Chapter 10
Chapter Ten
“I don’t want to leave my friends,” James yelled at me for the one hundredth time.
It had been a long time since he’d had this bad of a meltdown.
He’d worked himself into such a state that tears and snot were running down his scrunched up red face, and he was beyond hearing anything I had to say. I just had to let it run its course.
I continued to sit cross-legged on the floor of his room while he paced in front of me, stopping occasionally to yell in my face.
“You’re a stupid-head.”
I held out an arm, and it stopped him mid-stride. “Hey, we don’t call people names, no matter how mad we are. That’s the rule, right, James?”
He glared at me. He was on the edge of flinging another insult, probably poopy-head, but he held back. “Okay, I won’t call you names,” he said reluctantly.
“That’s really good, James. But you can talk about your feelings all you want.”
Another tear dripped down his face. He wiped at it with the back of his hand, smearing mucous and tears all over. “I hate you.”
“Do you really? Or are you mad at me? And are you really sad and scared?”
His brow furled. That was my boy, he was a thinker. “I’m mad at you. It’s your fault we’re leaving.”
“Yes it is. I took a job that’s over a hundred miles away, so we have to get a new house.”
More tears fell. “I won’t know no one.”
“That’s not true. You’ll know Miss Angelica and Miss Zoe.”
“They’re grown-ups, I won’t know any kids. And Grandma and Grandpa won’t be there.”
“They promised to come and visit.”
“Can I bring my dinosaurs?”
I nodded.
“And my iPad?”
I nodded again.
“Can Kylie come?”
“No, Buddy, she can’t. Her parents aren’t moving, she’s staying here in Nashville.”
More tears dripped down his cheeks and I felt like a monster. These were the moments I missed Marie the most. She would know what to do, what to say.
“But I want her to come. She’s my best friend.”
“I know. But you’re going to make new friends. I’m going to make sure we get a house that you like, and that it is close to a school that you like.”
I watched him consider this.
“Do you promise?”
“Cross my heart.”
“And you promise I can play Mario Kart with Miss Angel?”
“I promise.” Even if I had to buy her a Nintendo Switch myself.
“Okay, I guess I’ll look. Can it be near a park?”
“We’ll have to look around for the best place.”
I’d already scoped out a preschool that Ford’s sister Carrie recommended. Her son, Bubba, was James’ age. According to Ford, the kid was a constant surprise, coming up with numerous ways to keep his parents on their toes. Nothing mean, just creative.
I intended to introduce James to Bubba and Carrie’s whole family as soon as we got there.
To begin with we would stay at the Whispering Pines Inn.
A little pricey, but I had hopes of getting a furnished rental pretty quick, or even better, finding a house to buy.
Ford had already set me up with a man who owned a couple of properties, and usually had his finger on the pulse of other properties in the area.
“When do we have to go?” James asked. At least he wasn’t crying anymore.
“We’re going there next week.”
“Forever?”
“Just for a vacation to find somewhere to live. But then we’ll go back and move into our new house.”
“You promise I’ll like it?” His big blue eyes were pleading.
“I promise you get to help me pick out where to live. I want you to be happy, James. Plus there’s a boy I want you to meet. He’s your age and his uncle is a friend of mine. I bet you he plays Mario Kart.”
James’ eyes widened. “If he doesn’t, I can teach him.”
I winced. James’ idea of teaching included yanking the other person’s controller out of their hands. It wasn’t exactly ideal.
“Hopefully he already knows how to play.”
“I bet he does,” James said confidently.
“Well, Kiddo. The day after tomorrow, we need to start packing. We’re going to be going on a fun adventure.”
“Really?” Now he was hopeful.
“And if you’re really good, we can go on some rides. There’s an amusement park close to where we’re going.”
His eyes widened. “There is?”
“Yep. It’s called Dollywood.”
“What kind of rides?”
Shit, I hadn’t researched.
“All kinds. Once we get settled we can search on my phone and see exactly what they have for boys your size.”
“Okey-doke.” His grin was back.
I knew bribery was a bad thing for a parent to use, but I didn’t really care. If it put that grin on my son’s face, I was all for it.
“Can I pack now?”
