Page 26 of Afternoon Delight
Pre-occupation? I’d fondled every toy in the shop, wondering how each one worked. If it worked. Honestly, the only thing stopping me from trying them was not knowing how I’d ever say to a customer, Oh yeah, I really like that one. It got me off three times last night.
Meanwhile, I had gotten off three times after dinner, thinking about Zak getting off. Which wasn’t my fault. He’d started it, with all his banter about polishing wood and test-driving toys. I kept telling myself he wasn’t serious, but what if he was? What if he actually bought a toy and?—
Oh. People began trickling out. One of the perks of a small airport: once the plane landed, it took about three minutes to get to baggage claim.
I spotted a chestnut forelock poking out from under a raised gray hoodie, layered beneath a heavy blue winter coat. My heart swelled, and a wide smile spread across my face.
“Hi, bud.”
“Hi, Mom.” He dropped his backpack by his feet and hugged me. Hard.
“Did you grow again?” It hadn’t even been two weeks since I’d hugged him goodbye, but he felt as though he towered over me.
“Did you shrink? Where’s Grandma?” He looked around.
“Home. She was tired.” From organizing my launch event. “Was your flight okay? Is that all you have?” Just his school backpack? He was only staying a few days, but still—I’d expected a carry-on.
“I checked a bag.” His gaze moved to the carousels.
“Oh. Big spender.” We walked over as people began to gather. “Did you bring your ski gear?” Shit. We’d done that as a family sometimes when visiting here over Christmas. Mount Washington was three hours up island, though. “I didn’t even think of that. Sorry, bud. I don’t think I can take you. Maybe I can get you one of those day trips, though?” Skiing alone wasn’t as fun.
“No. It’s not—” He clenched his eyes shut, mouth flat and brows drawn together. “Can I stay?” He opened his eyes, still tense, as if bracing for rejection. “With you? Until you go back? Please?”
My heart lurched so hard it nearly burst out of my chest.
“Yes,” I said, instantly. Instinctively. Dumbfounded, but there was only one answer to such a request. “Always.” I pulled him into a hug. Through his thick layers, I thought he might be trembling. “I love you. You always have a place with me.” My heart was pounding. What happened?
The conveyor belt started. He let go and swiped the heel of his hand across his eye.
“Do you want to tell me why?” I asked gently. My mind raced to bullying at school and all the terrible things that could happen to a kid.
“Dad and Wanda fight all the time. Even about who would take me to the train.”
Joel hadn’t driven him to the airport? Sure, airports are a pain, but the train station was fifteen minutes from Joel’s office. And Roddie had a full-sized bag. I was livid, but I did what I always did: I made excuses for that fuckwit.
“New babies are hard on everyone. No one gets any sleep. Tempers are short.” It was all true.
“Freddie isn’t that bad. He cries a lot, especially at night, but he’s cute. I feel really bad about leaving him, but Dad is never there, and Wanda is always mad about it. When I told Dad about Tyson and Bethany, Dad said, ‘Don’t miss your bus.’ That’s all. He didn’t even offer to drive me to school that morning. Wanda hates that I’m doing school from home even though I’m in my room all day. I hate being there.”
He didn’t feel welcome in his own father’s home. In the home that had been ours, when we’d been a family. My heart fell in jagged shards onto the airport floor.
“What about science? I thought you had to go in for that. And music?”
“I can retake science or make it up over the summer. I was hoping I could move in with you when you go back. Starting a new school can’t be worse than—” He stepped forward and yanked a black suitcase off the carousel. He plonked it in front of me and snapped the handle up. He hung his head, peering from the depths of his raised hoodie. “Are you mad?”
“No.” Not at him. “What about your dad? Did you talk to him about this before you left?”
For a second, he looked five years old again, begging me for a puppy. “Can you tell him?”
“Sure.” Joel would be defensive, and I’d have to smooth his ego, but that was nothing new. Also, I was getting something I wanted, so I was more than happy to make that phone call. “Grandma will be excited that you’re staying.”
I was pretty sure. We had shifted things around in the rumpus room, but Mom had not been persuaded to take Dad’s clothes to the thrift store. My mind began assembling a long list of to-dos if Roddie was staying longer.
As I pulled the SUV fob from my pocket, the key to Afternoon Delight flashed silver.
Right. There was also that.
Chapter 13
