Bound to You by Vanessa Holland

said. “That came about a week later, when I looked down at him and realized it was really happening. That he was really mine. My responsibility. I’ve got four now and I freaked out each time. But you get used to it. You get busy and figure out what you’re doing. Now I can’t imagine them not being here.”
    Sam suddenly realized he was getting that way, about Ethan. He couldn’t imagine him not being here, now that he was here. He wanted what Boone had, the wife and family, moments like this watching his kid splashing in the water, knowing he had his life straight, and had a certain future. He wanted to be settled. Even still….
    “ So, go ahead,” Boone said, giving Sam’s bouncing knee a bump with his fist. “You’re bursting. Talk about this boy of yours.”
    Sam chuckled at himself. “He’s amazing. Rambunctious. Healthy. Can already run like the wind. Cutest kid you’ve ever seen.”
    “ Yeah, we all think that,” Boone said, giving him a look.
    Sam realized what he’d just said. “Sorry.”
    “ So, are you gonna marry her?”
    Sam leaned forward again. “We’re a long way from that.”
    “ Mom said you’re thinking of just going back to Texas. Forgetting all about him.”
    “ What?” He’d never said that. Not exactly. He had to stop spilling his guts to people. It did nothing but get him in trouble. “That’s not true.”
    “ I hope not, bro, because that pisses me off.”
    “ It’s not true,” Sam insisted. “I have to go back, but I’m not forgetting about him. We’ve just started working out the details.”
    “ I thought you were here for two weeks? So why am I having to drive you to the airport tomorrow?”
    “ I just have some business to deal with. I’ll take my truck and leave it at the airport. I’d hate to put you out.”
    Boone chuckled, still seeming slightly hostile. “You’re running, again. Same as always.”
    Sam had had just about enough. “Keep fussing at me and I’m going somewhere else.”
    “ No, I’m done,” his brother said.
    They sat in silence for a while, watching the kids play. Becky had pulled out a picnic basket and a few kids ran up for a snack, wrapped in towels.
    “ You know,” Boone said, “I heard rumors today she’s having money problems. That her dad left his finances all messed up.”
    That got Sam’s attention. “Jenna? Seriously? I saw she was selling her house.”
    Boone only shrugged. “I was asking around about her. Crystal has a friend in the real estate office she’s using. Of course, you can’t believe everything you hear.”
    Sam thought about it and remembered seeing Jenna’s hands shake when she’d spoke of selling the house. He’d known something was wrong, but had figured it was all about him and the baby, and losing her dad.
    “ We were just talking,” Boone said. “Wondering if that’s why she’s telling you now. Looking for money.”
    “ Who’s we?” Sam said, even though he knew. His entire family.
    “ Maybe a test is in order.”
    Maybe. “He’s mine. I know it.” He was about to say he trusted Jenna, but he wasn’t so sure he did. She should have told him about the boy two years ago. She could have tracked him down. He was still a little angry about that. On the other hand, he could have stopped by to see her during his many visits home over the past three years. He could have found out where she was attending law school, back when he’d thought she was attending law school, and contacted her. But he hadn’t gone to the effort. He’d been too afraid of how much he’d liked her. He’d been annoyed that he couldn’t seem to stop thinking about her. And even now, three years later, the fear lived on. A part of him was secretly glad she hadn’t told him. He’d had two years of freedom. Now he was good and trapped.
    But he was about to solve that problem. He was catching a plane tomorrow, not because he had business to tend to, but because he needed some space. He needed to go home, away