Page 26 of Frosty the Biker

As we wandered, she glanced at me several times before she finally opened her mouth. “Are you seeing anyone?”

“Me?” I asked, but Anson jerked on my arm, pulling me on to look at the next display.

About twenty minutes went by and she didn’t bring it up again. When I realized she wasn’t going to, I simply stated, “No, Ryian. I’m not seeing anyone. Not engaged. Not married.”

She ducked her head to cover her flaming cheeks. I thought it was cute.

By the end, I was carrying Anson. His head rested on my shoulder, and his eyes were droopy.

“I should probably get you guys home. I think we wore him out,” I quietly told her.

Her hand rested on Anson’s back and she kissed his cheek.

In my mind, I wondered if the people milling around us looked at our little group and thought “what a great-looking little family.” I shook that off. It was too soon.

Too soon?Was that what I wanted? I’d only just found out I had a son. Yet being here like this felt so right—like it was exactly how things were supposed to be.

Maybe we got off track because we were young, stubborn, and impulsive, yet fate was doing its damnedest to get us back to where we were supposed to be. Or maybe this was where we were meant to be all along. Perhaps there was an unknown reason for everything that happened.

I didn’t think we’d ever know the truth of that.

Either way, I didn’t want to lose this feeling.

We walked through the door at Ryian’s mom’s place and Mrs. Buchanan was watching a movie. She immediately paused it and shot to her feet. “Well, holy….” She trailed off without finishing her thought.

“Hello, Mrs. Buchanan,” I greeted as I held Anson to my chest where he was out like a light.

“Isn’t that a sight for sore eyes,” she whispered.

“We’ll be right back out Mom,” Ryian said as she pulled on my arm.

I followed her through the living room down the hall to her old bedroom. Sure enough, on the top shelf, next to a beat-up Stitch doll, was the Mr. Bingle she was talking about. I smiled.

She pulled back the covers and I gently settled Anson on the bed. Ryian made quick work of his shoes and socks. Before I knew it, she had changed the sleeping toddler into a pair of pajamas with a blue cartoon dog on them. The entire time, he remained sleeping and I was in awe.

As she tucked him in and spoke in a whisper to him, I snuck back out to the living room. It seemed like I was intruding on her moment.

Mrs. Buchanan was in the attached kitchen, washing out her mug. She looked up as I entered. I took a seat at one of the stools that were at the breakfast bar in front of her.

“Mrs. Buchanan, I wanted to apologize.”

She cocked her head in question.

“For how things went back after Ry left. I was beside myself and I feel like I might’ve been hard on you back then. I shouldn’t have been like that with—”

She cut me off. “No. Don’t you apologize. I’ve already told Ryian—you can’t change how things happened. In my opinion, you’ve been given a second chance that most people don’t get.” She dropped her gaze to the sink and appeared sad for a moment, but it was quickly gone. When she lifted her eyes to mine again, she smiled. “Don’t squander this moment by dwelling on past mistakes thateveryonemade.”

I nodded. I’d said as much to Ryian the night before.

Ryian joined us. “Is everything okay?” she asked as she glanced back and forth at us.

“Everything is just fine,” her mom assured her. “But this old lady is going to bed.”

“Mom! Stop it! You’re not old and I refuse to consider that for a moment!” Ryian joked as she sat on the stool next to me, covered her ears, and then started repeating “la, la, la, la, la, la!”

Her mom laughed, we said our goodnights, then her mom went to bed.

“So, I went by the attorney’s office today,” I told her as I glanced over at her.

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