After emptying the bedroom closet, Honor decided to tackle the stacks of paperwork balanced against the bedroom wall. Sorting and shredding documents would be tedious, but at least the work could be done in the comfort of her hotel suite. She filled a cardboard box and put it in her car, along with the antique hat box, the new shredder and a compact luggage dolly from the garage.
As she left, she called out, “I’ll be back tomorrow, Mom!”
In her hotel room, Honor found it hard to concentrate on sorting paperwork. Images of Josh’s hard body kept creeping into her thoughts. She finally caved into temptation, but just as her steamy fantasy began to take shape, her cell phone rang. She felt an instant rush of guilt. Certain it was William, she reached for the phone, reminding herself that they were divorced and he was the one who cheated in real life, anyway. She answered, hoping William wouldn’t notice she was flustered.
She glanced at the caller ID as she flipped the phone open. The fact the display didn’t show William’s number registered a millisecond after she said “Hello.” Guilt instantly morphed into embarrassment. The number belonged to Josh. She desperately tried to clear the sexual fantasy from her mind and regain her composure.
“Are you okay? Did I catch you at a bad time?” Josh asked
“I’m fine. I was just… um… going through some of Mom’s things and was thinking about her—you know, sad… so my voice probably sounds strange.” Hoping Josh couldn’t already tell she was a terrible liar, she took a deep breath and added, “I’m glad you called, Josh.”
Josh relaxed, his confidence restored. “I was hoping to see you this evening, but if Cody isn’t in bed by eight o’clock, he’ll be cranky all day tomorrow. Could I talk you into hanging out with us at the playground for a little while? I’d be willing to spring for a homemade ice cream cone.”
Honor glanced at the box of paperwork, dismayed by her lack of progress. Still, she didn’t want to pass up an opportunity to spend time with Josh. “I guess I can take a break for a quick ‘play date’. I’ll meet you at the ice cream parlor in five minutes.”
Sitting at a table near the playground, Honor and Josh munched rich black-cherry ice cream cones, while watching Cody dig in the sand. Honor noticed Cody appeared to be talking to someone. “What’s he doing?” she asked Josh.
Josh shrugged, “I guess it’s another one of his make-believe playmates. He’s been doing that a lot since we’ve been here. I think it’s his way of adjusting to new surroundings.”
Honor spoke without thinking. “Maybe he’s talking to ghosts.”
Josh cocked his head. “What makes you think this place is haunted?”
“Probably my imagination is just working overtime because this is such an old hotel, but I’ve had seriously weird dreams about ghosts every night since I’ve been here.”
“Really? Then maybe I should come to your room tonight to stand guard,” Josh teased. “Hey… that would make me an Honor Guard!”
“And who would guard my honor from you?” she shot back.
Josh pretended to be offended by Honor’s insinuation, but a moment later, they were both laughing. When their smiles faded, they gazed at one another with unmistakable desire.
The breeze was picking up and blowing Honor’s curly hair around. Josh captured a stray lock and tucked it behind her ear, allowing his hand to rest against her cheek for a moment before moving it away. Honor gulped. Her heart was racing. She licked her lips and took a deep breath, never taking her eyes off his. The only word she could muster was a quiet, “Wow.”
Josh nodded his head in agreement. “Yeah. Wow.”
Cody had grown tired of playing in the sand and ran toward them, interrupting the tender exchange.
“Daddy, come swing me!” he pleaded.
“Okay, mood wrecker.” Josh mumbled. When he rose to walk over to the playground, Cody took hold of his hand.
“Come on. You too,” Josh coaxed Honor. “You’re never too big to let someone push you in a swing.”
Honor smiled and stood. Cody immediately grabbed her hand and lifted his feet off the ground, so that he was suspended between the two adults. His laughter was infectious. They walked together, swinging him forward in giant leaps until they reached the swing set. There, Honor and Cody sat side-by-side, as Josh pushed first one swing and then the other, back and forth.
Cody cried, “Higher, Daddy! Push harder! Faster!”
Honor blushed, imagining she was saying similar things to Josh, but under a very different set of circumstances.
Soon it was eight o’clock: Cody’s witching hour.
“You could hang out with me after I put Cody to bed,” Josh suggested.
“I’m tempted, but I still have a lot of paperwork to go through before I can call it a night.”
Josh nodded, trying to conceal his disappointment. “I understand. No pressure. I’ll call you tomorrow.”
They parted ways on the elevator, with Honor’s only kiss goodnight coming from Cody. She closed the door of her suite and leaned against it, allowing a soft moan to escape her throat. The chemistry between her and Josh was undeniable. And she had told him more about herself in two days than she had told William throughout their entire relationship.
Honor took a cool shower and slipped into her granny-gown; then began sorting through the paperwork. Once she focused, the job went quickly. She fed old check stubs and ancient tax forms to the shredder, but near the bottom of the box, she found a few pictures of herself and her sisters when they were very small. In one shot, they were sitting side-by-side on a swing set, with their father pushing them, each in turn. Perhaps because she had just been on a swing that afternoon, Honor clearly remembered the moment captured in the photograph.
She leaned the picture against her bedside lamp, lay back and closed her eyes. She could smell the grass and hear the delighted squeals of her sisters and her father’s booming laughter. He said his arms were too tired to push them anymore and they begged for—and were receiving—just one more push. Her mother was smiling at her family from a picnic blanket when she took the photograph. Afterward, her father had walked over and laid down with her, resting his head on her lap.
The fog rolled in while Honor was wondering how much more she would have cherished days like this one, if she had known how few of them remained. At the time, it had never occurred to her that her father wouldn’t always be there with them, but a month later, he died when somebody else’s dad fell asleep at the wheel and veered into oncoming traffic, sending her father’s car careening into a tree. His death broke her mother’s heart.
Honor’s reflections were interrupted by a voice within the fog.
“Tisk, tisk… it’s a shame love requires risking great pain. But I know your mother wouldn’t have changed anything about her life with your father, even if she had known exactly what would happen in the end.”