Chapter Two #2
the corner. They found an empty half-court and spent an hour burning off energy.
“Tell me about your budget project,” Jax said as she passed Xander the basketball.
He ran toward the basket, dribbled twice, then took his shot and missed.
“It’s hard, Mom. Not the math part, but figuring out how to spend the money they have. Mr. Badger had to go to urgent care
for his back and that was a 180 dollars.” Xander sounded outraged. “It totally messed me up.”
“I told you to put some money aside for an emergency,” Gentry told him. “Things come up.”
“But it was Betty Badger’s birthday. I had to budget for a present.”
Xander’s third grade class was in the middle of a monthlong budgeting project. Each student had been assigned an animal family
and given a monthly salary. They were responsible for coming up with a budget that didn’t put the family into debt. The challenge
was every Monday, the teacher added a twist. Two weeks ago Xander had been thrilled when Mrs. Badger got a four hundred dollar
refund. But last week, Mr. Badger had hurt his back and needed medical care.
“Stuff costs a lot,” Xander complained. “The Badgers need a raise.”
Jax ruffled his hair. “Welcome to the real world, kid. We all need a raise.”
“I guess.”
An hour later they were done with their game and walked back home. They picked out clothes for the week and made their lunches
for the next day. By eight thirty everyone was in their pj’s and ready to wind down with some easy TV before bed. Jax opened
her tablet and logged into the cameras at the now-closed bookstore. She touched the icon for Ramon’s room and saw the parrot
was already in his sleeping cage. Her kids settled next to her on the big sectional. She pressed the button to unmute the
mic then said, “Hey, handsome boy.”
Ramon flew out of his open cage to the perch by the camera. He stared directly at them.
“Hello, children,” he said, his voice sounding exactly like Cheryl’s. “Do you want to hear a story?”
Xander laughed. “I do.”
“No stories,” Jax said. “You need to put yourself to bed.”
“Hi, Ramon,” Gentry said. “I’m going to start putting my collage together this week. I’ll show it to you when I’m finished.”
“I am handsome,” he murmured.
“Mom just said that,” Gentry pointed out. “You’re kind of full of yourself.”
“As I should be.”
They all laughed.
“I miss you,” Jax said. “I’ll see you in the morning.”
“Love you,” Ramon said before flying to his cage. Seconds later they heard him singing, “Twinkle, twinkle little star. How
I wonder what you are.”
He was still singing when Jax logged off the camera. She handed the remote to Gentry, then put her arms around her children
and pulled them close. This, she thought happily. This was all she needed.
During her lunch break on Monday, Ryleigh found herself scrolling through the pictures on her phone. She knew she was being
ridiculous but she couldn’t shake the sense of sadness that had gripped her since the non-proposal. She’d been so sure, so
ready, so clear on their future. But what if she’d been wrong about all of it? What if Dustin didn’t see them moving in the
same direction? What if he didn’t want to marry her?
Questions that had no answer and even if she was willing to ask them, he was at a conference for the next few days.
Since their weekend away, they’d only communicated via text—a medium that made it difficult to get information in a meaningful way.
She didn’t think he was avoiding her, but she was feeling paranoid enough to not be completely sure.
Worse, she didn’t like how a relationship she’d once seen as easy and comfortable had just gotten complicated.
She was about to drop her phone into her bag when it buzzed with a text.
I’m getting takeout. I know I should be a better father and cook all the time, but that’s not happening tonight. Want to join
us?
She smiled, then hit the call button. Alex picked up immediately.
“You’re going to tell me it’s not about cooking all the time,” he said, his tone cheerful. “It’s about Noah knowing I love
him.”
She laughed. “So you don’t actually need me to have a conversation.”
“I prefer when I have you to talk to but I seem very capable of talking to myself.”
“I’m not sure your clients would be comfortable knowing their lawyer is having little chats with himself, so you might want
to keep that quiet.”
“Good advice. So yes on tonight?”
“Yes and yes.” Not only did she enjoy hanging out with Alex and his son, Noah, she appreciated the chance not to spend another
evening alone. She’d done the “dwelling on the past” thing for too many days already. A distraction was called for.
“Want me to pick up Noah from camp?” she asked.
“That would be great. I’ll be home around five.”
“We’ll be waiting.”
She was still smiling when she put her phone away.
A little after four Ryleigh drove to the after-school camp Noah attended.
