Chapter 5 #2
For Joey, for that little boy she loved and that he cherished, he could tolerate anything. Manning up, Hendrix forced a smile. “No problem.” With any luck, they’d be able to keep the holiday decorations to a minimum, or at least contained in one room.
Even as he thought it, he knew he was fooling himself. Then he considered Ryder’s reaction to moving in. Plus he’d have Joey close. Best of all, they’d be safe.
In the big scheme of things, all the holiday fuss just didn’t matter.
At least not as much as it used to.
The next morning, after early coffee with Hendrix, they’d retrieved even more of their belongings, and Joey felt terrible.
His floor space was now overflowing with boxes.
“All I’d wanted was to make it on my own.
I never expected this.” So many things had already been taken to the upstairs bedroom that she’d shared with Ryder last night, but there was still a lot.
“How did I cram so much into that tiny cabin?”
“One of the wonders of the world,” Hendrix murmured as he hefted an overfilled box. “Where does this go?”
Hmm. She half-hated to say. “It’s Christmas stuff. Lights and all that.” When he only stared at her, she admitted, “Ryder and I were set to decorate the outside of the cabin, but now...”
“Now, he’ll be twice as keen on the idea.” By the minute, Hendrix seemed to get used to the idea.
Ryder, of course, was ecstatic. He’d been beyond thrilled with the sleepover last night, and then when she’d told him they were moving in, he’d started cheering and hadn’t really stopped.
Hendrix carried the box out to the front porch to get it out of the way.
When he returned to the living room, she decided he deserved a hug – and she needed one. As she slipped her arms around his waist, she asked, “Are you sure this is a good idea?” If not, it’d be better to let Ryder know now.
“Actually, it’s one of my best ideas.” The way he gathered her close, how he smiled at her, never failed to make her feel special. “I’ll make it painless, I promise.”
“That’s not the problem and you know it.”
“You’re worried about me, but I’m a big boy.
I can handle it.” His large hand cupped the back of her neck and he pressed his mouth to hers for a brief, stirring taste.
“Full truth, I’m excited. Coffee this morning with you was nice.
Getting a sleepy hug from Ryder first thing was special.
Knowing the two of you were here with me, just upstairs, made it easier to sleep. ”
“Well, good for you, because knowing you were just downstairs kept me awake.”
He smiled at her. “Ever since you decided to stay in the park through the holiday, things have felt different.”
“Ouch.”
Laughing, he rocked her side to side. “I mean that I’d stopped looking at this place as peace and quiet, and just kept thinking about the waste of space. Three bedrooms for me? And that awesome view that I rarely enjoyed, because who wants to sit alone staring at a sunset?”
“Plenty of people, I imagine.”
“I’ll enjoy it more with you.”
She enjoyed everything more with him. There couldn’t be another man like Hendrix.
They both heard the thunder of a seven-year-old boy racing down the stairs. “Slow down,” Joey called out, then to Hendrix, she said, “How are you going to deal with that?”
Hendrix’s grin was both humorous and hot. “He’ll settle down, plus he goes to bed early and then I’ll have you all to myself for a few hours each evening.”
“There is that.” She was just about to kiss him when Ryder zoomed around the corner and crashed into Hendrix’s legs. “My room is awesome.”
Releasing her, Hendrix swung Ryder up for a brief hug. “Glad you like it, dude.”
“My stuff is on shelves now instead of boxes under the bed. I can look at all of it!”
“An important aspect of a man’s room.”
“I like the room downstairs, too.”
Hendrix set him back on his feet. “I was thinking about that,” he said carefully. “What if we make it the Christmas room?”
“Like with Santa and a train and –”
“I meant,” he interrupted before Ryder could get too pumped up, “we could put your Christmas tree down there.”
“A real tree? With a lot of colored lights and presents under it and everything?”
Seeing the surprise on Hendrix’s face, that clearly wasn’t what he’d meant at all.
“He meant our tree from the cabin, but I have a better idea. We’ll put it in your bedroom so you can see it whenever you’re in there.
” She ruffled her son’s hair, then smoothed it down.
He had the thickest, softest hair that had a mind of its own, always going this way and that.
“Wouldn’t it be nice to have the colored lights on instead of a nightlight? ”
“Yeah,” he grudgingly admitted. “But this place is big enough for a real tree. Remember, Mom, you said we couldn’t have a real tree because we didn’t have enough room.
” Arms opened, he turned a circle. “We could have a real big tree here. And a real star that lights up! Hendrix could lift me up so I could put it on top.”
