Page 26 of My Song for You
We entered the building. I unlocked the inside door and let him in. As we approached the elevator, the door slid opened. The elderly woman who had appreciated Jared’s ass stepped in first, and we followed. I pressed my lips together as we rode up to my floor, doing my best not to laugh as she checked out his backside again.
On my floor, I unlocked my apartment door to the sound of coughing from inside, and it was like hooking me up to an IV and rapidly infusing freezing liquid into my bloodstream. It took me a second to realize it wasn’t a child coughing. I quickly opened the door and entered. Jared followed, clicking the door shut behind him.
I didn’t have to wait long before Logan came charging from his bedroom. Sharon followed soon after, moving at a much slower pace. The cold chill returned full blast. This morning she had looked like she was coming down with a cold, but now she looked a hundred times worse. All I could do was stare at her as Logan wrapped his skinny arms around my legs.
I hugged him and kissed the top of his head, ignoring for the moment everything else. The exhaustion. Sharon being sick. The extended shift tomorrow. My feelings for Jared.
Sharon started coughing again. “Sorry,” she said once the coughing fit finally subsided.
“Are you okay?” Unconsciously I tightened my hold on Logan, as if that would be enough to shield him from getting another serious illness.
He squirmed, and I reluctantly let go. “Why don’t you go into your room and I’ll be there in a minute?” I said and signed.
“Jared play with me?”
“Can Jared play with me?” I corrected.
“I can do that,” Jared said. “Why don’t you show me your toys?”
I mouthed, “Thanks.” He gave me his standard you’re-welcome nod. Logan grabbed his hand and led him into his bedroom.
“Are you okay?” I asked Sharon again, my mouth suddenly dry. Maybe it was due to my paranoia after everything Logan had been through, but I had a feeling she was far from okay.
“It’s probably nothing more than a cold. But just to make sure”—her gaze darted to Logan’s room—“I have an appointment with my physician in an hour.”
“How are you getting there?” She didn’t own a car.
“The bus.”
“I’ll drive you.”
She shook her head. “I don’t know how long I’ll be, and the doctor’s waiting room is the worst place you could take Logan.”
“You can’t take the bus. You’re too sick.”
“And I can’t have you drag Logan to that office and risk him getting sick too. I’ve done my best to minimize the chance of him catching whatever I’ve got, but you won’t be able to do the same there.”
She was right, but I was right too.
Jared stepped out of Logan’s room. “I can stay with Logan while you take Sharon.”
“You can’t do that,” I blurted out.
“Why not?”
“Because…um…”
“It’s a great idea,” Sharon said, her voice a little brighter.
I flashed her a look that I hoped conveyed more to her than it did to Jared. While I didn’t doubt for a second she was sick, she was up to something.
But I also didn’t have a choice when it came to Jared looking after Logan. Sharon was right. I couldn’t bring him with us, but I couldn’t let her take the bus.
I let out a hard breath. “All right, but are you sure about this?” I asked him. “You don’t exactly have experience looking after kids.”
“We’ll be fine. In case you’re forgetting, I used to be one.” That was hardly reassuring. “Plus, I have a niece. So I’m not totally inept when it comes to kids.”
I told them I’d be right back and entered Logan’s room. “I have to take Mrs. Rogers to the doctor’s. Are you okay if Jared stays with you till I get back?”
