24. Chapter 24
twenty-four
He hasn’t called. I can’t believe it. Days, and he hasn’t called—after the way we were so perfect again.
The only way I know they lived through the range fire is because Tanner called Mercy. And something about that—about hearing it from anyone but him—hurts.
Makes me mad and I don’t remember ever being mad. At him.
I’m embarrassed I even care this much.
Is he playing games now? He thinks this is a game?
I’ll show him games.
“Laurel?”
I snap out of it.
“Your phone. Where are you? It’s ringing.”
My stomach jumps into my throat and I grab the phone from the counter, where it’s vibrating on charge. “Hello?”
“Laurel?” My stomach takes a nosedive. It’s not him.
“Yes?”
“This is Mona, at LISD. The high school principal asked me to call. He’d like to meet with you.”
I sit up straighter. Am I in trouble for what I said to the school board?
My scalp pulls tight, my heart rate kicking up as I glance at Mom. “Okay. When?”
“Today, if you can. He has an opening at 3:30.”
“Can I ask what this is about?”
She lowers her voice. “I think there’s a position open full-time, if you’re interested.”
Yes, yes, yes!
“I am. I’ll be there.”
“What is it?” Mom asks with wide eyes.
“They have an opening!” I bounce on my toes. “A real job, Mom!”
She grabs me in a hug, “Wonderful!”
“Job, Mommy?” Bowie looks up from the floor, where he’s lining up dinosaurs in a perfect little parade.
I reach down and grab him, swinging him high in the air. “Yes! Mommy has a job! Yay!”
His lips tug down, his brows pinched. “Every day? You won’t be here?”
Dammit, that puts an ache in my chest.
“Oh, Baby,” I squeeze him tight. “I’ll just be gone a few hours during the day while you play with Grammy, so we can have money of our own, like you have in your piggy bank. Mommy needs money, too.”
Bowie blinks. “What do we do with money?”
I can’t stop the laugh as I realize, he’s been collecting dollars and doesn’t have a clue what they’re for. “You spend it. To buy things. Let’s see how much money you have from your potty-mouth fines.”
I put him in my lap, opening his jar, counting. “Fifteen dollars. Pop-Pop has really had a trash mouth.”
“Mercy, too.”
“You know what you can do with this?”
He shakes his head, all eyes.
“We’ll go shopping and you can buy something you want. I’ll show you how. Mom? Shopping?”
Before she can answer Bowie raises his fist, punching the air. “Shopping!”
He’s an adorable parrot. He doesn’t know what shopping means, either, but he’s about to learn. “Mom? Where are boy toys in Ladera? No Walmart. No Target.”
“The best place I know is B&B Hardware. They have a whole section for kids—tractors and farm animals, toy horses. Stuff like that. They even have little cowboy hats and boots.”
The hardware store. Of course.
Well, I’m not avoiding him. Not today.
As a matter of fact, I’m going to poke that bear.
Calder Boone wants to play games with me?
Let the games begin.
“Mommy? What’s a tractor?”
My eyes shift to the rearview mirror to see Bowie clutching his money jar like it’s Aladdin’s lamp.
“It’s what they use on a farm.”
“Farm?”
Mom groans. “You’ve raised a city boy.” She turns in her seat to talk directly to him. “A farm is where they grow the food you eat. Your Fruit Loops? They start out on a farm as wheat. The milk you drink? It’s from cows. On farms.”
“Okay. What’s wheat?”
Pulling into the parking lot of B&B—just my luck. His truck’s not here. Crap, crap, crap. Where the hell is Calder Boone? A person can’t just disappear.
Mom unbuckles Bowie, setting him on the pavement. “Are you ready to go shopping?”
“Yes!” He holds his piggy bank to his chest as he marches in.
Bending down, I can’t resist scooping him up and settling him on my hip. “Here we go. Bowie’s first shopping trip with his own money!”
“My money.” He puffs his chest proudly.
