Better Late Than Never (2 page)

She led him from the conference room to the main room. This was the room where the three-,
four-, and five-year-olds spent the majority of their time.

“This is where you will spend a lot of time.” She explained this would be the place where he would improve his counting and alphabet, writing, and drawing skills. “This is also the place where you will take your nap.”

Wade frowned at the idea, which gave her the indication that naptime wasn’t his favorite activity, and she laughed as she led him out of the room. She showed him the kitchen where he would eat breakfast, lunch, and a snack. Wade’s face lit up at the mention of food.

“Now it is time to meet some of your classmates.”

She led him to a large room where all of the kids were sitting, waiting for story time. “This is where we come for story time. Would you like to stay and hear the story?”

“Yes.”

She led him over to his age group. “Good morning, everyone. This is Wade, and he is going to be joining us today.”

Everyone welcomed him, and his face lit up. She knelt down in front of him. “I need to finish speaking with your dad, but I will be back to check on you.”

He nodded, and she stood and took a deep breath trying to prepare
herself
to go back in to talk to Randy. When she returned to the conference room, he looked up briefly. She studied him when he looked down to add his signature to the last page. She blinked when he shuffled the papers back into their original order and handed them back to her.

“Would you like for Wade to stay today?”

“Yes. I will be back to pick him up at six.”

“That is fine. Our hours are five in the morning to six-thirty in the evening. If there is ever a time when you are running late, just call and let us know.”

He stood. “If I am running late, my mom or dad will come and pick him up. I put them down as the next of kin. They also have permission to pick him up when I can’t do so.”

Kristen smiled. “Okay.”

A strange expression materialized on his face, and she wondered what he was thinking. Curiosity coursed through her, and she fought it. She wanted to know, but she wasn’t going to ask. The last thing she should do was give him any indication there was any interest on her part. Instead she walked him to the entrance of her day care.

“It was good to see you again,” she replied casually.

He grinned. “It was good to see you, too.”

She wanted to stand there and watch as Randy got into his truck and drove off but knew it would be a bad idea. Instead, she turned and headed back into the day care. For the first time since Randy walked into, she allowed herself to react. Her knees gave out, and she collapsed against the wall. Randy had a way of making her weak in the knees. It was more than his sexiness. Randy always affected her in a way that no other man had. To be honest, she was surprised she was just now running into him. Kristen would never admit that she had been trying to avoid him. She had done a good job up until now. The only thing she wondered was if he was using Wade to get to her. She wasn’t the only person with a day care center. He had to have known this day care center was hers. Then again, she hadn’t placed any official advertisements. It hadn’t been needed. Word of mouth traveled faster.

Still, to have him show up with his son had hurt. When she found out about Wade several years ago, she had been upset. It bothered her that the son Randy had wasn’t with her. Wade should have been theirs. He would have been if Randy hadn’t called off their relationship. What had annoyed her even more was the fact that he had moved on. She hadn’t moved. She never had. There was no one else for her. She knew from the time she laid eyes on him. Randy was a good man. He had always been good to her. Even today she was puzzled as to why Randy had called their relationship to an end.

What irritated her now was he thought he could just walk back into her life and they could pick up where they left off. She didn’t like it, and she wouldn’t fall for it. After the way Randy broke her heart, he would have to prove that he wanted her back. Shaking her head to clear it, she groaned. She was going to hear it from her sisters when she made it home this evening, but it would be worth it because she needed their advice on this one.

* * * *

The rest of the day went by quickly without any extra events, and she was thankful. She locked up the building and said good-bye to Zebbie and Gerri before getting into her car and driving the short distance to the house she shared with her sisters. In some ways it was strange to be back in the house
she
and her sister’s grew up in when they returned to Baxley. On the other hand it was good to be back in the place she always considered to be home.

It was interesting being a triplet, and it was fun. Kristen had been born with two best friends, and they knew everything about each other. They had always lived together. She and her sisters had the privilege of having wonderful parents who had died way too soon if you asked her. Their father had been a police officer when they were little and they had lived in Atlanta, Georgia. One night, while on assignment, he had been killed in the line of duty. They had been ten years old at the time, and it had been devastating, so devastating that they had moved in with their mother’s grandparents in Baxley. It had been a good move for their mother to make even though she died of an aneurysm right after they graduated from high school.

