Page 28 of Twenty-Three Years of Longing

Ten?

“Who is ten?” I asked.

“Joey. My son,” she said.

“Your son? Joey is your son?” I said, stunned, practically slamming on the brakes as I pulled off the road to get clarification.

“Yes, he’s, my son. Who did you think he was?” she asked.

Putting my SUV in park, I chuckled. “You don’t want to know.” I was embarrassed to admit it.

“Yes, I do,” she said.

“I thought he was your...boyfriend,” I said, trying to prepare myself for her reaction.

Now she laughed. “Oh, that is funny. No. You were dead wrong. Joey is my son. Nine, I mean, ten years old. Just had his birthday before I came here. And as I said, he’s, my world.”

And I’m an ass for not asking more questions earlier.

I was doing the math, and damn, she was a young mother. Also, very common here, but I had hoped I wasn’t wrong. I didn’t want her to be another statistic of Tabiq’s past. How can I ask something like that without sounding...like a fucking asshole?

There would be another time for us to have that type of discussion. Now wasn’t it.

“I guess you’re right about the job. We do work young, but not that young. How about we work on making friends? I don’t mind showing him around and doing things with him. Does he like to fish?” I asked.

“I never took him.”

She looked at me with such sweetness in her eyes, that I just wanted to kiss her. And since she didn’t have a boyfriend, that wasn’t an issue any longer.

“When he gets here, I’ll bring him. And you if you’d like to come,” I said, hoping she would.

“Fishing has never been my thing. Not putting anything on the hook, and not taking anything off.” She reached for my hand again, and added, “Orion, you have no idea how much I appreciate your offer. I know you really would do this for me, for my son. But you won’t have any time for such things. Not anymore. You have more important things to think about than us.”

I would debate that.

Not sure why or how, but she had become very important to me. If I even hinted at that, I knew she’d pull away. I didn’t want that to happen. I wasn’t willing to lose what we did have. Whatever that was.

“Raya, I can’t promise a lot of things, but I told you before, that you can call on me anytime. I meant it then, and I do now. I want to be there for you. For Joey. If you’ll let me, that is,” I said, stroking her hand with my thumb.

She smiled. “I believe you really mean that.”

“I do,” I said. Her eyes watered, and a single tear rolled down her cheek. I brushed it away and asked, “What’s the matter?”

“It’s okay. We can talk another time. Reesa is waiting for you,” she said, choking back the tears.

“Raya, she can wait. She can’t have it without me. Now, tell me what’s wrong? Why are you upset?” I prodded.

“I have my friend Kathy who has been so supportive of me. But that is all. And now, here you are, offering to be here for me even when you have so much on your own plate. I...I don’t know what to say,” she sniffed.

I pulled her close to me and looked down into her eyes. “Just say yes. You’ll call me.”

She nodded. “I’ll call you. And Orion, promise me something.”

“Anything, Raya.”

“Call me too. Let me be there for you like you are for me,” she said.

I knew she needed me to lean on her. She wasn’t going to settle for a one-way relationship, and I didn’t want too either.

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