Chapter Fourteen
Two weeks had passed since the trip to Boothbay, and Harper had never been happier.
She’d immediately told Kash about the change in her and Linc’s relationship, and as she’d thought, he’d been over-the-moon happy.
He loved Linc just as much as she did, and he was thrilled with the thought of his mom finally having someone to lean on . . . other than him, of course.
She and Linc were still figuring out how to be in a relationship.
He constantly wanted to pay for everything, but she’d put her foot down.
There was still a part of her that needed to prove to the world that she could make it on her own.
She didn’t want or need Linc swooping in to take over.
She’d worked damn hard to build up her bank account, to prove to her father, to Kash, to herself, to everyone that she was a good mother who could provide for her child.
So things were still a little shaky as far as that went, what with Linc’s strong provider instinct.
But she still brought food home from work and still continued to work on his house as much as possible, in lieu of rent.
Gas was a hefty expense, since she drove herself to and from work and Linc didn’t exactly live close, but she continued to pay for that on her own as well.
But pretty much everything else was going exceedingly well, as far as being officially boyfriend/girlfriend.
And the best thing was, Linc was still sleeping more than he’d been since he was medically discharged from service.
Not eight hours, but at least a solid five each night, sometimes even a little more.
Which was a huge step up from the two or less he was getting before Harper slept in his bed.
They didn’t make love every evening. Sometimes they were too tired, or she worked late, or they were worried about Kash hearing them. But when they did, it was always just as combustible as it had been the first time.
Today, Harper had taken a day off, and she’d made plans to spend the afternoon with Kash one-on-one for the first time in a good long while.
They’d had breakfast with Linc, and then he went to Lobster Cove to put up new shelves in Evelyn’s pantry.
Why she’d decided to completely redo the small room, Harper had no idea, but because Chad and Britt were busy, she’d asked if Linc could come over to help.
And since he was an amazing son, of course he said yes.
When Kash begged to assist him, Harper couldn’t deny his request. She spent the time they were gone taking a long, leisurely bath. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d been able to do something so decadent.
The boys got back to the house around two, and Harper made a snack for Kash, and lunch consisting of dill pickle chicken salad, biscuits, and potato soup for Linc. She felt as if he was constantly giving to her, so it was a good feeling to do something for him for once.
After promising to drive safely, and to call if she needed anything—anything at all—Harper and Kash left around three o’clock.
They were going to have a late lunch / early dinner, then go to the Blueberry Pond Observatory.
To say Kash was excited was an understatement.
He would never be the kind of kid who’d like going for a hike or to a stuffy museum.
But he could literally spend hours staring up at the night sky.
Thankfully in the winter it got dark early, so they could still get home at a decent hour. The observatory was about an hour and a half away, so it wasn’t exactly close, but this was one of Kash’s Christmas presents, and Harper was excited to see him in his element.
Not only that, but she wanted to talk to him.
Felt as if she hadn’t had a chance to really sit down and have a good chat about how he was feeling, both about school and about things at home.
They’d had a lot of adjustments in a short period of time, and she wanted to know where his head was at.
The car ride was a perfect time and place to do that.
They stopped in Damariscotta at the Oysterhead Pizza Company. The pizza there was some of the best Harper had ever eaten, and Kash certainly seemed to agree. He ate almost an entire pepperoni pizza by himself. She wasn’t sure he’d even breathed after picking up the first slice.
Her little boy was certainly changing right in front of her eyes. He used to pick at his food, and there had been that point in time when he didn’t want to eat unless he knew she was too. He’d caught on that she was giving him their only food, and he wasn’t happy.
When they were on the road once more, Harper brought up the main thing she wanted to talk about. “Are you sure you’re okay with Linc and me dating?” she asked.
“Yeah.”
“Just yeah?” she pushed.
Her son gave her a look. “Duh, Mom. I like him. He’s awesome. He looks after you, and he’s nice to both of us. Why? Are you okay with him? You aren’t just going out with him because of the house, are you?”
“What? No!” Harper said firmly. “I would never, ever be with someone because of money. Or a house.”
