Chapter 5

Sawyer held Reese's hand as they made their way through the diner, wishing there for a different reason, but keeping up a cheerful banter with his daughter, hoping she couldn't feel his apprehension. After weeks of fighting, he'd finally been forced to let Helen have a supervised visit with Reese. He wasn't happy with the judge's decision, but he'd been warned that refusing was just making the process take longer. Tramping down his annoyance with Helen, he put a smile on his face when they walked into the back room, deciding to be on his best behavior, especially in front of the social worker who would be observing them.

"There you are," Helen called when she saw them. "I'm so excited to finally see my baby."

Reese looked up at him, gripping his hand tighter, "It's okay, sweetheart," he said, smiling down at her as if nothing was wrong. "We're just going to spend a little time with Mommy. Won't that be fun?"

Helen rushed over to them and tried to pick Reese up, but she scampered behind his legs, "Go away," she said. "Don't want you to pick me up."

"Oh, okay," Helen said, backing away, a little frown on her face. "What have you been telling her about me?"

"Nothing," he said, shaking his head. "We don't talk about you, but I'm sure she remembers the way you used to treat her. You're just going to have to give her some time."

"How am I supposed to get her to trust me if she won't even let me touch her?" Helen demanded. "She's my child, Sawyer, she should love me, not be afraid of me."

"Whose fault is that?" he asked, then took a deep breath and looked around the room. "Where is Mrs. Faulks? She should be here by now."

"Oh, I called and told her we canceled the visit," Helen said, waving her hand in the air. "We don't need her around listening to our personal business, Sawyer, and we really need to talk."

"Unless you have something to discuss that involves Reese, I have nothing to say to you," he said. "These are supposed to be supervised visits, Helen. The judge isn't going to be happy when he finds out you lied to the social worker."

"I didn't have any choice," Helen said, crossing her arms over her chest. "You've been ignoring my messages, and this was the only way I could get you alone to talk to you."

"Proving again that you haven't changed," he said, shaking his head. "You lied to get what you wanted, but this time it isn't going to work. Reese and I are leaving."

"Please, Sawyer, you have to listen to me," she said. "I'm desperate, and you're the only one who can help me. I can't keep living in that motel, it's horrible. You have to give me some money so I can get an apartment, I found a really cute one that would be perfect for me. I just need a deposit and a little help with the rent."

"This is what you wanted to talk to me about?" he asked, then laughed. "I don't know what I was thinking, getting involved with you. You must be the most selfish person in the world. I'm not giving you another dime, Helen, I've spent thousands of dollars on rehabs, I've supported your spending habits, I've indulged you in every way I can, but I'm done. We agreed that I would pay for that hospital back east and that would be the end. Helen, you're on your own, maybe your dad will give you the money."

Helen's face scrunched up in displeasure, tears sprang to her eyes, and her bottom lip began to tremble, "He won't give me any more money," she said. "He told me to get a job, can you believe that? He wants me to work when I'm so fragile, I can't even think about it."

"If you want that apartment you're going to have to," he said, shrugging his shoulders. "The bank of Sawyer is closed, like I said, you're on your own, Helen."

"You're my husband, you're supposed to take care of me," she said, stomping her foot. "I had that little brat for you, so you owe me for nine months of misery."

"What about the two years of torture you've put me through?" he asked. "It seems to me I've more than paid my debt, so if you want money, you're going to have to earn it like the rest of us."

"This is all your fault," she screamed at him. "If you would have just done what I wanted, we could have been happy, but you cared more about that stupid ranch than you did about me."

"You're right about that," he said, "but you knew the score when you met me, you knew how important that ranch is to me, so you only have yourself to blame if you thought I would give it up to go to work for your father."

"Is it just the ranch you don't want to leave, Sawyer?" Helen asked, a sneer in her voice. "Are you sure there isn't something or someone else holding you here?"

He knew exactly what she meant, and realized that he'd let her drag him down into the same argument again, "Even if there was, it's none of your business," he said, then let out a long sigh. "I'm going to take Reese home now. This visit is over, I'll be contacting my lawyer as soon as I get home to proceed with the divorce. We're done, Helen."

He scooped Reese up into his arms and turned away from Helen, ignoring her calls for them to come back. Any feelings he'd had for her were completely gone. For the first time since she'd told him that she was pregnant, he felt no responsibility for Helen. He was finally free of the woman and her hold on him broken by her own actions. He could walk away from her with a clear conscience and move on with his life, put the last three years behind him, and concentrate on giving Reese the best childhood he could.

