Chapter 26
Chapter Twenty-Six
RORY
The past week and a half since our first date had been the best week and a half I’d had in a long, long time.
Some days, depending on Cord’s work schedule, he showed up at my place before Zach got home from school, and some days he couldn’t get to us until later in the evening.
But he never failed to spend his evenings with us.
He didn’t spend the night every night, but on the ones he did, I slept like a log and woke up feeling refreshed and ready to take on the day.
I’d never been much of a cuddler in the past. I liked my space.
I moved around a lot in my sleep, so I needed that freedom.
But with Cord, that changed. I went to bed in his arms, and I woke up the same way.
Sure, I still moved, but whenever I did, he’d simply move with me and hold onto me in a new position.
The only shadow that cast over the brilliant glow I’d been living in was the fact that, while Zach was becoming more and more comfortable in his new home with me each and every day, he was still despondent and moody when he arrived home from school, closing himself in his room and not saying but a handful of words to me.
He’d eventually pull himself out of it and return to normal, but no matter how many times I asked, he refused to talk about whatever was so clearly bothering him, insisting that there was nothing wrong.
I’d put in a call to his teachers to see if they were aware of anything going on, but they all said he was a quiet, bright boy who came to class, did his work, and then moved on to the next.
As blissfully happy as I was with him and Cord, that disquiet still lingered in the back of my mind, nagging at me that something bad was going on with my boy.
Cord had stepped in a couple of times, going back to his room to speak with him in private in the hopes he’d open up to him, but he hadn’t gotten any further than I had. Even my dad, who Zach had grown extremely close with, hadn’t made any headway.
Whatever was bothering him was something he seemed determined to keep to himself, and as helpless as it made me feel, I had no other choice but to sit back and hope he’d come to me if he needed me.
And that was exactly what I’d just shared with Tempie as she sat on one of my countrified barstools, sipping from the glass of iced tea I poured her when she showed up for a visit thirty minutes ago.
“I can see how this would bother you, sweetie, but I think you’re right. All you can do is keep doing what you’re doing. Either he’ll eventually feel like he can open up to you, or he’ll get it figured out on his own.”
“But that’s the thing. I don’t want him to have to figure it out on his own. He’s already spent too much of his young life having to do that. I’m supposed to be taking care of him, and that includes fixing all of his problems.”
My friend gave me a sympathetic look before stating, “Honey, you know as well as I do that you can’t fix every problem for every person.
You were his age once, and I’m sure you kept things from your parents.
” She was right, but that didn’t mean I had to like that Zach was keeping things from me.
“And I know he’s young and it’s your job to protect him, but he’s had to learn things no child his age should ever have to learn.
He can’t unlearn them, Ror. His self-reliance was instilled in him before he got to you, and trying to make him stop would be like trying to make him learn to live without breathing. ”
“So what are you saying?” I snapped, agitation forming into a rock in the pit of my stomach. “That I should just stand back and let him do everything on his own?”
“Of course not. But instead of trying to make him give up that part of himself so you can take care of him to make yourself feel better, you nurture that independence. Teach him to use it properly so that he’ll grow into a kind, honorable man who’s not afraid of working hard and making an honest living to take care of himself and the family he’ll one day have. ”
“Oh god,” I groaned, throwing my head back dramatically.
“Now I’m thinking about him as a grown-up with a family of his own.
” I lifted my head and pinned her in place with a murderous look.
“Are you trying to kill me? I only just got him. Let me at least enjoy a little of the time I have with him before I have to start worrying about him turning into an adult.”
An odd expression flitted across Temperance’s face before she broke out into a beaming smile. “You’re already totally and completely in love with this boy.”
“Of course I am. He’s my kid,” I stated without missing a beat.
“I know it’s only been a little while, but I feel it.
He’s mine, Tempie. It’s like I was meant to have him.
Like my purpose in life was to find him and take care of him.
” I paused, stopping to really think about all those feelings for the very first time. “Does that sound weird?”
“Not at all,” she whispered with a shake of her head. “You’re a parent now, babe. I think this is how all parents are supposed to feel. And I bet if you asked Gypsy, she’d tell you she feels the exact same way about her brood.”
Gypsy didn’t have any kids of her own, but she’d been raising her five brothers and sisters since she was a little girl.
She didn’t look at them as her siblings; they were just hers.
I had an incredible amount of respect for her, knowing she’d given up so much to take care of them, and I always wondered what I would have done if I’d been in her shoes.
Now I was beginning to have a better understanding of why she didn’t even blink at the responsibility.
Zach wasn’t a kid I was responsible for taking care of until he could move out and do it by himself.
He was a part of my family. And I wasn’t the only one who thought of him that way.
My mother and father absolutely adored him and treated him as if he was a flesh-and-blood grandchild.
In other words, they spoiled him rotten, which they claimed was their right.
And there had been several times over the past couple weeks where I’d caught Cord looking at him with a soft, tender expression on his face that melted my insides like butter, so I knew he felt the exact same way.
“Oh, wow,” I breathed, finally understanding the fullness of my situation. “I’m a parent now.”
“Yep.” Tempie nodded with a giggle. “Not just a foster parent but a full-blown, until-your-dying-breath parent.”
Oh damn. Okay. I freaking loved that. My face split into a giddy smile, but the moment shattered when Zach came through the front door a minute later and slammed it shut behind him with such force the glass panes in the tiny windows along the top shook.
“Hey! Whoa!” I called, rounding the island and moving his way. “What’s going on?”
“I hate that stupid school,” he seethed, his head down, eyes to the ground as he stomped toward the hall. “They’re all a bunch of assholes!”
I saw Tempie’s wide-eyed look as I caught up with Zach and stepped in front of him, cutting off his access to the hall.
“First off, watch your language.” I placed my fingers beneath his chin and began to lift his head.
“Second, tell me what’s—” The words died on my tongue as I sucked in a startled gasp at what I saw.
“Oh my god!” I cried, dropping into a crouch to get a better look at his face.
“What the hell happened?” The skin beneath his right eye was puffy and swollen, an angry purple bruise was already forming there, and there was a smear of dried blood beneath his nose that he’d obviously tried wiping away, but not before it had dripped onto the collar of his shirt and stained the material.
His hair was ruffled, and his eyes were glistening with rage and unshed tears. “Tell me, Zach. What happened?”
He gave his shoulder a jerk, trying to dislodge my hold as he grunted, “It’s nothin’. Just leave me alone.”
“Absolutely not. No freaking way. Someone hit you, Zach, and I want to know who.”
“It’s none of your business,” he clipped, looking at me with such anger and sadness that it ripped my heart in two.
“Honey, it’s—”
He pulled in a deep breath, then leaned forward and yelled, “I said leave me alone!” leaving me so stunned I couldn’t move as he rounded me and ran down the hall, slamming his bedroom door behind him.
Woodenly, I turned to face Tempie, who was looking toward the hall with worried eyes.
“What about now?” I asked on a whisper. “You think this is one of those times I should just let him work through it on his own?”
She gave her head a violent shake. “No way in hell. You might want to give him a chance to rein in his anger, but once that’s done, you don’t let up until you find out what’s been going on.”
I nodded in total agreement.
“And when you find out the name of the little asshole who did that to him, you better call me so I can go with you to take care of it. No one messes with one of ours.”
She had that right. And when I found out who it was who blackened my boy’s eye and bloodied his nose, I was going to rain down holy hell.