“Matty finally started talking to me a few days after I took him. He told me his name was Matthew, but he didn’t know his last name or his mom’s name. I kept hoping he’d remember them eventually, but if I even asked him about the day he showed up at my house, he’d shut down. I thought about going to the police, but I was afraid they’d arrest me for kidnapping,” Tate explained.
I nodded in understanding because my guess was that was exactly what would have happened. “What happened after that?”
“I managed to find a job with a guy who landscaped yards. It wasn’t an actual company or anything, just his personal business, so he let me bring Matty with me on jobs in the beginning until I found him daycare and he paid me under the table. I started looking for an apartment, but since I needed money for the security deposit and first month’s rent, I needed to get to my savings account. They didn’t have any of my bank’s branches in the Dallas area so I opened a new account and submitted a request to transfer the money. It…it never occurred to me…” Tate said quietly before his voice dropped off completely.
“What?”
“Matty and I were on our way back to our motel and I saw them.”
“Buck and Denny?” I asked solemnly.
Tate nodded. “They were standing outside our room and the door was open. They were talking to a maid. I picked up Matty and ran. I’d made a habit of carrying a change of clothes for Matty and myself back and forth to work and Matty never went anywhere without his doll and his teddy bear so that was all we had.”
“You think someone at your bank in Lulling told Buck where you were?”
“I don’t have proof, but I think it was my ex, Reggie. He was a teller at that bank.”
“Did you get the money at least?”
Tate shook his head. “I was too afraid that they’d be able to track me, even if I just checked to see if the money had been transferred. I had enough on me to get me and Matty to El Paso, but we only stayed there for a few weeks…long enough for me to earn enough money doing odd jobs. Then we moved again. Albuquerque, Denver, Salt Lake City…once we reached San Francisco, I knew I had to take a chance and settle down long enough for Matty to have some normalcy in his life.”
Tate looked at me, his eyes shrouded with uncertainty. “I didn’t know what the fuck I was doing, Hawke. What if the running, the hiding, are all Matty remembers?”
I wanted to reach for Tate again…badly. But I kept my hands clasped together in front of me as I pinned him with my gaze. “Matty’s an incredible kid, Tate. He’s happy, sweet, funny, kind-hearted…that doesn’t just happen. He’s like that because of you – because of everything you did for him. The only thing he’s going to remember from all this is how amazing his Dad is.”
A small smile graced Tate’s mouth and I desperately wanted to lean in and kiss him. I had no doubt that he would have let me. I suspected Tate knew my train of thought because he sucked in a breath and stared at my mouth. I nearly groaned when he parted his lips and his tongue darted out to moisten them. God, how I’d loved kissing him last night.
“We should get going,” Tate murmured and then he was dragging his eyes away. He climbed off the picnic table and cast a glance over his shoulder at me. I climbed to my feet, but as he began walking towards the car, I reached out to grab his arm.
“You mind driving for a bit?” I asked as I fished the car keys out of my pocket and held them out.
He studied me for a long moment and then nodded. I gave him the keys and followed him back to the truck. My eyes grew heavy as Tate got us back on the road and even though I tried to focus on the scenery flying by, I couldn’t stop myself from turning my head to watch Tate. He glanced at me and shot me a sweet smile and my last thought before my eyes drifted shut was how right it felt to have him looking at me like that.
Chapter Twelve
Tate
I needed to get a grip. That was all there was to it.
Easier said than done as I cast another glance at Hawke as his eyes closed and his features relaxed enough that the never-ending look of pain that always seemed to be etched into every line of his face finally disappeared. I forced my attention back to the road even though all I really wanted to do was reach over and touch Hawke. It didn’t matter where…I just wanted to feel him.