Page 30 of Wilde Ride

Levi stopped outside the shop and glanced up and down the street. He sighed. “It’s good to be home.” He met my gaze and held it for a heartbeat longer than he probably should have. “Ready to head back to the ranch?”

A part of me wanted to spend the rest of the day just hanging out with him, but I knew that would never happen. “Ready as ever.”

With a smile, he motioned for us to head back to his truck.

Levi

I walked into my parents’ house and set my keys down in the bowl I’d made for my mother when I was in second grade. It sat on an antique table in the foyer of our house. I loved that my mother had kept that bowl in the same spot all these years. It was simple things like that I’d missed most.

The sound of Rhett laughing was like music to my ears. He hadn’t had much to laugh about the last few months. The thing I hated the most was the nightmares. He’d wake up crying out for his sister. I had to be thankful that Caroline wasn’t fighting me on bringing Rhett back to River Falls. It had been a source of contention for most of our relationship. I’d stupidly thought that after a few years, she’d want to move back home. I was very wrong on that.

Being here was healing for Rhett, that much was evident to me. Even in just a few short days, I could see a difference.

The sound of more laughter pulled me from my thoughts. I walked into the kitchen, only to find my son covered in flour.

“What’s going on here?” I asked as my eyes scanned the island that was filled with cookies.

“We’re baking, Daddy!” Rhett stated before he shoved a cookie into his mouth.

“I see that. Are we expecting an army of soldiers for dinner, and we needed a dessert?”

My mother laughed. “We’re going to take them to River Haven tomorrow. It was Rhett’s idea to make the cookies to bring to the kids.”

My heart swelled with pride and love that my son would think of something so kind. It wasn’t a surprise; he was always trying to do kind things or say something nice to someone.

“How did we end up with an orphanage in River Falls?” I asked my mother as I reached for a cookie.

She glanced up at me. “They never taught you in school?”

I shook my head. “Not that I can remember.”

A look of confusion appeared on her still beautiful face. There were a few more wrinkles than the last time we were here in town, but my mother said they were simply laugh lines, a sign that you were living a happy life. “You kids used to make ornaments for the trees for the Wilde Christmas event, and they never told you why?”

“I mean, yeah, they told us about the party for the orphanage, but how did it come about?”

She glanced briefly at Rhett, then back to me. “The origin isn’t really a happy story.”

“I can handle it, Grammy,” Rhett said.

Smiling at him, she went back to cutting out cookies from the dough. “Well, a long time ago, religious organizations used to remove Indigenous children from their homes and put them in institutions, to help them learn how to live in our culture. They would go to boarding schools. There was one right here in River Falls. Eventually, over time, it ended up being an orphanage for children who didn’t have parents.”

“Why did they do that?” Rhett asked. “Take in-did-genrous kids from their mommies and daddies?”

“I wish I could explain it to you, Rhett,” my mother said. She glanced at me again. “Maybe this was a subject best waited on for a few years.”

I nodded.

“Do they still take them?” Rhett asked. “The kids?”

My hand reached for his head, and I gave his hair a quick ruffle. “No, buddy. They don’t.”

He nodded. “That’s good.”

The last thing I wanted was for Rhett to think he had to worry about being taken.

My mother gave me an apologetic smile and mouthed, “I’m sorry.”

I returned the smile and changed the subject. “So, I went to see Uncle Caden today.”