Page 3 of Single Mom's Firemen

It is uncanny to see a woman in her mid-fifties acting like a bratty teen with zero responsibilities. Then again, Shauna Harrison has always been a bratty teen, even after she married my dad and had me. That never changed, which is why Dad ended up raising me once the divorce papers were signed.

Surprisingly, she’s the one who offered to help me with the kids while I get my feet back on the ground. I should have known better, but times have been tough.

Tonight, she’s showing her true colors, again.

Flaking when I need her the most.

Her phone vibrates once more, and I can’t help but scoff. “Let me guess, there’s a Texas Hold’ em game going on somewhere with a couple big whales for you to play,” I say.

“Big whales don't even scratch the surface,” she replies with a hungry smirk. “I’m telling you, honey, if I land at the right table, I’m gonna walk out of there with at least a couple hundred grand.”

“My God, are you hearing yourself?”

“Oh, come on, Halle,” my mother sighs with frustration. “Just keep them upstairs in your room with the door locked. You’ve got… what, another couple of hours before you close up?”

“Four hours. I’m not going to keep my children locked in a room for four hours, Mom.”

“Sorry, honey, but I gotta go.”

“Mom!”

She gives Luna a quick kiss on the cheek, then waves goodbye to Sammy before rushing out the door, the bell chiming behind her. I’m left standing in the middle of the diner like the ultimate idiot. Sammy clings to my leg while Luna gives me a curious and dismayed look.

“Grandma’s gambling, huh?” she asks.

“Yep,” I exhale sharply and give her the upstairs key. “Baby, do you remember what I told you about staying inside with your brother?”

Luna gives me a firm nod. I look at her for a moment, seeing so much of myself embedded in her features. Her long and curly dark brown hair, ringlets framing her pale, round face. Her vibrant blue eyes and the dimples in her pink cheeks.

She has bits and pieces of Colby, too, much like Sammy, but she’s mostly me, and it fills me with a quiet hope. Maybe she’ll take after me more than her father.

“I lock the door as soon as we get in and don’t open it unless it’s you,” my daughter says, a slight frown pulling her dark brows together.

I love the way she looks in this little jean dress with pink knitted flowers sewn onto the shoulders. Sammy is a cute miniature sailor in his dark blue shorts and white tee, his chubby cheeks flustered as he glances up at me. “Bedtime stories! I want the Rex stories!” he says.

“Oh, sweetie, not yet” I tell him, a painful pang tugging at my heart. I’d like nothing more than to end my shift right now so I can hang out with my kids, but we are dirt poor and struggling. I can’t afford a single day off while I’m recovering from a toxic and devastating marriage. “I need you to go upstairs with your sister and be a good boy until Mama’s done with work.”

“Ma—ma…,” he exaggeratedly moans, throwing his head back in a most dramatic fashion, his brown curls jiggling with every motion. “No!”

“I’m sorry. I promise I’ll make it up to you,” I say. “I’ll read two Rex stories when I’m done.”

“Three!” he insists, showing me three of his cute tiny fingers.

“When the heck did you get so good at counting?” I mutter with a raised eyebrow.

Luna lifts the key up and jingles it for me to see. “You go work, Mama, I got this.”

“You’re my savior.” I bend down and kiss my daughter’s warm forehead. “You come right down if you need anything at all.”

“Love you!” she says as she pulls Sammy off my leg.

The little guy protests a bit more but ultimately follows his sister up the shoddy wooden stairs. I listen to their receding footsteps for a short while, content once I hear the door to my room closing and locking behind them.

Luna may be only five, but she is smart as a whip and ridiculously tenacious. I guess that comes with the territory when you grow up in a difficult environment. Colby was hardly around, and when he was home, he was too busy humiliating and tormenting me than being an actual father to our children.

I shudder to think what would’ve happened had I stayed.

“Halle, darlin’!” Marty calls out from his table. He’s been labeling and packing scented candles in a box for the better part of an hour, and from the looks of it, he’s almost done. “Can you get me some of that tape?”

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