Desperate

None of them noticed the patrol car pull into the parking lot or the two officers get out and come to the door.

Sensing something, Aaron glanced over his shoulder. He saw the first officer then nodded toward Doug. He then walked backward and slowly kicked open the door letting the cop inside.

"I'll cover him for you," he told the first officer.

"Who the hell are you?" the young police officer asked.

"Aaron Harmon. Former Army Ranger. That's the guy you're looking for. Just tell me what you need and I'll do it," Aaron said.

The officer looked at his partner who nodded.

"Okay. Keep your weapon on him, but do not shoot unless he does. Got it?"

The officer raised his weapon and said, "Douglas Lawerence? Police. Drop your weapon or I will shoot."

"Doug! Please!" Skylar said.

"I...can't, Sky. I can't go to jail."

"Doug, you can't let our son see this. You can't do this to him. Please!"

"Put the weapon down, Lawrence!" the officer ordered again.

Doug began to cry and as the crying got worse, he slowly lowered his weapon then emotionally fell apart.

"I just want my family back!" he sobbed as he laid the gun on the floor.

"Back up two steps then get on the ground!" the officer told him.

The fight out of him, Doug did as he was told.

The first officer continued covering him while the second cuffed him and read him his rights.

"Can I see my son?" Doug begged when they stood him up.

"Ma'am?" the young officer asked Skylar.

"Can you cover up his handcuffs?" she asked.

One of the officers put Doug's heavy coat over his shoulders which went down to his waist.

Skylar ran around back and after seeing someone next door who waved to her, found Benjamin and let the woman in charge know the police were there and had her husband in custody. After expressing her strong objections, she released Benjamin to his mother and wished her luck.

"I have a surprise for you, honey," she said as they walked back around to the front of the Honey Tree.

"What kind of surprise?" he asked.

"Your daddy's here," she said.

"He is?" Benjamin asked, his eyes wide as saucers.

"Uh-huh. But he can only stay for a minute, okay?"

"Okay," the boy said as they walked inside.

The police lowered their weapons but kept them at their sides as the boy ran to his father who fell to his knees, his hands cuffed behind his back.

Benjamin hugged his neck and said, "Hi, Daddy!"

"Hey, buddy! I missed you so much!" Doug said, his face filled with anguish.

"I missed you, too," his son told him. "Why can't you stay? Why are you crying?"

Trying not to cry, Doug said, "I...I'm really busy, Benjamin. I...got a new job and I'm gonna be gone for a while, okay?"

"Will you come back?" his son asked.

"Someday. Yes. I'll come back. I promise."

"Let's go, Lawrence," one of the cops said.

"Give me one more hug, okay?" Doug asked trying to smile.

Benjamin hugged his neck as hard as he could.

"Be a good boy and listen to your mom, okay?"

"I will," Benjamin told him having no idea what was going on.

"I love you, son," his dad said.

"I love you, too, Daddy," Benjamin said as his father was taken outside.

"Why didn't Daddy hug me back?" Benjamin asked his mom.

"Um...Daddy hurt his arm and can't hug you," she said making it up on the spot. "But he does love you."

"Okay," the little boy said accepting what his mom told him at face value. "Can I go back and play with Colton now?"

One of the officers was talking to the woman in charge and Skylar saw her nodding and agreeing before the men in blue left with Doug in the back seat.

Two minutes later the children were back inside playing like nothing had ever happened.

"That was pretty amazing," Skylar told Aaron when it was over.

"What? Me? Come on. The police did everything," he said modestly.

"No. Not everything," she told him.

She looked at him then said, "You didn't think I'd actually stay in the car and wait, did you?"

"Hmmm. A woman with a mind of her own. I kinda like that," Aaron said trying not to smile as he opened her door.

"A man who knows how to treat a woman. I definitely like that," Skylar said with a smile as he helped her in.

As they drove back to the restaurant Aaron said, "Is this a bad time to tell you I think you're amazing? And beautiful?"

Skylar smiled and tried not to laugh.

"It's as good a time as any, I suppose," she said as he looked over at her.

"Well, you are, you know. And I was wondering if you might be interested in going out sometime."

"With you?" she asked as though there was some doubt involved.

"Well, that's what I'd like," he told her with a smile. "But I like a woman who makes up her own mind so it'll be up to you."

Skylar had dreamed about a man who not only thought she was beautiful but who respected her and valued her opinion. For too many years she hadn't even been allowed to have one let alone express it. Just hearing someone say those words was music to her ears. That he also happened to be handsome and...heroic...was icing on the cake.

"I think I might like that, too," she told him with a sweet smile.

"Do you like to go ice skating?" he asked. "We have Centennial Ice Area in town."

"I haven't been since I was a little girl, but that sounds very nice," she told him even though she was already sick of the bitterly cold weather.

"There's another very cool place called The Art of Play. Benjamin would love that, too. And we can catch dinner on the way back."

"Oh, so this is an all-day affair?" Skylar asked.

"Is it too early to say I'm hoping it might be more than just a one-day affair?" he asked with another smile.

"Maybe," she told him.

"But maybe not?" Aaron said hopefully.

"Let's see how our first day together goes, okay?" Skylar said unable to stop smiling.

"I can live with that," he told her as they pulled back up to the restaurant.

"Aaron?" she said now getting serious.

"Uh-huh?"

"Thank you. I...I don't know what I'd have done if..."

"It didn't happen, Skylar. Benjamin is safe. So are you," he reminded her.

"Thanks to you," she told him as he looked at her.

"My pleasure," he told her quietly.

"Aaron?" she said again.

"Yes?"

"Is it too early to ask you to...kiss me?"

Aaron laughed as did Skylar before he leaned over and kissed softly for the first time.

"Wow. Can we maybe do that again?" she asked.

