CHAPTER 3 #2
We finished the meeting and then headed out to the project site. Beckett and I went our separate ways since he didn’t have to watch over me every second of every day. Today, while Beckett inspected a few things on Site B, I would get my hands dirty at Site A. I liked the idea of that.
But I couldn’t stop thinking about Riggs. And I needed to.
Even as I made sure the Montgomerys didn’t ask too many questions and lied to myself, telling myself that it would only be the one time, I knew I didn’t want it to be.
Riggs had already texted me this morning, saying that he’d had a good time the weekend before. I hadn’t been to the bar since, and hadn’t seen him elsewhere either, but that wasn’t unusual. There was homework and getting the kids to bed.
I had told him the truth—that I didn’t have time. Only I wanted to find a way to make time. And that worried me.
By the end of my shift, I was exhausted and grateful that the Montgomerys understood the idea of working parents.
I had a lot of paperwork and things I could do at home for work on the clock later.
I could take a break to pick up the kids from after-school care or sporting things and move around my hours to make it work.
I wished I could afford a nanny, or at least someone to help out.
And while I had friends who could give me a hand when needed, we all had lives, and it wasn’t easy.
After I finished work at the site, I headed towards Mariah’s after-school care. My littlest cousin was five years old and a fricking joy. She was inquisitive, bright, smiley, and today, she had wanted to dress up like an alien princess for school.
Mariah’s school was amazing and let the kids dress however they wanted as long as it wasn’t their underwear or something that had curse words stitched on it.
When I arrived to pick up Mariah, she ran towards me in her princess outfit and alien antennae, her glittered cheeks sparkling, her smile so bright it lit up my world.
I hadn’t been the one to add the glitter, but from the look of her hands, she might have done it herself during after-school care.
“Clay!” Mariah shouted as she jumped into my arms. I held her close and kissed the top of her head, careful of the headband.
One of the parents gave me an odd look, and I just shifted Mariah on my hip and carried her out to the car. She called me by my first name. She wasn’t my daughter, though I had raised her for the past two years.
I would most likely never be Dad to her.
Her dad was Everly’s late husband. In our complicated worlds, Mariah’s brothers had only known their dad for stolen weekends with my aunt, while my littlest cousin had never known the man at all. When my aunt died after doing some pretty terrible things, I’d slowly ended up in this position.
As a pseudo-father to three kids.
I buckled Mariah in as she talked nonstop about her day, then made my way to pick up Holden and Jackson.
Jackson was eleven and a little know-it-all who wanted to be the man of the house, even though he was kind at the same time.
Holden was quiet, loved animals, and could make me smile and laugh endlessly.
I loved these kids as if they were mine. And, damn it, they were. Even if I had no idea what the fuck I was doing most days.
I was twenty-six years old and a father of three.
A single father of three at that.
I wasn’t supposed to be doing this on my own. And that made me think of Riggs, and what the hell? I’d had one night with him. One night where we’d been adults and living these new lives of ours. That didn’t mean there would be anything else.
I pulled into the pickup line right as the boys’ school let out and thought I was one of the later parents arriving.
I didn’t care. The kids would get to me when they got to me, and then I would get home.
I still had some work to do but was able to do it from my computer.
I also made up hours on weekends. That was when the kids had full babysitting time.
I could make up my hours for a full work week on Saturdays, and the Montgomerys were fine with that.
We worked when we could. Somehow, I’d lucked out with the best fucking family there was.
Montgomery Builders was also working on an in-house daycare with all the upcoming new births—not just in the Montgomery family but also within the staff.
It would mimic the one at Montgomery Inc. I thought it was brilliant.
“I can’t believe that Jeremiah said that,” Jackson mumbled as he got into the car, Holden behind him. Holden was a little pale and quiet and leaned against the back of the seat.
“You okay, buddy?” I asked, looking in the rearview mirror even as I waited for the kids to buckle up.
“We’re fine,” Jackson said, raising his chin.
“What did Jeremiah do? And don’t answer for Holden, Jackson, if I’m asking if he’s okay.”
Jackson winced. “Sorry. Jeremiah threw up all over Sunshine.”
“Sunshine?” I asked.
“That’s what she wants to be called today. Yesterday, it was Bunny. Tomorrow, it’s probably going to be Rainbow.”
I snorted, knowing that the little girl’s name was Sarah, but she liked going by different names daily depending on what her imaginary friend wanted. From what I could tell, at least, her teachers didn’t mind, and I was grateful that she didn’t seem to be getting bullied for it.
