“I want you to know how grateful I, uh, we are to be here. You didn’t have to take us in.”
“It’s no big deal,” she said, clearly uncomfortable with his thanks.
“Maybe not to you,” he said. “It is to me. And I’ll never forget it.” That said, he released her.
Cheeks stained an attractive pink that had nothing to do with the cold, Dani could only stare at him for a moment before coming to life and thrusting a plate stacked with pancakes in his direction.
Ryan took the food, but instead of helping himself, he offered the pancakes to Sawyer, who forked a stack, the next instant exclaiming, “Look! Christmas trees.”
Christmas trees? Belatedly, Ryan realized to what Sawyer referred—the pancakes. Somehow, Dani had shaped each like a Christmas tree and decorated it with blueberries. And she said she couldn’t cook….
“Some of them are a little lopsided,” she said, shrugging self-consciously.
“I like ’em just fine!” Sawyer gleefully assured her. His grin stretched from ear to ear.
Oddly pleased that she’d taken such pains to make Sawyer’s Christmas breakfast so special, Ryan helped himself to a short stack of the “trees,” then passed the plate back to Dani. Butter and syrup came next, then the bacon. Soon everyone ate in contented silence.
“I like this,” Sawyer suddenly announced.
“Pancakes are my favorite, too,” Dani said.
“I’m not talking about them,” Sawyer told her. “I’m talking about us eating together. It’s just like at my friend Robby’s house. He sits at the table every single morning with his mom and dad and eats stuff like this.”
His mom and dad? Ryan nearly choked at the comparison.
Dani, however, looked amused. “And what do you usually do for breakfast?”
“Well, when I lived with Granny Wright in Arkansas, I always had cereal and milk,” Sawyer told her around a huge bite of pancake. Ryan bit back the urge to tell him not to talk with his mouth full. “Dad and I have doughnuts and cookies and stuff.”
Ryan felt Dani’s accusing gaze on him and squirmed in the chair. “That’s because you told me you didn’t eat cereal,” he said. “You know I don’t have time to cook in the mornings.”
“It’s okay, Dad,” Sawyer hastily assured Ryan, as if afraid he might have hurt his feelings. “I like what we have.”
Dani said nothing—at least not out loud. But her expression spoke volumes, and Ryan saw curiosity and speculation in her eyes. At once, he made two mental vows, the first to keep his personal business to himself. As for the second, well, that was to drag his butt out of bed a little earlier from now on to cook his kid some eggs or something.
“Tell me about your Granny Wright,” Dani said to Sawyer. “How long did you live with her?”
“Until she died.”
Ryan bit back a smile at Sawyer’s innocent answer, which didn’t begin to answer Dani’s question.
“I’m sorry about your grandmother, Sawyer. I’m sure you miss her.” Dani took a sip of coffee, then tried again. “Where did you stay until your dad came to get you?”
“At Granny Wright’s house with Erica.”
“Erica?”
“My mom.”
“Your mom?” The words were a squeak of surprise. As though aware she sounded like a parrot, Dani hastily explained, “I’d assumed she was dead or something.”
Sawyer giggled as only an eight-year-old boy can. “No way.” He said nothing else, but went on shoveling pancakes into his mouth, an action that left Dani visibly frustrated.
Apparently giving up on getting information from the boy, she raised her gaze to Ryan. “You and Sawyer’s mother are divorced?”
Ryan shook his head. “We never married.”
“I…see,” Dani murmured, even though she couldn’t possibly. Clearly, her curiosity battled the need to protect Sawyer from whatever truth Ryan so obviously resisted sharing.
“Erica’s a movie star,” Sawyer offered as he reached for his glass of milk. “She don’t have time to take care of a kid.” He spoke the words as if he was quoting them…no evidence of blame or pain, just a flat statement of fact that stabbed Ryan’s heart.
Dani caught her breath, a soft sound Sawyer didn’t appear to hear. Without uttering a word, she rose suddenly from the table and walked over to the counter to stand for several seconds with her back to them. Sawyer went right on eating.
Ryan barely acknowledged Dani’s action, himself, since familiar fury roiled inside him, hot as a volcano about to blow. He’d felt it before, this all-consuming rage, this bitterness, and realized that it seemed to be getting hotter, more intense with each passing day. How long until eruption? he wondered. How long until he lost control and verbalized truths that his son did not need to hear about Erica, the “movie star” who didn’t want to be called mom because it made her feel old?
“What’s your favorite thing about Christmas, Dad?” Sawyer suddenly asked, an innocent subject change that forced Ryan to ignore the pain in his heart.
He had to suck in a deep, calming breath before he could answer. “Um, cookies, I guess. My aunt Mabel used to make the best Santa-shaped ones. They had this red icing on them and these little sparkle things, all colors.” He faked a smile. “Er, Dani, what’s your favorite thing about Christmas?”
Slowly, she turned and walked back to the table. She didn’t sit, but reached for her plate. Holding it as though she’d lost her appetite and couldn’t bear to look at the food, she said after a moment, “I’d have to say the tree.”
Ryan noted that her eyes shimmered suspiciously. Tears? Almost certainly, and a sure indication of a very soft heart. Since he’d never met a woman with one of those before, he didn’t quite know what to make of it or what to do about it.
Oblivious to Ryan’s bemusement, Dani smiled at Sawyer. “What about you? What’s your favorite thing?”
“This Christmas it’s everything!” Sawyer exclaimed, throwing out his arms as if to encompass all the magic of the season.
Dani laughed then, a light, happy sound that did much to cool Ryan’s rage at Sawyer’s mother. “Why don’t we leave all these dishes for now and get busy on the tree? I don’t think I can wait another minute!”
“All right!” Sawyer said excitedly, slipping from his chair and dashing out of the room. Ryan stood, too, and slowly walked toward the door.
Dani caught his arm, stopping him. “Just tell me this, and I won’t ask another question. Before last September, did you know you had a son?”
He met her probing gaze without a blink. “I did not.”
“Somehow I knew that.” Dani sighed and stepped close to slip one arm around his waist, gently hugging him to her side. “And I’m so sorry.”
Astonished by the unexpected display of sympathy, Ryan could do nothing more than return the embrace somewhat awkwardly by laying his arm over her back and shoulders. She hugged him harder in response. Almost instantly, Ryan felt the tension begin to drain from his body. Several seconds passed before Dani released him from the healing half hug and stepped away, tears on her cheeks.
“You saw the ornaments in the living room?” she asked, unselfconsciously swiping the drops away with her fingers.
He nodded.
“Then why don’t you go help your son get started. I’m going to pour