  Your girl’s date of birth, and I’ll see what I can do,” she
told him.

“Thanks, Tess,” he said after giving
her all she’d asked for.

“Does she know you’re looking?”

“Not yet.  I just want to see if
there’s anything to find first.”

“OK, but you might want to think
about telling her.”

“I will.  Thanks again, Tess.”

“You bet.  I’ll get back to you
when I find something.”

He hung up with her then fell back on
his bed.  Part of him wished he had brought Sarah home with him.  He
hated her being in that old house all alone.  Truth was, though, he was
afraid to be alone with her again; afraid that he wouldn’t be able to control
himself around her and they would end up rushing into things like they’d nearly
done this morning.  He wanted whatever was growing between them to
continue at a good pace, and he wanted their first time together to mean
something and not just be an escalation of hormones. 

What would she think of him looking
into her adoption, he wondered.  Would she be upset?  He hoped she
wouldn’t, but as far as that went, he wasn’t sure.

Picking his phone up again, he opened
a text to her.

Hey, babe, I’m home.  Enjoyed
being with you today. 

He saw that she was in the process of
typing so sat back to wait for her reply.

I loved sitting with you on the
couch last night, watching you fall asleep.  I know you were tired but I’m
so glad you spent the day with me.  I missed you when you were gone.

He took a deep breath and decided to
ask a few questions while he knew she was in a good mood.

Have you looked through the box
your mother left you?  The one she said was about your birth mother?

Her reply was short. 
No.

He sighed. 
Why not?

I don’t know.  I guess I
don’t want to hear the story of a young girl who made a mistake and had to give
me up.

What if you have brothers or
sisters or both?  You could have a family out there.

Yes, I’m sure I do have biological
siblings out there, but really, Colt…if you had given up a baby for whatever
reason would you really want that child showing up nearly thirty years later?

 I just thought you might
want to know more about your birth family.

I might…someday.  But right
now, I’m just not ready. 

Colt scrubbed his hand over his face
in frustration but knew he couldn’t push her on this.

OK, babe.  What time do you
want to come over tomorrow?

Whenever you want me to,
she replied.

He was in the middle of a reply when
his phone rang and he saw it was Claire.

Claire’s calling.  Hang on
just a second…

“Hey, sis.”

“I saw your lights on.  When did
you get home?”

“Not too long ago.  What’s up?”

“Well, I thought maybe you’d want to
bring Sarah over for lunch tomorrow.  Give us all a chance to meet.”

“Claire,” he groaned, “I just started
seeing her.”

“Oh, please, Colt!  You don’t do
casual dating.  You haven’t ever had this kind of interest in someone and
I want to meet her.”

“I haven’t dated much because I
wasn’t exactly in the line of work that was conducive to having a relationship,
and then all I cared about was making sure you and the girls were all right.”

“Honey…Coop and I have been married
for over a year now.  You’re free to pursue someone.  You’ve found
someone you like, and I want to meet her.  Lunch is at noon.  Be
there with her or I will send the girls over to bug you every time I see that
you have her at your house.  You got me?”

She hung up before he could
reply.  That was Claire.  Always railroading him.

“Dammit,” he groaned.

Claire invited us over for lunch
tomorrow.  That all right with you?
He texted Sarah.

Sure, that’ll be great.  What
time do I need to be over?

Lunch is at noon.  You can
come over any time before then.

OK.  See you tomorrow,
then.  Sweet dreams.

Nervous didn’t begin to describe how
Sarah felt as she rifled through her closet trying to decide what to wear to
lunch with Colt and his family.  She didn’t want to look like she was
trying too hard but she didn’t want to look like a total slob, either.  She
finally decided on a white hi-low skirt and a black sleeveless top with a
scallop neck to show off her silver necklace and simple black beaded
sandals.  She pulled her hair into a loose, messy ponytail at the nape of
her neck.  Studying herself in the mirror, she thought she looked nice but
still casual.

Taking a deep breath, she decided to
head out before she chickened out.  Meeting his sister was a big
deal.  She hoped Claire would approve; Claire’s opinion would mean a lot
to him since they were twins. 

On the drive, she thought about her
text conversation with Colt before she went to bed last night.  He was
curious about her birth family and she could tell he didn’t understand why she
wasn’t.  As an adopted child, it wasn’t that she never had thought about
her birth family.  On the contrary, she’d thought of them a lot when she
was growing up.  The older she got, however, the more she decided, just as
she’d told Colt, she wasn’t sure she wanted to know the story.  She could
imagine that her mother had been young; her father didn’t support her mother so
she was left with little choice in the matter.  Sarah was immensely
thankful that her mother hadn’t chosen abortion but she imagined that it had
been a hard enough decision for her mother to give her up,

After their conversation, she went
into her mother’s closet and pulled down the box that contained all the
information she would need to find her birth family.  She’d placed it on
her bed and stared at it for nearly an hour before pushing it under her
bed.  What she told him was the truth: she just wasn’t ready to deal with
that yet.