Inside, I set him down and make a sweep of the store. No Calder.
It’s nice. Nicer than I remember hardware stores being. Shiny floors, bright fluorescent lights. A little bit of everything—plumbing, electric, paint.
I turn in a slow circle.
They’ve got archery supplies—bows, arrows, targets. Some housewares. Boots and shirts. In a hardware store?
Mom reads my surprise. “Like you said, we don’t have a Walmart. This way to the toys.” She takes a hard right turn, with Bowie marching behind holding his piggy bank, me in the rear watching him take everything in. You’d think he was in Disney World.
Reaching the toys, he sets his Mason jar on the floor, scanning the shelf at his eye level—farm animals. “What’s this?” He holds one up.
“A pig. They go, ‘Oink! Oink!’” I squat beside him.
“Oink, oink! And this?” He shoves another at me.
“That’s a horse. Like cowboys ride.”
He’s mesmerized, eyes roaming the shelves. “Can I have this?” He grabs a miniature red tractor.
“If you want it. That’s a tractor. You ride on them.”
“Hey, Bowie!” My shoulders tighten. “Remember me?”
Bowie turns, beaming. “Cal… der.”
Calder squats at the end of the aisle, holding his arms out. “Whatcha doing here?”
Bowie holds up his Mason jar filled with dollar bills. “Shopping! My money!”
“Well, come here.” Calder waves him over. “Show me.”
Bowie scurries to him, beaming, holding his piggy bank out to Calder, who picks him up and stands, piggy bank and all.
“Man. You’ve got lots of money. How’d you get all that?”
“Fines.”
Calder’s brows lift along with the corners of his mouth. “Fines?”
“Potty words,” Bowie answers. “Pop-Pop says swear words. So does Aunt Mercy.”
Calder lets out a deep, rumbling laugh, his eyes smiling as he looks at me with that damned dimple digging into his cheek. “Shit, I’d be broke if I hung out around you.”
Bowie holds out his hand. “One dollar.”
Winking at me, Calder reaches into his pocket, pulling out a bill. “Put that in your piggy bank. But I’ll make you a deal. How about today, you save your money. You pick what you want, and I’ll buy it with my money. That way, you can save yours.”
Bowie’s brows pull tight. “But… I want to spend my money.”
“Okay, Buddy, then you spend your money.” Calder glances at me. “How about, at least I buy you a hat? Because every man needs a hat. Okay?”
He gets a wide-eyed nod.
Calder walks Bowie to the next aisle over, stopping at a shelf with little hats. “Which color do you like? White? Brown? Black?”
“Do you have a hat?”
“I do.”
“What color?”
“I have a few different colors. Take your pick.”
Bowie studies a minute before he points. “That one.”
Calder sets a brown hat on Bowie’s head. “How’s that?”
“Big.”
It swallows him and I can’t contain the laugh.
“Yeah, I think so, too. Let’s try this one.” Calder trades the hat for another, which makes my heart absolutely crack open, seeing my little boy wearing a cowboy hat that fits and an enormous smile as he faces me.
“Mommy? Do you like it?” Bowie tugs on the brim.
“I love it.”
Calder sets Bowie’s feet on the floor, his gaze meeting mine. “Get him anything he wants, on me.” Then, like it’s nothing, “What are y’all doing for lunch?”
I blink. “Lunch?”
Mom answers for me. “Probably sandwiches.”
Calder nods once, easy. Too easy. “Let me take you to the Red Wagon.” His eyes flick to mine. “You up for it?”
My pulse jumps. “All of us?”
“Yeah.” He tilts his chin, almost like he’s challenging me. “Why not?”
Something sharp flicks through me—not nerves, not a stomach drop. Calder Boone absolutely is toying with me. Acting like he didn’t disappear, acting like it’s just another day. Like we’re casual, go-to-lunch friends.
Fine. Two can play that game.
But damn him, it gets under my skin in a way I hate and want at the same time.