The popular business had opened in town about five years ago.
It was located in a remodeled barn a couple of blocks from her elementary school.
The grounds were big enough to give the kids a place to play outside and the barn itself was large and open, with areas for activities like art and doing homework.
The camp was open after school and into the early evening as well as on Saturdays—a convenience for working parents or those needing emergency childcare.
Several of her students went to the camp, so when Kim, Alex’s late wife, had gotten sick, Ryleigh had suggested it for Noah.
Since Kim’s passing, Noah had become a regular, staying there until his dad was done with work.
Ryleigh parked, then walked inside and rang the bell at the front desk. One of the camp counselors greeted her by name, then
waited until Ryleigh signed out Noah.
“I’ll go get him,” the fortysomething woman said easily. “But I have to warn you, he’s out in the fort, so it may be a minute.”
“Not a problem.”
Ryleigh was grateful Noah was having fun with his friends. The first few months after his mother’s death, he’d been so quiet
and withdrawn. Understandable, of course, but still concerning. Now he was the happy, outgoing kid she remembered.
She’d had Noah in her kindergarten class two years ago before she’d started teaching first grade, and through him she’d gotten
to know his parents, Alex and Kim. She and Kim had become friends, so the following year, when Kim had been diagnosed with
cancer, she’d stepped in to help where she could. Around the same time, Kim had introduced her to Dustin, so in a strange
way, falling in love with Dustin and Kim’s illness and death were somehow linked together.
When she’d died, they’d all been devastated.
Ryleigh had done her best to be supportive and there for whatever Alex and Noah had needed.
Slowly, over the past fourteen months, she and Alex had become good friends.
She enjoyed hanging with him and Noah, doing the occasional “mom” thing like taking Noah shopping for clothes or making cupcakes for the bake sale.
Now, as she waited, she wondered how it could have been fourteen months since Kim died.
She still missed her friend but knew she would be pleased to know her son was thriving.
Rapid footsteps had her smiling in anticipation. Seconds later Noah burst into the waiting area. He grinned when he saw her.
“Ryleigh! Dad didn’t say you were picking me up.”
“It was a last-minute thing. I hope it’s okay.”
Instead of answering, the seven-year-old flung himself at her and hung on tight. She wrapped her arms around him, squeezing
just as hard.
When he released her, she put her hand on his shoulder as they walked to her car.
“How was school?”
“Good. We’re learning how to measure things in inches and in centimeters. It was kind of hard at first, but now that I get
it, the problems are easy. This weekend I’m supposed to measure three rooms in the house.”
“Sounds like fun. I enjoy any assignment that lets me use a tape measure.”
He grinned at her as he climbed into the booster seat in her car. “You’re a grown-up, Ryleigh. You don’t have homework.”
“And yet I find myself doing work at home to prep for my classes. What would you call that?”
He frowned. “Huh. I don’t know. It’s at home and it’s work. So adult homework?”
“I’ll take that one.”
They talked all the way to his house. Ryleigh parked in the driveway, then used her key to let them both inside. Noah took
the mailbox key from the hook by the door and they both walked out to collect that day’s delivery. Once they’d placed everything
on Alex’s desk in his small home office, they went into the family room to play games until it was time to wash up for dinner
and set the table.
Noah perused the collection of board games before settling on checkers. They set up the board, then started to play.
He chattered through the game, telling her about his friends in school and what he wanted to do over the summer. His happy
voice was a pleasure to hear, she thought, remembering how quiet he’d been after he’d been told his mom had cancer.
At first Alex and Kim had wanted to keep the diagnosis from him, but when she hadn’t responded to treatment as everyone had
hoped, they’d been forced to let him know what was going on. Overnight he’d turned from an outgoing, friendly kid to one who
was withdrawn and uncommunicative. The situation had gotten worse as his mom had gotten sicker. They’d started him in therapy,
but there weren’t any words or skills that could take away a six-year-old’s pain of knowing his mom was dying. Ryleigh had
stepped in as best she could, but she was only a friend.
To see him back to himself now was gratifying and a relief, she thought, watching the clock. At a quarter to five, she and
Noah washed their hands before starting to set the table.
“What’s Dad bringing home for dinner?” he asked.
“I have no idea.”
He grinned at her. “Then how do we know what to put out? Do we need bowls or plates? Knives or spoons?”