Chapter 28
Kayla
Dinner is in the oven when Colt makes his way home on Friday night. Ben’s upstairs in the shower, preemptively getting ready for a movie night. Coming up behind me, Colt presses into me, placing a kiss on my jaw. “Hi, Sweets.”
“Hi, Cowboy,” I smile over my shoulder, taking in his suntanned face. When I first met him, I thought he had freckles. Turns out it’s just dirt. “How was your day?”
“Long,” he answers, giving the same reply as always. “How was yours?”
“It was good. Did you talk to Mandy and Sylvie?”
“I did,” he confirms, stepping away from me to wash his hands.
“And?”
“And we kinda already knew, didn’t we?” He asks, eyes flicking across my face. “I don’t want to make a big deal of it and scare him.”
Dr. Hall, the education specialist that Ben had seen two weeks ago, had phoned today.
She talked with Mandy, who then passed the information on to the rest of us.
Ben will be going into third grade with an education plan that will help him work through his dyscalculia, and next year, he’ll get special tutoring from a recommended tutor out of Malta.
“Sure,” I reply, pulling the casserole out of the oven and placing it on the stove. “That makes sense.”
“Have a little faith in yourself, Sweets. You’re good at your job,” he pecks me on my lips, skirting around me. “Anyways, I needed to run something past you.”
“Shoot,” I say. I dish up Ben’s portion, then my own, leaving the serving spoon for Colt to grab what he wants. He always insists on waiting until we’re served up before serving himself. I place mine and Ben’s bowls down on the table and give all of my attention to Colt.
“Mandy and Sylvie are out of town this weekend, so I was thinking it might be nice to take Ben camping. What do you say about checking out those flowers down in the valley?”
“Really?” My heart leaps in my chest, a smile breaking out across my face. Upstairs, the shower turns off.
“Yeah, I think now would be the perfect time to head down there,” Colt shrugs, placing his own bowl at the head of the table.
“I’ve never been camping before.” I pull my lower lip in, pondering. I mean, sure, I wanna go camping, but I’m a city girl. Am I really equipped for outback camping? This could be a very humbling experience, not to mention a complete turn-off for Colt.
“Really?”
I shrug, blushing. “By the time we had enough money to buy a tent, both Fletch and I felt like we were too inept to go camping. We had no knowledge or anything. Seemed like one of those dumb ways to die.”
He hums, doing that thing he does where he stares into my soul. “Knock it off,” I scold, settling into my chair.
“I didn’t do anything.” His eyes widen in shock and amusement, and he shakes his head at me. “Ben! Dinner!”
“Your son wants to watch a movie tonight. Homeward Bound.” I inform my boyfriend while we wait for Ben to come down.
“And you agreed?”
“Why wouldn’t I?”
“Cause that movie is almost as gut-wrenching as Marley and Me,” Colt winces, scowling at his food.
“Maybe we can convince him to pick a different movie,” I wince.
I don’t wanna cry tonight. Tonight’s not a crying night.
Picking a movie is like having food cravings.
You’re either in the mood to cry or you’re in the mood to laugh.
I would much prefer to laugh tonight. “I’ve never seen it, I didn’t know. ”
“We can watch that new movie with the imaginary friends, if you want to instead,” Ben saunters into the kitchen, already in his pjs, unashamedly being the little eavesdropper that he is.
“Isn’t that the movie we have to pay for? The one I said no to last week?” Colt asks, giving me a look that screams what a little scam artist.
Yeah, but if it means I won’t cry, I reply, speaking solely with my eyes.
“Fine,” Colt sighs, dropping back into his chair.
“But we’re not making a habit of this,” he scolds his son.
If the look on Ben’s face means anything, he’ll definitely be trying this again, and if the look on Colt’s face means anything, he’s all too aware that this isn’t the last time.
“Eat,” he tells his son, pointing to the bowl.
“What’s this green stuff?” Ben asks, poking at the casserole.
“It’s broccolini,” I reply.
