Rose #2
Ben, always happy to make new friends, beams up at him. “Hi, Win. You sing bad.”
“Ben!” I hiss and turn to Win, smiling apologetically. “Sorry. He has no filter.”
“That’s okay,” Win says to me, sinking into a crouch to put him and Ben at eye level. “Hi, Ben. I like to sing when I’m happy. I’m not very good at it, but it doesn’t matter if you’re not good at something you like, as long as you have fun doing it. Nice to meet you.”
That’s so damn sweet. An important life lesson I’d forgotten and one I’m glad Ben is learning.
With a grin, Win sticks out a hand for Ben to shake, radiating so much warmth that Ben can’t help but respond to it, and neither can I. Ben loves it when people treat him as an adult instead of a kid. They shake hands somberly.
“Um, I should go. Ben and I are leaving now. To go home.” After the heart attack Ben just gave me, it’s time to end this road trip early and go back to Memphis, though the last thing I want is to return to the place I ran from to escape my grief.
Ben snaps his head toward me. “Home?”
“Yes, home,” I say firmly.
“But what about the road trip and the fire truck and the ice cream cake?” Ben whines with a stubbornness that warns me I’m going to be facing an uphill battle.
There will be many tears before this day is over. From Ben for depriving him of all the fun he was so excited about, and from me when I pull over to throw up at every rest stop from here to Tennessee.
Win slowly gets to his feet. “Road trip?”
I nod. “It’s something that… well, it’s kind of a long story, but I promised Ben we’d do this three-week cross-country drive from New York to LA, then head home to Memphis.”
Sticking his hands in the front pockets of his jeans, he whistles between his teeth. “Sounds impressive.”
“Unfortunately my stomach isn’t up to it right now,” I say, glancing at Ben.
I haven’t told him he’s going to be a big brother yet, and I won’t until I’m in my second trimester, but with how sick I’ve been lately, he’s definitely noticed I’m not okay, and he will start to worry, especially after losing his dad not that long ago.
“Do you have to rush back to Memphis?” Win asks me.
I shake my head. “Ben doesn’t start kindergarten until fall, and I took a break from teaching to be home with Ben, so not really.” With no job to go back to and having sold our house and moved in temporarily with my parents, there’s nothing urgent waiting for us in Weldon, our small Memphis town.
Win nods and glances at the motel. “You could stay in Rios for a bit. We have plenty of room at our place if you want somewhere with more space.”
My eyes narrow. “Did someone tell you to mention that to me?”
Like a certain diner waitress.
He chuckles. “Nope. We bought a place to do up and flip. We’re nearly done, so you wouldn’t be moving into a construction site or anything. Joel and I need a down payment to buy a smaller place after renting for years, and Murph offered to help.”
“Murph?”
“Murphy Owens, but he’s Murph to everyone.” He points his chin toward a brand-new-looking building down the street. “He’s a construction worker responsible for building that condo a few months ago.”
Ben, having grown bored with our conversation and returned to playing with his fire truck, peers up at Win, eyes wide. “He builds houses?”
I cover Ben’s ears because, next to fire trucks, building houses is on his list of super-cool jobs, right below cowboys and firefighters. His love of Lego is to thank for that particular obsession, and his shovel truck has left many painful grooves on the soles of my feet.
I whisper. “Is he a cowboy?”
Win chuckles, his eyes sparkling with amusement. “No. Do you want him to be?”
Releasing a sigh of relief, I take my hands from my eavesdropping son’s ears. “Just wanted to be sure.” This town has too many tempting lures for Ben. Add cowboys to the mix, and he would never want to leave.
“I can show you around the house if you like?” Win offers. “I was headed to work, but Nico won’t mind if I start later. The diner never gets busy until lunchtime anyway, and Nico is already there to deal with breakfast.”
“I’ll think about it.”
Ben stops playing with his red truck to lift his head. “That means no. She just can’t think of a reason yet.”
There are some moments when I don’t know whether to laugh or cry. This is one of them.
From Win’s twitching lips, he’s struggling to contain his laughter. “No need to make up your mind now. Just look around and see what you think. We have plenty of space, and we wouldn’t be charging you anything to stay in rooms we’re not using anyway.”
With a sigh, I relent. “Staying in Rios a little longer does make sense.”
After Ben unlocked our motel room door and wandered off, I’m not comfortable staying at the motel and potentially having him do it again, but my stomach would struggle to handle the ten-plus hours drive back to Tennessee.
We could fly, but then I’d be leaving my car here for who knows how long, and the thought of even a short flight makes me nauseous.
“Joel’s probably left for work by now, so you can take your time looking around.”
“And Murph?”
“Went to see his family for a couple of days. Should be back tomorrow. He’s quiet, though. You won’t even know he’s there.”
“Okay,” I reluctantly agree. “Just give me a few minutes to get us both ready.”
And to come up with more reasons why moving in with three men, as friendly as they seem to be, even temporarily, is a terrible idea.