Teeth locked again, Hendrix said, “That would be great.”
“Yay!” Ryder threw his arms around him, practically climbing him like a monkey. “Could we go out together to pick one? And then drink hot chocolate? I saw that on a movie.”
Sinking into a chair while tugging Ryder close, Hendrix said, “Yeah, man. We’ll do all that.”
If she didn’t move right now, this very instant, Joey knew she’d get overly emotional again. Turning her back to the guys, she picked up a laundry basket holding her few clothes and headed for the basement steps.
Watching her son bond so closely to Hendrix was like riding a rollercoaster with her heart exposed. She loved that Ryder’s close circle was expanding, and that – at least for now – he had another caring adult to help guide him.
It was just...she’d had him all to herself for so long that sharing him now gave her pangs of worry, as if she hadn’t done enough, been enough. Silly. She knew that. She wanted the very best for Ryder, and she couldn’t imagine anyone better than Hendrix.
Thirty minutes later, after she’d almost finished putting her things away, she heard Hendrix softly say, “Hey.”
She turned to find him watching her. “Ryder’s upstairs?”
“Eating a bowl of cereal. I hope that’s okay. He saw a box of food stuff and said he wanted to see if it tasted different out of my bowls.”
How could she not laugh at that? “It’s fine. He’s a bottomless pit, so believe me he’ll be ready to eat again very soon.”
Relieving her of the now-empty laundry basket, Hendrix took a few steps away to set it on the bed. “You’re putting your stuff down here?”
“I’ll sleep upstairs with Ryder. It’ll be an adjustment for him and everything. But I thought, if you don’t mind –”
“Anything you want, Joey,” he whispered. “Anything.”
Wow. “That sounds promising.”
He didn’t reply, he just waited.
She was not good with awkward silence. “Then I’ll put my stuff down here, sort of use this space to shower and change clothes and stuff.”
“All right.”
Blowing out a breath didn’t help. And then she sort of burst. “You’re doing too much.
Giving too much.” Tunneling her fingers into her hair, she paced away.
She probably looked deranged, but there was still so much up in the air.
“All I meant to do was ask for a little time so I could get my finances in order. That’s it.
Then I would get things figured out. I didn’t want to be seen as a victim. ”
He snorted. “That’s the opposite of how I see you.”
“I wish I could believe that, but –”
“But nothing. You’re a survivor. You got out of a shitty situation and still managed to stay so sweet.”
Her eyes narrowed. “Right now, sweet doesn’t exactly sound like a compliment.”
“From me it is,” he assured her. “You’re sweet but strong.
Strong enough to make your son your priority.
That’s admirable no matter how you view it.
” He went quiet a moment, as if looking back at something important but grave.
“It makes me wonder if someone else, another woman, might have been a survivor if she’d had a chance. ”
Alert to the nuances of what he’d just said, Joey moved closer. “Do you want to tell me what that means, Hendrix?”
When he shook his head, she had to fight the urge to smack him. Instead, she threw up her hands and paced away. “Sweet or not, I wasn’t looking for you to save me, or protect me or house me. But it’s like one thing has led to another and now suddenly we’ve moved in on you.”
“Because I want you here.”
“You didn’t want Christmas,” she reminded him over her shoulder, “but my son twisted your arm about a tree.”
“It was my heart, not my arm.”
“I know how you feel about that. I mean, I don’t know why.
” A sudden surge of unreasonable annoyance brought right back, until she almost chest-bumped him.
“I spilled my guts to you. Twice, Hendrix. You know everything there is to know about me. Every humiliating detail. All I know is that you didn’t want to be bothered, and you despise Christmas, but now you don’t mind either as much. ”
When Hendrix caught her to him, she tried to shove away, and that made him laugh.
But he also opened his arms. “I’m being too grabby?
Sorry,” he said, but he didn’t look the least bit sorry.
“This is going to piss you off more, but I’m glad to see you blowing up a little.
You’ve been so freaking polite when I knew somewhere in there you had to have a temper.
A woman without a temper never would have worked up the guts to leave an abusive asshole, or to change her whole life.
She wouldn’t have had the balls to stay in my campgrounds when she knew she was supposed to leave. ”
“I do not have balls.”
“Thank God.” Pretending to be absurdly cautious, he inched closer. “You get my drift, though. I love that you’re human.”
Love? “Was that in doubt?” she quipped.
Without answering, he said, “And I love that you trust me enough to show your anger.”