Jackson continued. “Anyway, Jeremiah threw up all over her, and she cried, but she didn’t hit him like another kid said she should. She just went to change, and Jeremiah went home.”
“I take it there’s a bug going around then?” I asked, knowing if it hit my house, that was another week off work because it would hit all three kids hard.
“You okay, Holden?” I asked again softly, a bit worried.
Holden nodded, but I felt like that was a lie. The kid had asthma and had to be very careful if he got sick. So, when we got home, I got them snacks as they started on their homework and reached out to press my hand against Holden’s forehead.
“I’m fine,” he mumbled as he leaned against me, his eyes closed.
“You’re hot, buddy. Come on, let’s take your temperature.”
I cursed under my breath. Noting the temp of one hundred and one, I almost called Everly to ask what I should do next, but I had done this before.
I could do it this time, as well. So, I gave him medicine to take the fever down and tucked him into bed.
He said his stomach didn’t hurt, but he definitely had a bug of some sort.
“Is Holden sick?” Mariah asked, her eyes watery.
I washed my hands and held her close. “I don’t know yet, Bug. Let’s figure it out.”
“I don’t want to get sick. We get to play in the clover tomorrow.”
I nodded and kissed the top of her head. “Recess?”
“The special recess at the park.”
I vaguely remembered that being on the itinerary and nodded again, worried about Holden. I set Mariah down and gave Jackson a look. “I’ll be right back. I’m just going to check on him.”
“He didn’t get to play at recess,” Jackson put in, and I froze.
“What?”
“Holden said that he didn’t play at recess. That he just sat there because he wasn’t feeling good.”
I sighed, worried. “Thanks for letting me know.”
“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you earlier.”
I shook my head. “You’re telling me now. Thanks for watching out for your brother. I’m going to check on him. Watch your sister, okay? And work on your homework.”
“I’ve got Mariah,” Jackson said, raising his chin.
I nodded tightly, knowing that Jackson wanted to control as much as possible because he hadn’t had much control in anything before this.
Jackson had been nine when his life was rocked, everything changing. Nine when he’d come to live with me. He remembered how things were and knew that things weren’t ever going back to how they used to be.
I moved towards Holden’s bedroom and nearly tripped over myself as I saw him sitting up, clutching his chest.
I ran to him and rubbed his back. “Can you breathe?”
Holden nodded slightly, and I cursed under my breath and reached for his inhaler. We did the steps, and I rubbed his back again, not liking the sound of his breathing.
“I think we need to go to the doctor,” I said.
Holden wiped away tears, rubbing his eyes. “I don’t want to.”
“It’s okay, buddy.”
“I don’t want to be sick.”
“Everybody gets sick. Remember when I had a cold? Everybody called me a big baby.” I had been, mostly because I’d had to miss work, but mentioning it made Holden smile.
I looked down at my phone, holding back a frown. I wondered if I should call someone for the kids, then remembered that Storm and Everly were just getting back to Denver today from a trip over an hour away.
Most of the other Montgomerys were all still at work, and I didn’t want to have a sick kid near any of the pregnant women in my life. Archer was heading out of town to be with his fiancé today, as well.
I was running out of people to call to watch the kids, but I shook my head. It was fine. I would just take them all with me. We’d get their homework, and we’d make do. I had done it before, and I would do it now.
I packed everybody up, careful to watch Holden the entire time.
As soon as I got into my SUV, I pressed the button to start the engine, and…
nothing happened. My hand shook, and I tried again, pressing the gas, doing anything I could think of, but nothing worked.
The screen in front of me blinked a few times, and then the car went silent.
The fucking battery.
It had happened in my last SUV like this, but I hadn’t thought it would happen again with this one—not this soon after getting the vehicle.
“What’s wrong, Clay?” Mariah asked, her eyes wide, her teeth worrying her lip.
I had positioned her car seat in the very back of the SUV next to Jackson. I wasn’t sure what to do. I pulled up my phone, knowing I wasn’t going to call a rideshare. I needed to find a friend. Someone to take us to the hospital so I could help my kid.
One name popped up on the screen as I scrolled, and swallowed hard.
Damn it.
Well, I had to hope that he wouldn’t mind. Because I didn’t know who else to call, and if I kept thinking, it would take more time, and I would panic.
I pressed the button and hoped like hell that Riggs answered.