Stone rubbed his hands over his face and through his hair in frustration.
“I messed up, Mom. I had her and I let her go. This girl was everything and I pushed her away like she was nothing. I never even gave her the chance to accept it, to accept me. I did what I always do…” Stone exhaled harshly.
“Fuck!”
Stone froze and held out his hands and released a sad laugh. “Sorry, sorry, Mom.” He smiled. “I can almost hear your voice.”
In his mind, he could hear her. “Garrison Stone, you better watch that mouth.” Her disapproval was laced with warning.
“I miss your voice.” Stone stood with head bowed.
“I fu…messed up and I don’t know what to do. I walked out on her. She was crying and I just walked out, letting her think I was done, that I didn’t want her, like she was nothing. I did that to her. She’ll never forgive me, hell, why should she, I don’t deserve her. I treated her like she meant nothing to me.” Stone looked up at his mom’s stone. “She means everything.” His voice cracked with emotion and he whispered, “I love her.”
Stone stood there for a while, silently seeking the comfort of his mother. The first woman to ever love him, care for him, and truly accept him. He couldn’t hear her or see her but he felt her, she was there, with him.
He stepped back and glanced at his mom one last time with a sad smile.
“Thanks for listening, Mom,” he whispered.
Stone walked down the row, across the grass and back to his truck with a light breeze surrounding him. Yeah, she’s here.
Chapter Nineteen
The flight had been nonstop and quick. Sadie had not even had time to grasp that her first airplane ride was to Houston, another first for her. They landed on time, grabbed her bags, and headed to John’s truck. It was a big truck, like the one Stone had been driving in Nebraska. Like father, like son. John’s house was a thirty-minute ride from the airport. She looked out the window at the big city. It looked so beautiful with the lights and all the people. It was dark so once they were out of the city, she couldn’t see too much but she looked anyway.
During the ride, John had told her how all the guys had houses and condos of their own.
“Stone and Bogs have condos in the same community, Scarlet Heights. T just bought a house, his first. It’s a rambling shack but he’s gutting it and he’s working on redoing it,” John explained.
“And Roxanne lives with you?” Sadie confirmed.
“Yep, only Roxanne still lives at home. Before I know it, she’ll be out in her own place too.” John smiled and glanced over at Sadie. He winked and turned back to the road.
“Where does Ethan live?”
“An apartment in the city. It’s fancy. I make sure I double wipe my shoes before walking in to Ethan’s place.” He laughed hard and she giggled.
“The boys all went their separate ways, starting their own lives but every holiday they come home and stay in their childhood rooms and all wake up together. I think they did it because Darla asked and well, they loved their mom. She had always hoped that tradition would live on even after the kids all started having families of their own. I’m still holding out hope that they will.” His voiced was laced with emotion, a little sadness.
“So,” Sadie said, “Roxanne told me about your bonfire ritual on the eve of Thanksgiving. It sounds awesome!”
John smiled over at her. “It’s been tradition since Darla and I first got married. We bought our property forty-five years ago. At the time it had a tiny two-bedroom house that sat on fifty acres. Over the years we added onto the house to accommodate our growing family. When we adopted Roxanne and Ethan, we added a new master suite and Roxanne’s room on the first floor. It looks a lot different than it did when we first bought it.” John laughed.
They pulled into the drive around nine o’clock. The driveway was long and every twenty feet had a post lamp. They pulled up to the house and Sadie nearly stopped breathing. It was breathtaking. It was a huge colonial with two large pop-out windows in the front. It had a detached three-car garage on the left. They parked in front of the house. There were several trucks and cars in the driveway.
Sadie opened her door and slid out onto the ground. She could hear music and laughing. It sounded like it was coming from behind the house. Sadie looked around to the trees in the moonlight. She was sure it was even more beautiful in the daylight.
John grabbed her bags and led her up the porch. The porch was surrounded by plants and flowers. It was a masterpiece.
“T spent days working on the woodwork as a surprise to his mom. This was her favorite spot on the property. She would spend hours swinging on this porch,” John said with pride in his voice.
She looked over to it. She could almost
