The Dear Wife (More Than a Wife Series Book 3) by Jennifer Peel

Author:Jennifer Peel [Peel, Jennifer]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2020-02-12T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty-One

“Mom, we’re home,” Jimmy called.

I guiltily fluffed the last pillow on Hannah’s bed after washing the coverings and making it as though she would be sleeping there later tonight. I begged myself not to do it today, but I couldn’t let her go. Especially now when so much was being torn away from me. I rushed out of the room, hoping I hadn’t been caught again. Matt and Jimmy always cringed when they came upon me behaving like, let’s admit it, a nutjob.

I jogged down the hall, straightening out my T-shirt and behaving as if I’d been caught by my parents with a boy in my room. If only. Not any boy, but my man. That made me feel crazier. How could I want James after everything he’d put me through? Maybe because the man he was today was not my James. I met Matt, Jimmy, and to my surprise, Joseph in the foyer. They were all a little sunburned, but each wore a big smile. That alone did me more good than I could say.

“How was your trip?” From the smell of them, I was assuming it was good. It was a mix of campfire, fish, and body odor. I’d put up with the most ungodly smells from my boys for so long that the pungent aroma hardly fazed me anymore.

Joseph held up a bag of gutted fish. “It was great. The fish were biting.”

“I see that.” I guess that meant I would be cooking fish in the near future. That was typically James’s job. I tried not to dwell on it. Matt made it easy when he unexpectedly wrapped his arms around me. I didn’t care that he smelled like a garbage can on a hot summer’s day. I clung to him like Saran Wrap that had been left in the sun. He was so tall now my head landed midchest on his dirty white T-shirt. I was so choked up I couldn’t say how much I missed him and loved him. I hoped he heard it in the way I tightly squeezed him and wet his shirt.

“I love you, Mom,” he whispered.

“Oh, Matty, I love you so much,” I managed to squeak out.

He let go way before I was done, but I would take what I could get from him. “I’m going to take a shower,” he muttered before racing down the stairs.

“Thanks for coming with me,” Joseph yelled after him.

Jimmy hugged me next. He lingered a bit longer than his brother but not by much. He too disappeared down into the testosterone zone, but not before thanking his grandpa. That left Dad and me to stare at each other.

“Mind if I come in for a while?” Dad scrubbed a hand over his salt-and-pepper-stubbled cheeks.

“Of course not. Let me take those fish from you and throw them in the freezer.”

Dad handed over the fish and slipped off his boots. “You raised good boys.”

“We tried.” I couldn’t leave James out of it. Until this past year he was the best dad around.

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