***Piper***

Piper juggled the tray of coffee from one hand to the other, then pressed the bell next to Bridget's front door and waited for her new friend to let her in. When the door opened Bridget grabbed the tray and one of the bags of food out of her hands, "It looks like you brought enough food to feed an army," she said. "Come on in."

"I wasn't sure what you liked, so I covered all the bases," she said, following Bridget into the house. "Thanks for inviting me over."

"My pleasure. We haven't had a chance to get to know each other, I thought this would be a good time," Bridget said. "Let's go into the kitchen. It's my favorite room in the house. I'll give you a tour later, but first, let's eat. I'm starving, and I want to hear all about your date last night."

She groaned, "I'm not sure I'm up to reliving it until I have some coffee," she said, making a face. "I don't know what I expected, but the whole night felt more like a battle than a date."

Bridget set the coffee down on the counter, then pulled out a cup and shoved it in her face, "Well, then drink up," she said. "I can't wait to hear all about it."

Seated at the table, a plate full of food in front of her, Piper found herself relaxing as she listened to Bridget tell stories about the kids in her class and munched on the food that she'd brought. "Listen to me, I'm probably boring you to death," Bridget finally said. "I could go on for days and days if you let me, but we have more important things to discuss."

She laughed, "I wondered when you were going to get back to that," she said, then sighed. "It was a total waste of time; I don't think I'm cut out for dating."

Bridget laughed, "You can't say that based on one date," she said, shaking her head. "Come on, Piper, spill it, what happened? Did he try something with you? Men can be total pigs."

"It wasn't that, I mean he did kiss me, which I would have gladly skipped," she said. "It was the rest of the night that kind of sucked. Do all men think that women should be treated like children?"

"Oh, no, what happened?" Bridget asked. "What did Sam do?"

"Well, first, instead of telling me that I looked nice, he felt the need to suggest that I should have worn a dress," she said, her face flushing at the memory. "I went shopping last week just for an outfit to wear last night, I stepped out of my comfort zone for that jerk, and all he did was criticize me."

"Oh, Piper, I'm sorry. Sam seems like such a nice guy," she said. "I guess it didn't get better from there."

She shook her head, then sighed, "Maybe I'm partly to blame, maybe I sent him mixed signals, I don't know," she said. "I didn't mind when he helped me into his truck or held the door open for me, but he tried to order dinner for me, and it wasn't even something I like. I felt so bad for the waitress, he kept insisting he knew what I should have, and I kept telling him what I wanted instead. It was so embarrassing."

"Maybe he was just trying to impress you," Bridget offered, rolling her eyes. "Men and their egos."

"That's what I told myself until we started talking about me wanting to own my own ranch," she said, getting angry again. "He laughed at me at first, then was quick to make a list of all the reasons a woman wasn't capable of running a ranch. He thought that I was Sawyers housekeeper, if you can believe that."

"Wow, no wonder Sam is still single," Bridget said, shaking her head. "Someone should have warned us."

"You're telling me, I had him take me back to my truck as soon as we were done eating. I don't even think he knew that I was mad," she said, shaking her head, then shivered with revulsion. "He was so sure of himself that he grabbed me before I could get in my truck and kissed me, it was like being slobbered on by a big dog. I had to wipe my face off when I finally got in my truck."

Bridget studied her for a second, then burst out laughing, "I'm sorry, Piper, I know I shouldn't laugh, but that was one heck of a first date," she said. "I don't blame you for not wanting to try again, but I promise you not all first dates are like that."

"I'm sure that you're right, but I don't think I'm quite ready to put myself out there," she said. "I'm taking a break from dating for a while. I have a couple of new friends I'd rather spend time with."

"Fair enough, at least you tried. You'll know when you're ready, and if you never are, then that's okay too," Bridget said, then pushed her plate away. "Come on, I'll give you a grand tour of the house. It's been in my family for four generations."

They spent the rest of the morning poking around the big house, gossiping about people in town and slowly devouring every morsel of the food on the table. She left shortly after noon, her disastrous date with Sam forgotten, and drove back to the ranch, sleepy from all the rich food but pleased to have made a new friend. It was nice to have someone to talk to, she hadn't realized how much she missed it until today, and promised herself that she would make time for both Amy and Bridget in her life.