46. Chapter 46
Chapter 46
David left Jacob to finish getting dressed and headed into the kitchen. Paige was getting everything on the table, but stopped when she saw his worried expression.
“What is it?” she immediately asked.
He quickly and quietly recapped his conversation with Jacob during his bath. “I honestly don’t know what to do. I know he was lying to me … and he never lies to me.”
Paige took a breath and released it slowly. Everything she’d just heard had reinforced her belief that Jacob was being abused in some way. “He’s obviously trying to hide something—something that makes him ashamed, or afraid. Or both.”
“I know.”
She bit her lip for a moment. “Can I suggest something?”
“Of course.”
“I think Jacob should talk to Lauren.”
It took David a moment to register the name of Paige’s therapist. “Oh. Really?”
“Yes.” Paige could see by his expression that the gravity of the situation was being hammered home at the mention of Lauren. “Sometimes it’s easier to talk to a stranger about things you might not want to talk about,” she said gently. “And Lauren is really good at getting people to open up, especially kids.”
David was quiet for a long moment, then sighed. “Okay.”
Relieved at his response, Paige enfolded him in a hug. “You sure?”
He nodded, hugging her back. “I’m sure.”
Just then Jacob came into the kitchen, and the two of them quickly broke apart.
Flustered, Paige cleared her throat, then smiled brightly. “Perfect timing,” she told Jacob, noting how sweet he looked in little gray sweat pants and a blue shirt. His hair was damp and his cheeks were tinged with pink, which was better than his pallor from before. “Everything’s ready.”
David steered Jacob over to the table, and after getting him in his booster seat, David sat down and looked over what Paige had prepared, as she sat across from him. Having expected to see macaroni and cheese, he was surprised to see bowls of tomato soup and thick, grilled cheese sandwiches instead.
Paige picked up her glass of milk and held it aloft. “I’d like to propose a toast,” she announced grandly, on solid footing once again.
Giving her a look that said she might be going overboard, David lifted his as well, and motioned for Jacob to do the same with his plastic cup. He did, somewhat slowly, since he clearly wasn’t understanding what a toast was.
“Here’s to Jacob’s first linner,” Paige said, then tapped her glass against the other two and waited as David coached Jacob into doing the same.
After they had all taken a drink, David caught Paige’s eye. “I thought you were making macaroni and cheese for, uh, linner?”
“I did.” She picked up one half of her sandwich and showed them the inner workings. “It’s inside the grilled cheese sandwich.”
After exchanging a look, David and Jacob both checked their sandwiches.
“That’s … different,” David said.
“You’re going to love it,” she insisted, before adding with enthusiasm, “A grilled macaroni and cheese sandwich!”
She dipped a corner of her sandwich in her soup before taking a bite, because apparently they needed to see how it was done. “They’re even better with bacon in it, but you didn’t have any, so you’ll have to overlook that. And normally I would serve it with homemade tomato soup, but I had to settle for Campbell’s.”
David and Jacob each picked up half a sandwich and followed suit. Because Jacob’s hands were small, his grip wasn’t enough to keep some of the macaroni and cheese from spilling out the back end, onto his plate.
“They can be messy, too, which is part of the fun,” Paige told him, picking up her spoon. “This is for scooping up any macaroni that escapes onto your plate. Once you do that, you can either mash it back into your sandwich, or if you want to be daring, you can dunk it in your soup and then eat it that way, which is what I usually do.”
Once they finished their first bites, she looked from David to Jacob. “So, what do you think?” she asked, punctuating her question with a thumbs up motion, followed by a thumbs down.
After they exchanged a quick glance, they both gave her a thumbs up.
Relieved—and rather proud of herself—she couldn’t resist a quick brag. “I knew you’d love it,” she said. “And you know what else you’re going to love? Rice Krispies treats for dessert.”