Read Online Bound to You by Vanessa Holland - Free Book Online Page B

screaming louder as she moved closer on his heels. She scooped him up and blew raspberries on his belly while he kicked and laughed.
    When he squirmed to be free, she set him on his feet, straightening his shirt as he pulled away. Her cell phone chimed and she pulled it out of her pocket. She had a text, from Brandon. We’re on, the text read.
    She blew out a breath dreading the phone call she’d have to make. She decided to wait until she could decide exactly what to say.
    Ethan ran back toward her, but a few steps away he collapsed forward, catching himself just before he hit the paved driveway. He rolled over and looked up at her, still kicking his legs, though his eyes were slightly clouded.
    “ Are you okay?” she asked him.
    “’ kay,” he replied.
    “ Are you tired, sweetie? Think some lunch would help?”
    He nodded and stopped kicking his legs.
    The same heaviness had come over her. He needed to rest from laughing and running, she needed to rest from the sudden sense of dread. With a strain on her strength, she picked him up and hiked him on her hip to finish the walk. He was getting so big. He would be tall one day, just like her. Just like his father.
    At the driveway entrance she sat Ethan down to pick and throw blades of grass while she went for the mail. There was a box on top of bills - another white box with a red ribbon. A rustling sound came from the woods to her left as she walked back. She stopped to listen but the sound didn’t continue. A rabbit or a squirrel, she decided. Even a bird could make a lot of noise in the woods.
    She stopped to open the box. Inside she found an old blue rattle made of plastic, and a plain white card that read, ‘For Ethan. SS’
    After the wonderful owl clock, she was surprised by Sam’s gift, and a little disappointed. It looked like he’d bought the toy at a garage sale - it even had teeth marks on it. And it wasn’t the most appropriate gift for a child of two - he was well beyond rattles. She decided to hide it before Ethan saw it. She didn’t want him to put the filthy thing in his mouth.
    Still, the thought that Sam had been there, thinking of her, and Ethan, gave her a sudden thrill.
    “ He seems to be trying, at least,” she told Ethan.
    But her son wasn’t sitting where she’d left him inside the entrance. Her eyes quickly darted looking for that bright patch of gold. She rushed to the street and anxiously looked around for his running figure. He wasn’t there.
    Fear gripped her and she couldn’t decide which direction to search first. Had the rustling sounds she’d heard been Ethan? No, she’d seen him after that. Or had she? Every nightmare she’d ever had of losing him came crashing down on her all at once.
    “ Ethan !” she screamed. “ Come back here right now !”
    The undergrowth parted and Sam emerged, holding Ethan in one arm like a football.
    Several seconds passed before she could comprehend what she was seeing. Then she ran and pulled her son from his arm.

 
     
    CHAPTER SIX
     
    “ What are you doing?” Jenna yelled at Sam. She held Ethan close in her arms.
    Sam smiled, seeming oblivious to her anxiety. “Thought you had me there for a minute. I just barely got the box in when you showed up. Think he’ll like it?”
    She was still holding the rattle, though the box and the rest of the mail lay scattered on the drive. “Don’t scare me like that. I thought I’d lost him.”
    Sam frowned sharply but the humor stayed in his gaze. “Hey, I saved him from a cedar fly and an evil twig.” He walked past her, chuckling as usual, and picked up the mail and box.
    She watched him, stepping to the side when he moved up beside her. How could he manage to look so handsome and happy when she felt as if she’d spent the night in a paint shaker?
    When he turned and met her gaze, she busied herself checking Ethan for any scratches or bugs. “What are you doing skulking around?” She looked back toward the street. “Where’s your