Seven rounds of exploded kittens later, Harrison was fading fast. Still, he refused to go to sleep.
“Come on. Let’s tuck you back in, kid. You don’t have to sleep yet. Just get under the covers.”
Rose stood and pulled back the covers on the bed, on a mission. She’d get him to sleep if she had to hypnotize him, and then she would call Josh and give him the mightiest chewing out of her life for worrying them both.
“Will you sleep with me, Rose?”
“Uh…” The clock said it was nearly nine. Decent bedtime for a kid, but too early for an insomniac like her to hit the hay. Except Harrison looked up at her, pale with exhaustion and blue eyes shiny. His dad still hadn’t come back, and he’d already lost his mom. If Rose were in his position, she’d probably be scared.
She managed a smile. “How about I sit next to you and read? It’s not quite my bedtime but I can keep you company while you sleep.”
She settled in beside him and pulled out her phone so she could crack open an ebook. She didn’t make it past the first page.
“Can I watch a video on your phone?”
“It’s time to sleep.”
“Maybe you could read me a book?”
This kid. Wow. Talk about master negotiating. “My books are all for adult reading.”
“Then can you tell me a story?”
She put her phone down. “Sure. There once was a boy named Harrison. He refused to go to sleep when the nice Ms. Rose told him to, so a dragon flew in through the window and ate him. The end.”
Harrison wrinkled his nose. “I know you’re just kidding. But I’ll try to go to sleep.”
Rose resisted a yelp when Harrison’s head butted against her leg as he furled himself into a ball. One arm wrapped around her leg, and then the other, clinging as if he were a koala and she a tree branch.
“Dad lost my stuffed shark in Pennsylvania,” he mumbled.
“Aww. What about your stuffed turtle?” She glanced around but couldn’t seem to spot it.
“But you’re comfy to cuddle, too.”
“Thanks?” The position made her tense. She’d never been much of a cuddler. Wasn’t as if she couldn’t easily break Harrison’s grasp, but as his breathing leveled out and his lips parted, doing so seemed wrong. The kid needed comfort. It might not be her wheelhouse, but she’d do what she could to make him feel better until Josh came back. Of course, she would.
Rose looked down at the sleeping face, and for a second found her hand hovering over the child’s head, ready to stroke his silky straw-colored hair. She’d blame it on exhaustion. She had hardly eaten since morning. The granola bars she’d packed in her bag had run out, and she had no idea where Josh was.
She texted him one more time. Harrison really wants to know where you are. He misses you.
And if Rose missed him too? Well, that was nothing worth mentioning. He’d been fun to hang around with, of course. He had been fun years ago, just as he was now. Not that it meant anything. Lots of people were fun. Josh wasn’t meant for her.
While Harrison rested in her lap, she tried to read, to watch videos, and finally the crossword puzzle app on her phone. Nothing kept her focus. In the end, she noticed her eyelids drooping, heavier and heavier as time passed.
When Harrison mumbled something in his sleep and wiggled closer, she quit. If you couldn’t beat the sleeping child, might as well join him. After all, beating kids could get her arrested.
So she settled against the mountain of pillows behind her. After all, she’d promised to look after Harrison and keep him comfortable, and so she was.
If she had a warm glow in the center of her chest from having a tiny human curled against her side for comfort, that was secondary. In fact, she didn’t like it at all, and when Josh finally got his ass back here, she’d give him a massive piece of her mind.
Disappearing without telling her where he was going? Not answering his texts?
When Josh returned, Rose was going to murder him.
She pictured it in great detail as she nodded off.
“Oh. My. Goodness. Joshie Hale, is that really you?”
Josh dropped the zombie comic he’d picked up from the bookstore shelf. That voice. He couldn’t place it, but it sounded familiar. God knew nobody but Dave had called him Joshie in a long time.
He pivoted to find KellyAnne Ledowski, his girlfriend from high school, staring at him with her blazer-clad arms outstretched.
“Wow.” He shook off his surprise. “Long time.”