To her, it had always seemed like their mother had hung on long enough to make sure she and her sisters would be okay after she was gone. She and her sisters had been okay. They had left Baxley for Athens to attend the University of Georgia. Their maternal grandmother had passed away right after they had graduated from college with their undergraduate degree, and their maternal grandfather had passed away two years ago. They talked to their father’s parents at least once a month, but it was rare that they saw them since they were busy traveling the country in an RV. Kristen sighed when she pulled up in front of her grandparents’ house. Overall, life had been good.

Just a month ago, they had finalized their move back to Baxley because they decided they wanted to live their lives out in Baxley. They wanted to settle down, get their careers off the ground, and, hopefully, marriage and children would follow. They all had a lot of pleasant memories of the town. She got out of her car and started up the walkway. Kayla, her oldest sister, opened the door before she could even get to the porch.

“What is wrong?”

She laughed. The other thing about having identical sisters was that they knew something was wrong with each other prior to anything being said. Kayla pulled her inside.

“Well whatever it is, we will talk about it over dinner. Go freshen up.” She closed the door and moved off in the other direction before Kristen could get a word out.

Shaking her head, Kristen headed upstairs and dropped her purse and her bag on the bed. She walked into the bathroom and washed her hands and her face then went back downstairs. Keirra was setting the table.

Kayla was the oldest by three minutes. Keirra came next in birth order, leaving her to be the youngest of the trio.

“Need any help?”

Keirra kissed her on the cheek. “No, but you look like you have had a hard day. Have a seat and rest.”

She sat down and sighed. A short while later, the table was set and Kayla was dishing out spaghetti and cornbread. They ate in silence until suddenly Keirra asked the question that would set them up for the discussion of the night. A discussion she was dreading.

“So what happened today?”

“Randy enrolled his three-year-old son into my day care.”

Kayla began to choke on the cornbread she had just taken a bite of, and Keirra patted her on the back and frowned. “The cop?”

Kristen shook her head. Sometimes, Keirra could be so obtuse. “He is a county sheriff, and don’t start.”

Keirra was a very law-abiding citizen, but she did have an aversion to cops.

Kayla ignored Keirra. “Forget the cop part. I’m more concerned about him being the man that broke your heart. What did you do?”

She shrugged. “I handled it like any professional would.”

“Did you at least cuss at him?”

Keirra chuckled. “Kristen doesn’t know how.”

Actually, she did know how. She just never did because she was too reserved and sometimes too shy to do so. She was the peacemaker of the three sisters. Kayla was the rational of the three, and Keirra was the straightforward one. Somehow the straight forwardness had always managed to get them into trouble.

“No, I didn’t. There was no need to.”

“Is he still married?”

She paused trying to figure out how to inform her sisters of the interesting information she had learned today. Knowing her sisters like she did, she knew the best way to tell them something was to tell them something straight out.

“It seems it was just a rumor. He was never married.”

Keirra rolled her eyes. “Well that puts things into a different perspective, doesn’t it?”

She nodded slowly, realizing just how true her sister’s words were. “Yes, it does.”

Chapter Two

“It isn’t nice to hit people, Susan.”

The little girl looked up at her with woeful eyes, and Kristen turned her attention to Michael.

“And it isn’t nice for you to push people because you feel they are in your way.
Do
each of you understand why what you did was wrong?”

Both children nodded, and she stood. “You two will have to spend some time in the Quiet Corner to think about what you did.”

Both children’s faces fell, but neither said a word because they knew they were in trouble. She would probably be in trouble herself because now she would have to explain to two sets of parents why one child was going to have a nice black eye and why the other had skinned knees and ripped pants. She sat Susan in one corner and Michael in the other, leaving them in Zebbie’s care then returned outside. Gerri was having a hard time keeping all of the kids in line and seemed happy to see her. Kristen took over the three-year-olds trying to keep them from hurting each other. A few moments later, Gerri came to stand over by her.

“So I hear you have a date with Randy tonight?”

She gave Gerri a dry look before rolling her eyes. “I guess there are some things that haven’t changed about Baxley.”

Gerri grinned, and Kristen smiled in return. “Who told you?”