“Ew.”
“Ben, it’s just broccoli. You like broccoli.”
“That’s not what you said a minute ago,” the eight-year-old argues. “You said it was broccolini,” he stumbles over the word.
“Ben, just eat it. You’ll like it.” Colt takes a huge serving of his own, eyes lighting up with genuine enjoyment. “Seriously, it’s good.”
“You don’t need to look so surprised,” I grumble under my breath, taking a bite of my own food. Ben scrunches his nose, watching the two of us eat but refusing to try his own.
It’s as Colt’s trying to convince Ben to give it a try that my phone rings, Fletch’s name flashing across the screen.
My heart sinks, knowing I can’t answer while we eat, and it’ll be too late to call after we finish cleaning up.
We keep missing each other recently. I thought I’d have more time in the summer, but I guess not.
“Answer it,” Colt nudges me with his foot, nodding to the phone.
“No, it’s fine,” I wave him off.
“Kayla,” his voice drops, unimpressed.
“Okay, okay. Jeez. Put the Dad voice away.” I swipe my finger across the screen, putting the phone on speaker. “Hi, Fletch. You’re on speaker phone, and there are little ears in the room.”
“That’s okay! My Dad says fuck all the time while working, so you can swear if you want,” Ben calls, his fork still poking at his uneaten food.
“Ben!” Colt and I cry in unison, staring at the little boy in shock. I throw a glare at Colt, who at least looks a little ashamed. I’d warned him that he shouldn’t go back to swearing all the time, but he was so sure that Ben had broken the bad habit.
On the other end of the line, my brother and sister-in-law cackle, unable to contain themselves.
What an introduction.
I sigh, rubbing a hand over my forehead. A warm hand envelops mine, pulling my hand down and holding it comfortingly.
“Hi, Fletcher, Faith. This is Colter, Kayla’s boyfriend, and that heathen’s father. It’s nice to officially introduce myself to you.” His thumb swipes gently over my hand in soothing motions, and he speaks more words in one go than I think I’ve ever heard from him.
Who knew he could be charming?
“Hi, Colter,” Faith’s gentle voice filters through between her giggles. “We’ve heard so much about you.”
There’s a grunt and the scraping of a chair on the other end. Then, “yeah, nice to meet you,” from my brother.
“How are things in Chicago?” I press on, smiling apologetically to Colt, who only shrugs me off. Beside me, Ben continues to pout over his food.
“Ben, if you don’t at least try it, then you’re not getting any popcorn with your movie,” I warn, growing tired of his stubbornness. He learned that from his father, no doubt. Maybe a little from Sylvie, too.
“We have popcorn?” Ben asks, face lighting back up.
“Only if you eat your dinner,” Colt answers for me, looking pointedly at Ben’s full bowl.
“Wow,” my brother breathes out. “Did I phone the right person? Or a middle-aged soccer mom of three?”
“You’re hilarious,” I snipe, squeezing Colt’s hand.
Finally, Ben takes a hesitant bite of the vegetable.
One little nibble to start, and then a bigger bite, and then it’s gone.
He looks up to me, so I give him an encouraging wink.
And then he digs in with the normal enthusiasm of a hungry little boy. “So, how’s Chicago?” I ask again.
“It’s good. We’ve both been busy with work, but I guess that’s just adulthood,” Faith answers for the both of them. “How’s Montana?
“Gorgeous in the summer,” I reply. “You guys need to come out here one day.”
“I guess it is our turn to visit you,” my sister-in-law agrees.
“And I would like to see where you’re living, make sure it’s safe,” Fletch hums. I roll my eyes, looking directly at Colt as I do it. He smirks, shaking his head at the sibling dynamics. He has brothers, he understands—I hope.
“You’re welcome here anytime,” Colt tells him, extending an open invitation. My heart jolts at the idea of everyone I love being in one place for once. No more balancing Chicago with Montana, even if it is just for a weekend.
“We’ll take a look and let you know,” Fletch responds, sounding moderately more civil.