"Let's see how our first day together goes, okay?" he said turning things around on her.

"You are so mean," she said quietly pretending to pout.

"But if you're nice, you could come over to my place tonight, and I'll make dinner for you again," he said in a very magnanimous voice.

"Hmmm. Okay. I can live with that," she said with a sweet smile now stealing his line.

He went around and opened her door and helped her out then walked her inside. The place was buzzing with chatter about what had happened and people were saying, "That's him. With Skylar. He's the Ranger."

"You're very popular around here," Shelly said as she walked over to them. "I'd say you both have a regular fan club!"

"That's nice, Shelly, but the truth is, I only care what one person here thinks," he told her while looking at Skylar and reaching for her hands.

"Oh. Would that be your Uncle Vern?" Skylar said as though she had no idea who he was talking about.

"Um...no," he told her as he moved closer to her.

Everyone was watching as Aaron told her, "Speaking of being very popular, I'd say I have a lot of competition in here! Every guy in here is checking you out."

"I'm not so sure," Skylar replied. "I mean, no one's actually let me know they're interested in me."

"The best way to get rid of the competition is to let them know the game's over," Aaron said with certainty.

"And how does one do that?" Skylar asked playing along.

"Like this," Aaron said as he put his arms around and kissed her.

Skylar melted into his arms and put hers around him as she kissed him back while customers did everything from clap and whistle to shout, "Damn it all to hell! I knew I shoulda made my move when I had the chance!"

As the very long kiss ended, Aaron told her, "I am very interested in you, Skylar."

"Then...I guess the game is over, huh?" she said with a happy smile as she held her handsome, younger man.

"I always win," he told her with more fake certainty. Well, maybe not all of it was fake.

"Um, no, I'd say I won this time," she told him just as certainly.

"A woman with confidence, too. I think I may just be in love," he told her.

"Why don't we wait until at least after that first day together before we go quite that far," she said pretending to warn him to back off and take it slow.

"Okay. I can wait that long," he told her with a smile. "But I can't wait that long to kiss you again."

"All right, all right! Let's get back to work here, huh?" Vern said in his gruff voice as the new couple kissed again.

"Oops. I think that would mean...me," Skylar said as she let her new boyfriend go.

"Tonight. My place. You, me, and the kid," Aaron said, winking and pointing at her as he walked away.

"Goofball!" she called out as he left.

"My, my. Someone seems smitten with you," Sherry said as she walked by. "And you owe me a good hour for covering for you!"

"You got it!" Skylar said.

Sherry leaned over then added, "And I'd say you've got it bad for Vern's nephew!"

Skylar smiled then said, "Yeah. You could say that."

Sherry had customers waiting and as she walked away she said, "Would you mind asking Aaron if has a handsome friend interested in a woman my age?" Sherry teased.

"Well, there is Vern!" Skylar called out knowing he was not only married but always grousing at Shelly.

"Hah! I'd rather die single!" she called back.

"Hey! Don't you women need to get to work?" Vern called out trying to sound gruff but secretly glad everyone was okay.

Skylar's tips dropped off for a while after that once the men who'd been coming in just to see the hot, new waitress realized she was seeing the handsome, young, former Army Ranger.

She and Benjamin did have dinner at his place that evening and the following Saturday, they spent nearly the entire day together doing family stuff that everyone enjoyed.

Later that night, when Benjamin fell asleep at 7:30 too tired to keep his eyes open, Skylar asked if it was too early to ask Aaron if he'd possibly like to come to bed with her.

"I think I can live with that," he said as she closed the door behind him and put her arms around him before they began undressing one another.

Doug Lawrence was returned to Seattle where he was later convicted of armed robbery and sentenced to fifteen years in prison. With good behavior he could be out in ten.

Skylar filed for divorce not long after the incident at the Honey Tree, and one was granted six months later as she and Aaron (and Benjamin) continued to spend as much time together as possible.

Just days after her divorce was final, Aaron told her how much he loved her and the following week he asked her to marry him and she couldn't 'yes' fast enough.

They married three months later and moved into Aaron's little cottage for a year as they saved money to buy their first home. Money was something Skylar had never had and even after marrying Aaron, they had more than enough to pay their bills and put a fair amount aside each payday.

But more importantly, Skylar finally had something far more valuable to her than money. She had love. Real, genuine, freely-given love. And just as important, she had the admiration of a man who not only loved her without reservation, but who respected her and valued her opinion. Skylar was finally an equal partner in the kind of marriage she'd only dreamed of for so long.

Best of all, this gorgeous young man loved her son like his own, and after initially saying 'no' several times, Doug relented and allowed Aaron to adopt his son, the first selfless thing he'd done for the boy he claimed to love.

When Benjamin was five, his mother sat him down and told him he was going to be a big brother in another eight months. Just after they moved into their own first home together, a modest 1,750 square foot house on the outskirts of Billings, Skylar Harmon gave birth to a beautiful baby girl with her mother there along with her loving husband and son.

Benjamin Lawrence Harmon grew up loving and respecting the man he called 'Dad' who loved him back just as much as he loved his beautiful mother. He was thirteen years old when his father was released from prison, but Doug had finally sobered up and grew up while he was incarcerated. He really did love his son and he proved it by staying out of his life and letting his beautiful ex-wife and new husband raise his son. Eventually, he was able to find a job another woman to love and he did his best to do so while staying sober the rest of his life.

Skylar couldn't bring herself to hate the man she'd married and who'd treated her so poorly. She just thanked God each and every day for sending her to Billings, Montana, where she met the man God had waiting for her when she arrived feeling so desperate and desperately alone.

Now the only desperation she felt was the way she so desperately loved her handsome, younger husband and their two children who made up the most wonderful family Skylar Harmon could ever imagine having, and this one was hers.