“Mom ran into Mrs. Stroud at the store, and she mentioned it.”

Kristen groaned. “Technically, it isn’t a date. I am just having dinner at his parents’.”

Gerri’s eyebrows rose. “You have to excuse me because I have been out of the dating game for a while, but normally going over to have dinner with a guy’s parents isn’t insignificant.”

Kristen shook her head at Gerri. “Yes, but everyone knows Randy and I have history. I have always been close to his parents and have spoken to them off and on over the years.”

“Hot and heavy history,” Gerri added.

“And you are melodramatic.”

Gerri smirked. “I guess that is the reason why I got all of the starting roles in the school plays.”

Kristen laughed. “Gerri, you are a walking play.”

Gerri looked at her with a look of shock that Kristen found humorous. “If your acting ability didn’t come in handy with the kids, I might let your statement knock my confidence down a little.”

Kristen shook her head again at her friend and co-worker’s antics. They had known each other for a long time, and when she told Gerri she and her sisters were coming back to Baxley, there had been nothing but excitement. Gerri had also been excited when she asked her to work at the day care. Kristen had worked with Gerri on getting the right certifications, and everything else had gone well.

“Gerri, it would take a two-thousand-pound brick to knock your confidence loose an inch.”

Before Gerri could respond, Kristen put her whistle in her mouth and blew. The kids stopped playing and began to line up. Once everyone had been accounted for, they headed into the building and straight to their tables for snack time.

“What are we having today?” Gerri asked.

Kristen shrugged. “Something the kids will enjoy.”

The snack consisted of half a chicken salad sandwich with cutup raw vegetables and fruit.

“So how serious is this date between you and Randy?”

Kristen sighed heavily, knowing the subject wasn’t going to be dropped until Gerri received the answer she wanted.

“Well, first off, this isn’t a date. It is Randy’s way of sucking up to me to try to get me to go out with him on a date.”

Gerri almost choked on her sandwich, and Kristen laughed. Gerri shook her head. “You can be so sneaky sometimes.”

Kristen just shrugged and ate a carrot. She and her sisters had gotten away with their share of devious activities.

“So are you interested in him?”

Kristen answered honestly. “I don’t think there was ever a time when I wasn’t interested in him.” She finished off her vegetables. “To be honest, I can’t say no to him. I never could. However, I do plan on taking things a lot slower this time. There are a few things that Randy and I have to work out.”

Gerri nodded while she finished off her sandwich. “Yes, you should make him
work
for it. He needs to know that he was a fool to walk away from you.”

Kristen’s mouth gapped open as she watched her friend get up and walk off. Only Gerri could say such a response with a straight face and make it sound so dirty. Even so she did plan on making Randy work to earn her back.

* * * *

Kristen sat behind the wheel of her midsize SUV doubting herself. She gave into the weakness briefly before she climbed out of her car. Somehow, Randy had managed to coerce her into coming over to his parents’ house for dinner. It had been a while since she had seen the Strouds. She missed them. The last time she had seen them, it had been at her grandmother’s funeral. But she soon found out not much had changed in the Strouds household. The evening flew by, and soon she and Randy were sitting on the front porch in the swing enjoying the breeze. Dinner had been wonderful, and she was stuffed. She glanced over at Randy when he reached out and touched the thick braid that hung over her shoulders.

“Do you ever wear your hair down?”

She shook her head. “Not in a long time. Six years to be exact.”

“Why not?”

“You know it is hard to manage when I wear it down.”

He smiled, his expression telling her he remembered it very well from when they dated. “Then why don’t you cut it?”

She rolled her eyes in frustration. “I like it long and because Kayla and Keirra would kill me. Our hair is one of the traits we inherited from our father.”

He shook his head, but his smile stayed in place. The statement made perfect sense to anyone who knew Kristen and her sisters.

“Will you let it down for me?”

She started to say no, but instead, she reached up and pulled the band from around the end of her ponytail. With a few flicks of her wrist, she had her ponytail down. Her hair fell over her shoulders. He reached over and ran his fingers through her hair. She shivered and leaned into his touch until she realized what she was doing and pulled away.

“You are so beautiful.”

