Page 37 of Dirty Little Secret
“I think we’ve caught her a little off guard.” I chuckled and shook my head at my son. “I think we’ve got to give her time to get her bearings before something like that. Heck, we don’t even know if she’s got a car to take you to school in.”
“Of course I have a car, Kane.” She looked a little miffed. “I’m actually doing pretty well financially, now that I work at Mynt. I can take him. What time do I need to pick you up, Fox? And from what address?”
It occurred to me suddenly that the school had rules about who could pick up the kids and drop them off. “I forgot, Fox. She’s not on the list. We’ll have to get her on the list first.”
“Can you do it tomorrow?” he asked as he looked at me with droopy eyes. “I really want her to take me sometimes, and even pick me up sometimes too.”
How could I tell my kid that I had no idea if his mother was in any way capable of taking on such a big responsibility yet? How could I let him know that I had no idea about her moral character, or if she would even be fit to do things like pick him up or take him to school?
And how could I do it with her standing right there?
“Tell you what, Fox. Let me hammer out all these details with the school this evening, and I’ll call your mom to work things out with her too.”
That should work for now.
“Okay, thanks, Dad.” He wiggled his finger at Zandra. “Can I have a kiss on the cheek before you go, Mom?”
She laughed then leaned down to kiss his cheek. “You’ll make a mother out of me yet, won’t you?”
“I will.” He beamed at her, looking so proud of himself as he opened the door for her. “I’ll walk with you out to your car. I don’t want anything to happen to you, Mom.”
“I’ll join you two.” I came up on the other side of her as Fox took her hand. “It seems he’s taken a shine to you, Zandra,” I whispered over his head.
I had to admit to myself that my son’s behavior was a little bothersome to me. Could I really be feeling jealous that he’d taken so well to his mom?
I shook the feeling off. We would work out all the kinks in this new thing we’d all fallen into. I had to keep in mind that Zandra had been completely caught off guard, much more so than either Fox or me.
Hell, she’d had no clue that I had the boy or that I even knew he existed. This had to be knocking her out of the water. It would’ve done the same to me if the shoe were on the other foot.
As we went outside, she pointed at a shiny red Mustang. “That’s me over there.”
“The sports car?” Fox asked. When she nodded, he added, “So cool! My mom’s gonna be one of those cool moms.” He pumped his fist in the air. “Yes!”
As a doctor, that wasn’t exactly the kind of mother I wanted for my son. I wanted her to be one of the respectable moms—one of the responsible ones. A cool mom wasn’t something I had ever dreamt of for him.
Her long legs bent gracefully as she sat in the low-profile car. “Thank you, boys, for walking me out.” She put on a pair of Ray-Bans, making her look even more beautiful, and yes, I could admit, cooler too. “I look forward to hearing from you later on tonight, Kane.”
“I’ll call you when I’ve got my ducks in a row. It’ll be after nine, after I’ve put Fox to bed.” I closed the door for her, and she gave us a little wave.
Fox looked up at me as he knocked on her darkly tinted window. “Hey, wait.”
“What are you doing now?” I asked him as I put my hand on his shoulder.
“You’ll see.” He looked at his mother as she rolled the window down.
“Yes?” she asked him.
“Why don’t you just come over to our house and Dad can cook for us out on the grill?” He looked up at me. “She could stay the night, and we can all go to school together, and you can get her put on the list first thing in the morning. Please, Dad.”
“Um … I—” He’d put me in one hell of a hard place with that.
She looked at me too, but the dark sunglasses hid her expression from me. I had no idea where she stood on this.
But I knew, as a responsible father, that you didn’t go bringing strangers into your home. And you didn’t let them spend the night. And that was that.
“Dad, why are you taking so long to answer me?” Fox pushed further. “Just say yes already. Please.”
“I’ve got to say no on this one, buddy. Zandra has a lot to take in, after all. Let’s give her some space. Sorry.” The way he looked at me crushed me. Well, almost crushed me. I was a dad, and dads didn’t crush all that easily.
One day he would be a dad, and then he would understand. But until then he was just a little boy who’d finally gotten a mom, and he wasn’t happy with my decision.
“Fine!” He stalked back into the hospital.
“Whoa,” Zandra said. “Well. I’ll talk to you later then.”
She backed up at what I thought was too fast a speed. Her tires spun a bit as she left the parking lot, and I both adored her as a man and didn’t much like her as a father.
What the hell have I gotten into here?
