A Father's Sacrifice

He paced again from the mailbox to the newspaper racks just beyond the café, then retraced his steps. Nina was grateful Jameson had stayed away for most of the day—he’d had business to attend to in Sacramento. It had given her the space to come to terms with the decision she’d made. If she’d had to cope with his explosive edginess along with her own swings from hysteria to terror to overwhelming self-doubt, she might have run screaming down Main Street.

His brief absence had given her enough time to call Andrea Jarret and ask if she could fill in at the café this afternoon and evening. Nina had hated to impose since Andrea was teaching full-time now at Hart Valley Elementary. But Andrea was delighted to help. In fact, Andrea’s stepdaughter Jessie had been bugging Andrea about when they could work at the café again. The ten-year-old had had so much fun a couple months ago relieving Nina when her father had his heart attack, she’d been begging to do it again.

Yanking his hands from his pockets, Jameson turned to face her. “Maybe you were right. You should tell him, without me there. It would be easier—” The torrent of words cut off as he caught sight of the small yellow school bus approaching up Main Street.

Nina rose from the bench and stepped to the curb as the bus pulled up. Used to racing inside the café to look for her, Nate was surprised to see her waiting. He walked slowly toward her, his dark brown gaze shifting to Jameson briefly before he focused again on her.

“Hi, Mommy.” He gave her a perfunctory hug, then hung back behind her, his gaze straying again to Jameson. “Hi.”

Nina knelt down to eye-level with Nate. “Honey, we’re going for a little drive. We have something important to talk about.”

He tucked in even closer to her. “Okay.”

Jameson reached in his pocket and pulled out a set of keys. “Would you like to sit in the front?”

Nate shook his head solemnly. “Mommy says I’m not s’posed to.”

With her son clinging to her hand, they crossed the street to the public lot. Jameson unlocked the Camry and waited until Nina had Nate seat-belted in his booster seat before he climbed inside and started the engine. They pulled out onto Main Street.

Jameson glanced over at her as they reached the end of town. Behind his edginess, hope warred with anxiety. He would never say the words out loud, but she saw his need for reassurance plainly.

Despite her own heart screaming out its reluctance to embark on the course they’d set, Nina couldn’t ignore his unspoken plea. She reached across the car and lay her fingers against his arm, giving him a squeeze. In spite of herself, she enjoyed the warmth of his skin just below his T-shirt sleeve. Gratitude flashed across his face and his shoulders relaxed infinitesimally. Nina pulled her hand back, his heat still curled in her palm, and wondered at the small step she’d just taken toward her future.

Jameson sat on the rickety top step leading up to his father’s ramshackle cabin with Nina beside him. Nate stood with his back to them beside a fallen log a dozen yards down the weed-choked gravel drive. He had a stick in his hand and every now and then he poked at the rotting tree.