“Good. Because you deserve love. And it’s obvious Linc loves you,” Kash said simply.
His sweet words felt good, and she had to bite her lip not to tear up. “Obvious, huh?” she said, knowing she was fishing, but wanting to know what her son saw when he looked at her and Linc.
“Uh-huh. His eyes follow you everywhere you go. If you get up to get a drink, he watches you. And the look on his face of . . . I don’t know .
. . satisfaction? Contentment? Happiness?
I’m not sure what it is, but when you come back, it’s easy to see.
And he’s sleeping better, which is cool.
It used to be when I’d get up in the middle of the night, he was always awake.
Sometimes pacing, but most of the time in the kitchen making something.
It didn’t matter if it was midnight, one, two, three .
. . whenever I’d wake up to go to the bathroom, he’d be downstairs doing something. ”
“I’m also very happy he feels more comfortable and can mostly sleep through the night now.”
“You know what, Mom?”
“What?”
“I think us moving in was good for him. It let him think about something other than what happened to him.”
“You know about that?” Harper asked, worried about what he might’ve heard.
“Just that he crashed and had to walk for days and days to safety.”
Relief filled Harper. Linc would hate for her son to know the details about what he’d gone through.
She certainly wasn’t going to say anything to him, and it’s not as if Linc would’ve told him.
She guessed that his brothers probably had a good idea of what he’d been through, because they’d been in the military and had training on evading the enemy when necessary.
But Kash, as smart as he was, was still a kid and didn’t need to know all the horrible details of Linc’s ordeal.
“Well, I agree with you. I definitely think he’s better off with us being around.”
“And we’re definitely happier because of him,” Kash said firmly. “You aren’t so stressed, and we have food whenever we want it, and a safe place to sleep. You were able to clean out the car too. It’s nice.”
It was nice. But guilt still ate at Harper that she’d made her son go through what he had. She should’ve moved home years ago.
“You talked to Granddad lately?” Harper asked, wanting to change the subject.
Kash shrugged. “Yeah. He called the other day to see how school was going. Wanted to know how I did on my Spanish test.”
“That’s good. How did you do? You never said.”
“B-plus. It would’ve been an A, but I got bored and turned in the test without doing the last two matching questions.”
“Kash Bates! Why would you do that?”
He didn’t answer for a beat, then he sighed. “Honestly?”
“Of course. You should always be honest,” Harper told him.
“I didn’t want to blow the curve. Everyone’s always getting mad at me for getting perfect scores.
And I didn’t want to deal with the grumbling and comments under people’s breath after we got the tests back.
So I just . . . blew those last two questions off.
And it worked,” he said, almost belligerently.
“Everyone was happy, since no one got a hundred on the test and the teacher added four points to everyone’s score. ”
Harper sighed. She was proud that her son was smart, way smarter than she ever was, but hated that he was still dealing with being bullied—and apparently dumbing himself down because of it.
“How are things with Ginger and Donny?” she asked, referring to the older kids who were the worst of the ones who picked on him.
“They broke up.”
“They did?”
“Uh-huh.”
“So, are they leaving you alone?”
Kash was quiet a long time. Harper waited for him to answer.
Didn’t badger him. Didn’t press for details.
She wanted them, wanted to march to the school and tell the upperclassmen to leave her son alone, but that wouldn’t do anything but make them treat Kash worse.
She felt helpless, and with every story about what her son endured at school, Harper hated the girl she’d been when she was in high school even more.
“Ginger is,” he said finally. “I think she was just following Donny’s lead because they were dating. But he’s still being a dick.”
She would’ve scolded him for his language, but she didn’t have the heart. Kash was growing up, and besides, dick wasn’t the worst word ever. She was positive he heard way worse at school and was toning down the words he used for her benefit.
“I’m sorry. Still mostly at lunch?” Harper asked.
Kash nodded.
“Did you try what we talked about before? Going to the lunchroom early or late?”
“Yeah. Didn’t work. He still singles me out. Calling me Trash-Kash and making fun of what I’m wearing, what I’m eating, my backpack, my friends . . . anything he can. Why are people so mean, Mom?”