Page 25 of Laying His Claim
She shook her head. “No, he’s been a gem. Hasn’t so much as made a murmur.”
So, he realized, she’d gotten out of bed early just to stand at her son’s side.She’s a good mom,he reminded himself.Maybe that whole thinghadbeen a mistake. He remembered he had some news for her; news she probably wouldn’t like. “I have to fly to Ottawa this morning. To be with my folks.”
“Why?” She stared at him in surprised concern, moving away from the crib so that their conversation didn’t disturb Sebastian. “Are they okay?”
“They’re fine, but there was a fire at one of the restaurants.”
She looked horrified. “What kind of fire?”
“No idea.” He began to walk out of the nursery, hoping she would follow, because he didn’t want their voices to wake the baby up. “It’ll take a few days for the investigators to come up with a source of the blaze.”
He felt her fall into step with him. He didn’t know why, but he found himself heading to the patio where the pale rays of the morning sun were just about chasing the mist away.
“Is that how long you’ll be gone? A few days?”
He nodded without answering.
“And what about Seb?” Her eyes were focused on him, alert, trying to read his response.
“You guys will be fine. I can ask Lorena to sleep in, if you—”
“No!” she interrupted him hastily. “That’s not necessary!”
“You’ll need her support, Jalissa,” he explained patiently. “Babies aren’t easy to deal with, especially when they’re crawling.”
She flinched inwardly at the clear implication, but stood her ground. “Fine. If you want me to work with her, I will. But she does not need to sleep over. Sebastian is my son, and I can care for him. I’ll keep the baby monitor in my room. If necessary, I’ll sleep in the nursery. But please, just trust me.”
He examined her eyes carefully and saw only sincerity. He gave her a slight smile. “That’s fine, Jalissa. You’ll do great.”
The relief on her face was tremendous. “Thank you.”
He wouldn’t have time to wait for Lorena to arrive for duty, so as he assembled his bags at the front entrance to wait for the limousine to take him to the airport, he gave her a few quick instructions. Then he was off, confident that everything would be okay.
* * *
Both his parents met him at the airport, and he embraced them with great affection, even though he saw them regularly. He’d brought flowers for his mom and was armed with a silver photo album filled with Sebastian’s most recent photos; some of them included Jalissa. As much as he was a man who embraced technology, he believed that baby pictures should always be in tangible form; it was as if they captured the image of the child and froze it in time for future enjoyment.
They first stopped at the restaurant, so Justin could have a look at the damage, which was extensive. The entrance and dining area were mostly unscathed, although the stench of smoke was so pervasive that the soft furnishings would have to be replaced, and the walls repainted. The expense would be great, and he could only hope that the insurance would cover most of it.
In the kitchen, the devastation was so extreme that all he could do was stop and look around himself in frank amazement. The ground was still sodden from the fire hoses, and clumps of white foam from the fire extinguishers had dried on the walls like melted marshmallow. The charred and blackened walls made it clear that the fire had been centered around the stoves and ovens, which wasn’t surprising. But the question remained; how had it happened? Was it an accident? Negligence? Or a deliberate act of sabotage?
He noticed that his mother was close to tears. It hurt his heart, as he knew how much she and his dad had put into the business. He put his arms around her. “Come on, Mom. Let’s get back to the house. We’ll get working on fixing it up as soon as we can, okay?”
She nodded gratefully, and with her husband on one side and her son on the other, they walked back to the car.
Back at the family home, Justin enjoyed a cheerful meal with his parents. Afterward, he hurried to his childhood room, where he always slept when he visited, eager to get in touch with Jalissa and find out how Sebastian was doing.
She immediately picked up. “I know you aren’t really calling for me,” she joked, “but don’t worry, Seb is as eager to talk to you as you are to talk to him.”
“Of course I’m calling for you,” he answered softly. “How are you?”
“Great.”
“You look great.”
She flushed and lifted Seb into her arms, angling the phone camera so he could see them both. “Say hi to Daddy, Seb,” she coaxed.
Sebastian said no such thing, but he cooed at the camera in a way that made Justin feel as though he knew his dad was on the other end. It warmed Justin’s heart. Mother and son were doing well; he knew he didn’t have to worry too much about leaving them. He listened indulgently as Jalissa told him a story about trying to feed Seb boiled eggs at breakfast, but thathewound up trying to feedherby the squished handful.