The conversation dwells on, with Fletch boring us all with conversations about this merger he’s heading up at the bank.
Faith tells us about her coworker, whose husband slept with her Mom.
Thankfully, by this point in the conversation, Ben’s gotten bored with the adult talk and escaped to the living room to watch his shows.
Colt and I work through the dishes while we all talk, and it’s almost like they’re here. A long-distance version of a double date, or family dinner. It’s nice, and I’m thankful Colt urged me to answer the phone.
“We’ll reach out about a weekend we’re free,” Fletch promises as we say our good nights.
“Sounds good.” I think I manage to play it cool, hiding the excitement from my voice.
“Ben, come say goodbye,” Colt calls, and Ben dutifully listens. It’s a little odd, since Ben has never met these people before. It seems more like something you’d ask him to do if he were on the phone with his grandparents or aunt and uncle. Not his dad’s girlfriend’s family.
“Finally,” Ben sighs, like he’s carrying the weight of a thousand suns on his shoulders. “Can we have popcorn now?”
“Yeah, Bud. You wanna help me make it?” I ruffle his hair, and all is forgiven.
“Yeah!” The two of us work together to pop the popcorn and melt the butter, while Colt finishes up with the dinner dishes and cues up the movie.
We watch the movie curled up on the couch, all three of us squished together under a heavy knit blanket that smells faintly of cedar and laundry soap.
Ben sits between us, arms folded over the popcorn bowl like he’s guarding treasure, tossing kernels into his mouth one by one with surgical precision—just like his uncle.
Colt keeps reaching across Ben to steal handfuls, pretending to be subtle about it.
“Dad,” Ben whines for the third time, yanking the bowl back to his chest. “Get your own.”
“I bought it,” Colt deadpans.
“I’m the one eating it.”
“And I’m the one letting you stay up past bedtime.”
“You said I could,” Ben protests, eyes wide.
I bite back a smile, hiding my laughter behind my hand. “Boys,” I say gently, nudging Ben’s side. “Truce. You’re both going to spill it if you keep fighting.”
Ben grumbles something under his breath, but slides the bowl a little closer to the center. Colt shrugs like he’s not the reason for riling up the eight-year-old boy.
By the time the movie ends, Ben’s half-asleep against my side, fingers still loosely curled around the now-empty bowl. I ease it out of his lap, setting it on the coffee table, and Colt wordlessly scoops his son into his arms like it’s the easiest thing in the world.
“Go on up,” I say softly. “I’ll be right up.”
I watch them disappear up the stairs, my heart full in a way I can’t explain. Quiet love. Steady hands. A boy who trusts without question. It’s everything I didn’t know I needed.
I don’t bother with the dishes from the popcorn, tossing them in the sink to deal with before we head out for our camping trip.
Checking that all the doors are locked, I make it upstairs just in time to see Colt closing Ben’s door softly behind him.
“You know,” he says, leaning against the doorframe, “you’ve been spending an awful lot of time in my bed.”
I glance over my shoulder, amused. “Is that a problem? Cause I’ll gladly go back to sleeping in my room, the bed’s much comfier.”
“I don’t think so,” he growls, stalking towards me. He wraps his arms around me, walking me backwards down the hallway. “In fact, I think you should just move your stuff into my room.”
I raise a brow. “You asking me to move in, Cowboy?”
He smirks. “You’re already living here. Your toothbrush is already in my bathroom, shampoo in my shower. I’m not really asking, just waiting for you to realize it’s already happened, Sweets.”
“But I like my bed,” I murmur, only partially teasing him. His bed is too firm, it’s like sleeping on the ground after finding a section with large rocks and sticks and being too stubborn to clear it all away.
Colt exhales through his nose, pushing me past the threshold of his room. “Come on, Sweets.”
My knees hit the end of the bed, and I let myself fall backwards. “Yeah, yeah,” I grumble, giggling as he flips down on top of me.
I mean, I’m already moved in, might as well just accept it.