Hometown Hero's Redemption

She grabbed the ice-cream containers and threw them in the trash. Drew didn’t need her. He thought he did, but Wyatt would be better off with someone else.

Anyone else.

For months she’d avoided thinking about her next move, but this meeting drove home the fact that she needed a long-term plan. A new career. A way to get out of this nothingness she’d been in. But what?

Drew Gannon was dangerous. He tempted her with the one forbidden fruit she’d promised herself she’d never take a bite out of again. Her purpose no longer included helping kids with hard lives. Not even ones who wiggled into her heart and made her want to feel again. Not even Wyatt.

* * *

“See how I’m holding the rod? You want to bring it back like this, then flick it forward while you hold the reel’s button.” At the end of the dock in front of their cabin, Drew demonstrated a perfect cast.

After leaving JJ’s Ice Cream, he’d driven to the elementary school to sign papers for Wyatt’s enrollment. The kid hadn’t said a word since they’d gotten home an hour ago. Wyatt held a fishing rod in his hand, but he’d yet to attempt to cast a line. “Try it.”

With a loud sigh, Wyatt laid the pole on the dock and slouched in one of the camping chairs Drew had brought down. He stuffed his hands into his sweatshirt pockets and stared out at the sparkling blue water.

Drew was ready to pull his hair out. Today had been bad. Really bad. What had made him think springing Wyatt on Lauren would help his cause with her? He shouldn’t have badgered her. Shouldn’t have expected her to help him out, not after the way he’d treated her years ago. Not only had it backfired big-time, but he was no closer to finding a babysitter than before. Unless the college kid she mentioned... No. He didn’t want anyone but her.

Did Lauren still have the same impression of him from way back when?

What did it matter?

If he could just figure out how to get through to Wyatt. He’d always been a big part of the kid’s life. Chase’s career as a wide receiver kept him training and traveling nine months of the year, so Drew had helped take care of Wyatt off and on during football season. Wyatt’s drug-addicted mom had never been around. Even if she had been, she certainly couldn’t have taken care of him.

“Don’t you want to show off your fishing skills when your dad gets out?” Drew kept his tone light. Chase made mistakes—big mistakes—but Drew believed in him and hoped Wyatt would, too.

“Six years from now.” Wyatt kicked at the dock with his sneaker.

“His lawyer said he’ll get out in three if he models good behavior.”

Wyatt looked up at Drew. “Do you think he’ll do it? Get out early?”

Drew lowered himself into the chair next to him, ruffling Wyatt’s hair with his free hand. “Yeah, I do. He’ll do anything to be back with you. He loves you.”

Wyatt’s face fell again.

“What did you think of Lauren?” Drew asked.

He shrugged.

“We went to high school together. I wasn’t very nice to her.”

“Is that why she left without eating her ice cream?”

“Maybe she wasn’t hungry.” Drew cranked his line in a little ways. “I don’t think she left because she held a grudge. Like I said, I was mean to her in high school, but she was probably the nicest person I knew. Very genuine.”

“Why were you mean?”

Drew kept one eye on the bobber out in the lake. “I was stupid. When I was fourteen, I had a crush on her. One of my friends told me she’d never go out with me. He said she was too perfect. I asked one of the other cheerleaders if she thought I had a chance with Lauren, and she laughed. She told me Lauren would never date me, that she thought she was better than everyone. I took their word for it. And my pride made me say things and treat Lauren in ways I regret.”

“She deserved it if she thought she was better than you.”

“No, she didn’t. No one does.” Drew shook his head. “I trusted people who didn’t have my best interest at heart. I should have asked Lauren myself, instead of listening to my so-called friends.”

“What do you mean?” Wyatt’s face twisted in confusion.

“Looking back, I think every guy in my class had a crush on Lauren.”

“She’s pretty.”

“Yeah, and some of the cheerleaders were jealous of her.”

“Oh.”

“They had their own reasons for not wanting me to ask her out. Lauren kept to herself, but it didn’t mean she was stuck-up. I hope you think about that as you get older. Don’t believe everything you hear.”

“Like about my mom.” Wyatt got a lost look on his face again.

Whenever Drew tried to talk to him about his mother, Wyatt’s mouth shut tighter than a vacuum-packed seal. Maybe this was the opening he needed. “What about your mom?”

“Forget it.”

“Why don’t you tell me?”

“People said things.”

“People say a lot of things.”

Wyatt’s sad eyes met his. “They said she was on drugs and owed that Len guy money, and that’s why he killed her.”

Drew reeled in the rest of his line as he tried to figure out the best way to respond. Missy and Chase had never married. They were together for only a few years before Missy left and got mixed up with drugs. “You and I both know she went to rehab last year and was trying hard to live a healthy lifestyle.”

“Yeah. I was glad when she moved by us. We’d play games with Dad and go to movies.”

“Your dad cared about her. They were even talking about getting back together.”

Wyatt nodded, the corners of his mouth drooping. “Do you think she was in a lot of pain before she died?”

While he was glad Wyatt was finally talking, it hurt to think he had to have his conversation. No kid should have to deal with this. A murdered mom? A dad in jail? Wyatt deserved an intact family—didn’t every kid?

“No. The police said she died quickly.”

“Do you think she’s in heaven?”

He squirmed. This was another one of those tricky areas. Drew had no idea what Missy had believed. “The Bible says as long as you trust in Jesus as your savior, you go to heaven.”

“But what if she didn’t?”

“I wish I could tell you your mom is in heaven. I hope she is, but I don’t really know. What do you think?”