“I know! Last time we saw each other, I was testing to see how big I could make the holes in my jeans before school would send me home. Now I’m in a pantsuit. Crazy, right?”
As she approached, he found himself backing into a rack full of graphic novels. “Yeah. Crazy. Uh, hey. I heard you got married. Congratulations.”
“Oh, thanks. Divorced, too.” She waved her hand as to dismiss the entire thing. “We had a good run, but I thought marriage meant making him dinner every night and having morning sex on the weekends. He thought it meant the same thing, only with his secretary, his business partner, and occasionally his clients. It’s best we parted ways.”
“Fuck. I’m sorry.” Josh’s dad had been a cheater. The idea raised his inner protector. He eased his defensive stance, leaning toward her. “Are you doing okay?”
“Sure, I’ll live.” She grinned and moved closer. “I got the house with the pool. I self-soothe by spending all of his money. He and his latest piece live in a one-bedroom in Alexandria, so I’m feeling pretty okay these days.”
Something sharp and spicy crept up his nose. Her perfume, probably. Not quite the same as Rose’s subtle scent. “Then…congratulations? I have a friend who sends gifts to people when they get divorced. Sounds like you’re on the right track.”
She laughed. “Oh, I did miss your sense of humor. So.” She slapped her hand on his chest. “How have you been? What are you up to?”
Oh, nothing much. Just got to hear my dead wife’s heart beating in another person’s chest, so I spazzed out and I’ve been wandering this mall I don’t know how long, because I don’t know how to drive home and face my son. I don’t know how to explain where I was if he asks. Or if Rose does, for that matter. I owe her an explanation but I’m not sure how to do that, either. So instead of facing the music, I’m here, picking out zombie books for my son. I know he likes them and for the last nine years, doing things for Harrison is all that’s ever made sense.
Since he wasn’t about to say any of that to KellyAnne, he went with, “Nothing exciting. Work. Taking care of my kid. Occasionally beating my head against a wall for fun.”
That last part sounded pretty good right now.
KellyAnne laughed. Then she placed a hand on his chest. “God, you’re still so funny.”
He hadn’t meant it as a joke, but he said thanks all the same. What else was there?
“Hey, listen.” She pressed close again. “We should catch up. Grab a cup of coffee. Commiserate over our exes. I heard you’re divorced these days as well.”
She’s dead, actually, but thanks.
“I don’t know…”
“Oh, come on. The coffee shop upstairs makes a great mocha with whipped cream. I remember you used to love whipped cream.”
Ew. Uncomfortable. As a first girlfriend, KellyAnne had seemed pretty adventurous. Until later, when he’d met Rose.
“Well…” Honestly, a cup of coffee sounded good. It was late, and today had drained him in every possible way. He could use a little caffeine for the drive home. Kelly was someone who knew him back when he was popular and a little reckless, and not the guy who had to clean up bath toys in order to take a shower.
The thought slapped Josh in the face. He froze. Harrison is sick and I need to get home to him. I don’t know what I’m doing here.
“Shit.” He reached out to the side, blindly grabbing a few comics from the shelf, using them to put a barrier between himself and his ex. “You know, Kelly, I can’t. My son isn’t feeling well. I need to get back to him.”
“Oh, that’s too bad. But don’t you have someone watching him?” The disappointed pout on her face was off-putting. She must not have kids. Then again, Rose didn’t either, and he couldn’t imagine her pouting like that to get him to take attention away from a child.
Hell, Rose had stood in front of him all full of anger and frustration as Josh ran out the door, and still she had the kindness and decency to stay there and watch Harrison.
Speaking of…
His phone buzzed, and the message grabbed him by the chest.
Harrison really wants to know where you are. He misses you.
“I really do have to go. Nice to see you again.” He forgot about buying the books and dropped them on a table. Then he hustled for the door.
Josh raced to his rental across the dark and chilly mall lot, shaking his head the whole way. He’d checked out today. What he needed to do was put aside his shit and do the right thing for his kid. Today he’d forgotten. It wouldn’t happen again.