She could feel herself begin to flush, and he grinned. Somehow he had always managed to make her feel like she was the most beautiful woman in the world. Still she couldn’t let that weaken her resolve. Randy owed her an explanation before she could allow herself to accept his embrace.

“I always thought you were even more beautiful when you blushed.”

Blushing harder, she shook her head and looked away. Sometimes she hated her medium brown skin tone. A blush could show up, and when it did, it was clear indication she was embarrassed. He laughed, and she gasped when he pulled her onto his lap.

“Randy, what are you doing?”

He tilted her chin upward. “Getting ready to kiss you.”

Kristen saw his mouth coming toward hers, yet she couldn’t stop him, couldn’t resist. She knew she should, but she wanted to feel his lips on hers one more time. Her response was slow and shy, but Randy’s was the exact opposite. He took her mouth in a demanding kiss. One that took everything she had to give.

This kiss was different than the ones they had shared in the past. There was no hesitance in his kiss. Gone was the boy she had fallen in love with, and in his place was a man. A man she wasn’t certain she knew, and with the way he was kissing her, she wasn’t certain it mattered. She gasped when he slid his tongue between her lips and into her mouth. His kiss spoke of experience in pleasuring a woman. She knew most of it had come from her, but she could never remember their kisses being this steamy. Moaning, she leaned closer to him and allowed his tongue to delve deeper into her mouth. Pulling back, she gasped for air and trembled when he began placing kisses along her throat. She moaned before his lips found their way back to hers. Her arms crept up around his neck, and his arms tightened around her waist.

She broke the kiss off and buried her face against his shoulder when his hands found her breasts. His hand slid under her shirt, and she stiffened. What in the hell was she doing? She wasn’t sending the right signal at this moment. Lifting her hand, she caught his wrist and held it. After he didn’t get the hint, she tried to remove his hands.

“Randy, we have to stop.”

Her words didn’t seem to register, and she started to struggle against him. They were moving too fast. She had to slow down. They had to slow down.

“
Randy
!
”

He broke off his sensual assault on her throat, a look of concern on his face.

“What is wrong?”

Kristen removed his hands and slid out of his lap. “I can’t do this.”

He stopped her before she could move too much farther from him. “What is wrong?”

She gave him an incredulous look. “Do you really have to ask?”

This time, she did make it to her feet when she pulled away. She began to pace the porch straightening her clothes while she did so.

Randy sighed. “I am sorry.”

She looked at him and smiled when she saw Randy had dropped his face into his hands.

He looked up. “Can you forgive me?”

“There isn’t a need to. I would love to pretend I wasn’t enjoying what we were doing, but I was. We were just moving too fast.”

She studied him trying to gauge his reaction. He remained silent, but his eyes told her everything that she needed to know. His expression of remorse was genuine. Finally he stood up he held his hand out to her.

“You are right. We are moving too fast. Let’s go for a walk.”

She nodded and slipped her hand into his. They headed down the steps toward the walkway. He led the way until they reached even ground. They walked a little longer in silence. It was almost awkward, something they had never really had a problem with. It was obvious that time had passed and they were different people now. She had always been able to talk to Randy about everything—her hopes, her dreams—and he had understood them. She used to think that they shared them. It made her wonder if things could ever be the same between them.

She looked over at him giving him a shy smile. “So tell me what you have been up to for the last six years.”

Randy shrugged. “Well most of it you know. After I earned my bachelor’s and master’s degree in criminal justice from the University of Texas, I came back home to Baxley and settled down, becoming a local police officer. I worked my way up and was promoted to chief deputy, and when David decided he was going to retire, I ran for the deputy sheriff position to replace him.”

She gave him an amused look. “Well, it seems like you were successful, but then again, you always were.”

He chuckled. “It looks like you have done very well yourself. If I recall correctly, you always wanted to work with children.”

Her amusement faded, and she was silent. She hadn’t been successful when it had come to their relationship. Neither of them had been. Randy walked away from her and went on with his life. A life they should have had together. A life that he had with someone
else,
and she was curious to know about it.

“And how does Wade fit into everything?”

Randy’s lips curved upward. “Lila and I started dating about four years ago. The relationship moved quickly becoming hot and heavy. Lila and I had a good time together. She seemed to understand me in a way that I needed at the time.”