She’d barely pulled into his driveway
before he walked out of his front door.  He wore a charcoal colored short
sleeve henley with khaki shorts, his dark hair curling more today than she’d
seen it so far.  Just looking at him made her mouth water. 

“You look stunning,” he told her when
she got out, leaning down to kiss her.

She smiled up at him.  “And you
look handsome as ever.  I didn’t realize your hair was quite that curly.”

He ran his hand over the top of his
head.  “Humidity.  Didn’t feel like fighting with it today.  I’m
tempted to shave it for the summer.  I usually do when it gets like this.”

She rocked up on her toes and
threaded her fingers through his curls.  If he were to cut them, she’d
miss them, but she’d seen the pictures of him during his Army days and knew he
was just as sexy with a buzz cut as he was with his curls. 

“I like your hair, but I can see how
it could be a pain for you.”

He kissed her brow and looped his arm
around her neck, walking her inside.  They had an hour before needing to
go next door to Claire’s and he wanted to take full advantage of their time
alone.  As soon as they were through the door, he pushed her against the
wall and claimed her lips.  Her hands twisted in his shirt and the sounds
coming from her throat were driving him wild. 

“Hi,” he said, smiling against her
lips.

Sarah giggled and Colt decided,
again, that that was the best sound he’d ever heard.  He kissed her brow and
traced a finger down her cheek.  Her eyes were bright as she stared up at
him, making his pulse jump. 

“So, I should warn you, my nieces are
chomping at the bit to meet you.  They are eight and six and they will
talk your ears off, I guarantee it.  Claire will be extremely gracious to
you.  She hasn’t actually met anyone I’ve gone out with in over ten
years.”

“Why is that?”

He rubbed the back of his neck,
leading her into the living room.  “Well, mainly because most of the girls
I dated didn’t last past the second or third date, mainly because I was
overseas more often than not.  Claire was here.  I was…not. 
She’s seen pictures of a girl or two with me.  People constantly take
pictures and tag people in them on Facebook and other type things like
that.   But, yeah, she’s never met anyone I’ve dated.”

He watched a frown touch her
brow.  “You never cared for anyone enough to bring home to meet your
family?”

“No.  Again, never really stuck
with anyone long enough.  And I refused to take anyone I was casually
seeing to meet her or my parents, because, you know, what would be the point?”

“I see.  And would your lack of
past relationships be something I should worry about, Mr. Harris?” she
inquired, sounding all stuffy and serious, but with a twinkle in her eye.

“I could ask you the same,” he
countered.  “I still find it hard to believe that someone hasn’t snatched
you up before now.”

“Ah, but see, for someone to do that,
it would require me putting myself out there to be taken.  And that’s just
not something I’ve ever been comfortable with for one.  Two, I dealt with
losing both my parents within six months of each other, and then after that, I
was just trying to survive.  Their house was all I had left and I didn’t
want to shame their memory by losing it.”

He raised her hand to his lips,
kissing the back of it.  “But, you dated.  You did have at least one
serious relationship, right?  I mean, you told me you aren’t a virgin.”

“What I had was a crush on a guy I
knew in high school.  I met him again a couple years after graduation and
I was floored that he finally noticed me.  We dated just long enough for
him to convince me he was who I wanted, long enough for me to give him what he
wanted, and then he started showing his true colors so I showed him the door.”

He squeezed her hand.  “Did he
hurt you?”

“No, not really.  I was hurt
that I was dumb enough to believe he was more than he was.  He cheated on
me.  Janine and Grant saw him out at a restaurant with someone else. 
I gave him an opportunity to admit to it.  He lied.  That was the
last time I spoke to him.”

“And you haven’t dated since?”

She shrugged.  “I’ve gone out on
a few blind dates.  Got fixed up with a couple of guys Grant works
with.  Went out with one of Evan’s baseball coaches…once.  But
nothing ever clicked.  Until now.”

“Am I a lucky guy or what?” he said, winking
at her.

She leaned forward and with her lips
against his ear said, “You may be very lucky indeed…if you play your cards
right,” finishing by placing a kiss on his ear.

He growled and turned his head to
capture her lips.

“We’d better head over to Claire’s. 
I don’t want her to come looking for us.  Or send the girls over.”

“Let me just freshen my makeup. 
Oh, and you need to wash your mouth,” she said, rubbing a smudge of her
lipstick from his lip with her thumb.