I wasn’t the least bit surprised Jonathon called him dad. From what Jonathon had told me, Rip had adopted the older kids and had told them they could take on his last name or keep their father’s. They all decided to keep Turner, but also add Myers. Jonathon’s legal name was Jonathon Turner Myers.
Reaching my hand out, Rip shook it. “It’s a real honor to meet you, Waylynn. Jon’s told me a lot about you.”
“Has he?” I asked, peering back to Jonathon. “All good, I hope.”
“Of course. I can’t wait to see his handiwork at the dance studio.”
“Next week!” Kristin exclaimed. “Waylynn’s having an open house.”
Rip nodded. “Well, I’ve gotten to see a lot of it already. I do a lot of the electrical work for Jon. It was my trade before I met Kristin.”
“I didn’t know that,” I said.
Rip grinned. “I like to do a little here and there just to keep up with things. Plus I love the work.”
“He’s damn good as well. Best electrician I’ve ever had,” Jonathon replied with a proud smile.
I loved watching this family interact with each other. It reminded me of mine.
Jonathon let out a sigh. “As fun as this is, we’ve got to run, y’all.”
Jonathon kissed his mother on the cheek, then did the same to Hollie. He pointed to her and softly said, “Behave, you hear me?”
He cheeks blushed and she nodded. Turning, he picked up Hope and gave her a kiss on the cheek. “I love you, sweet girl. I’ll be back for dinner.”
“Waylynn, I know it’s your family night, but if you can stop by for dinner later, we’d love to have you. I’m sure the boys would love to meet you.”
“I’d like that very much. Thank you for the invite.”
Placing his hand on my back, Jonathon led me out of the kitchen and through the house. I tried to take everything in again as we meandered through the rooms and back onto the porch.
“Well, that wasn’t so bad,” Jonathon said.
My fingers laced with his as we made our way down the steps and sidewalk. “It was lovely! Your mother is sweet and so beautiful. I see where you get those good looks.”
Jonathon’s face blushed, and boy did that turn me on.
“You should have seen my father. Evie is the spitting image of him.”
“Do you have a picture of him?” I asked.
Dropping my hand, he took out his wallet and pulled out an old photo that was folded in half.
“It’s the last picture we took together. I was at a 4-H show and I’d won first prize with my pig, Wilbur.”
I laughed. “Not very creative with the name there, Turner.”
“No, I wasn’t.”
Running my fingers along the man’s face, I saw Jonathon. He had short, dark hair, and even though the photo was old, you could see his blue-grey eyes.
“You look like him.” Our eyes met. His sadness made my chest ache.
“I miss him. There isn’t a day that doesn’t go by where I don’t think about him. Rip has been a great stepdad. He’s never once pushed us, left it up to us on when and if we wanted to call him dad, as well as taking on his name. He’s been so good to my mother, but he also knows that my dad was the love of her life.”
“She told him that?”
He nodded. “Yes. When he asked her to marry him, she told him he’d have to share her heart.”
“Wow,” I whispered. A chill swept over my body.
“I truly believe a love like my folks had is a once-in-a-lifetime thing. I feel like Rip has that with my mother and she does love him, but not like how she loved my father. Does that make sense?”
I smiled slightly. “Yes.”
Glancing at the photo, I pressed my lips together. I wanted desperately to tell Jonathon how deep my feelings were for him, but we’d have that conversation at a later date. Today was not the time. Handing back the photo, I watched as he carefully folded it and put it into his wallet.
With a deep breath, I took his hands in mine. “Now, are you ready to go see my crazy family?”
“Always! I can’t wait to see what type of new questions Chloe has from her list today.”
Chapter Twenty-One
Jonathon
“Stop the truck!”
I slammed on the brakes and pulled onto the shoulder. Waylynn jumped out of the truck and started running down the road.
“What in the fuck?”
I followed her, stopping when I saw her lean down and pick up a giant turtle.
“I’ve got you, buddy. You shouldn’t be crossing the road. It’s dangerous! I’ll get you over there.”
My chest fluttered at the sight of Waylynn rescuing a turtle. She walked it all the way across the street and put it on the other side of the fence.
“Go on! And stay away from the road!”