“Let’s wait until the day after tomorrow. That’s when are reservation starts.”
“Okay, I’ll just pack my dinosaurs now.”
I laughed. “Okay, go pack your dinosaurs.”
“And my Legos.”
“And your Legos.”
He ran out of the kitchen and now I was the one grinning.
It was good having connections. When I opened the door to our room at the Inn, I was floored. There was no way this was the normally priced room that I was paying for. This was definitely a suite.
James ran under my arm and zoomed into the room.
He zeroed in on the tray of snacks, water, sodas and bottles of alcohol that we could purchase for probably exorbitant prices.
He had already pulled a package of cookies out of the tray and was just about to tear it open when I plucked it out of his hands.
“Dad, I wanted that,” he said in a reasonable tone of voice, “They gave it to us.”
“No they didn’t. Everything in there, we have to pay for.”
“We do?”
“Yep.”
“So I should eat the snacks Grandma made.”
“That’s right.”
“Where are they?”
“In the cooler, in the truck. I’ll bring them up.”
He smiled. “I can help. I’m a good helper.”
“You’re the best helper.”
We headed back down to the truck, and picked up the small cooler out of the bed, which James immediately said he could carry.
“I don’t know, it’s pretty heavy.”
“I can do it.”
I handed it to him, and he grimaced, but hefted it up. I grabbed two suitcases and a box, and followed him. He was huffing and puffing by the time we got to the door, but proud of himself. Yep, he was a good helper.
“Where does this go?”
“Over near the fridge.” The damn suite even had a small kitchen area. Ford sure had some good connections here in town.
I set the box down on the coffee table, and took the suitcases into a bedroom with two double beds.
“Dad, I need the bafroom.”
“In here, Buddy.”
He hustled, and I went to the fridge and started unpacking the food. I left out a juice box, a bottle of water, some trail mix and four of Sharon’s brownies. They were good-sized, and I was hungry. I bit into one, and went to the couch to call Ford. He answered on the first ring.
I swallowed.
“This place is great. What kind of strings did you have to pull to get us a suite?”
“Our company did some work for Doug three years ago. My brother Walker gave him a screaming discount. Back then, Walker was a bit of a hound dog, so he was always trying to impress the ladies.”
“Yeah, I had friends like that in my college days.”
“He’s settled down in the last couple of years. He’s looking for ‘the one.’ They’re tough to find, unless you fall at their feet.” We laughed. I’d heard the story about how he’d landed on his ass the first time he’d met his fiancée. Good stuff.
“Anyway, Doug still likes to give the Lawson brothers favors every now and then, so I pulled one in.”
I looked up when James came into the room and pointed to the food on the dinette table. He grinned and aimed for a brownie. Smart boy. He came and sat next to me.
“I have three viewings set up for you tomorrow. They aren’t with a real estate agent, so that’ll save you money.
One is a furnished house to rent, the other two are houses that aren’t on the market yet, but the owners want to sell.
I’ve already texted you the itineraries.
One of the houses is vacant, the other one is still occupied, but the owner is going to leave for the hour that your viewing it.
My sister Carrie is going to be with you on that one.
For some reason that makes no sense to me, they trust her. ”
I laughed, just like Ford intended. “So I finally get to meet your sister.”
“Yep. Don’t hold her against me.”
“You know I’m bringing James, right?”
“I told Carrie, she’s bringing Bubba. He’s five, with the attitude of an eighteen-year-old felon. Depending on where you end up, they could be going to the same preschool. If so, watch out.”
“James isn’t easily influenced.”
“Yeah, well, don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
“Thanks for everything you’ve done. I appreciate it.”
“Are you kidding? Me, Walker, Renzo and Harvey, are excited as hell that you signed onto this project. Renzo especially. He’s close to finishing his architecture degree, so he’ll be picking your brain a lot.”
I smiled. It was great to be signing on with someone I knew so well, and had worked with so long. “This project is exactly the type I can sink my teeth into.”
“It’s a total win-win, and the sooner you and your boy are settled, the better. I know what it’s like living out of a hotel. Not fun. Gotta go. I’ll talk to you tomorrow night.”
“Sounds good. Thanks again.”
“Don’t mention it.”