He just nodded, trying hard to keep a scowl off his face, and took a bite of the roll.
Blake opened the gift bag and pulled out a t-shirt. And a pocketknife. He was a bit irritated that Heather was giving Blake presents. He hadn’t even known today was his birthday. Of course, he hadn’t known a single thing about his son until yesterday.
Then Blake unwrapped a small, flat box and pulled out a print.“What’s this?”His brow creased as he stared at it.
Jesse glanced over.“Heather is an artist. She draws stuff. Illustrates.”
“It’s a blonde boy playing by the ocean. You think…”Blake paused and looked at Jesse.“You think that she thought of me and drew this? Kind of like what it would have been if—you know—things were different?”
“I honestly don’t know, son.”
Blake nodded and set down the print.“She signed it, too.”
So now Blake could have a Heather Parker original, too. Just great.Extraspecial. He scowled in spite of his best intentions and turned his attention to the breakfast.
They finished their breakfast—such as it was with the unwelcome but very tasty cinnamon rolls—and Jesse took their plates to the sink.“So, I thought we’d do some shopping today. Get some clothes and anything else you need. We can call them birthday presents. Or just…things I’d like you to have.”
“I don’t want to be any trouble. You don’t have to buy me stuff.”
“Oh, but I want to. I want to very much.”Jesse crossed over and sat by Blake.“I wish there was something—anything—I could do to make up for missing so much of your life.”
“But buying things won’t change that.”
Wise boy.“No, but it’s something I want to do.”Then he grinned.“And we need to get more food. Man, you can eat.”
“I’m sorry. I try not to eat so much. It makes my aunt mad.”
“You can eat as much as you want here. Doesn’t make me mad. Glad to have someone to cook for.”
“Mom always said she liked to cook for me, too. She was a really great cook. She always liked to make my favorite dinner for my birthday.”Blake’s eyes clouded, though he tried to hide his pain.
“She sounds like a really great mom.”
“She was. We had the best time. Just the two of us. We had a great life until…well, the last year. It was hard. I missed a lot of school taking care of her. She tried hard to fight the cancer. I think she thought she was strong enough to will it away so she could stay with me.”His voice cracked.“But…it was stronger than she was.”
His heart broke just seeing the pain in Blake’s eyes. Jesse reached over and touched his arm.“I’m so sorry. That must have been so hard.”
He nodded.“I’m just missing her more today. She always made such a big deal out of my birthday.”
And how could he compete with that? But surely he could do something to cheer the boy up.
Jesse looked at the clock.“I’ve got to call Leo. He’s my second in command on The Destiny. My boat. I have a boat, a business. We do dinner cruises and sunrise cruises and people rent it out for parties and weddings and stuff like that.”
“Wow.”Blake’s eyes widened.“Can we go see it?”
“Of course.”
“I’ve never been on a boat. Well, a canoe once in adventure club with my school.”
“Then we’ll take a cruise on The Destiny. Want to go tonight?”
“Yes.”Blake’s eyes sparkled with excitement.
“A dinner birthday cruise it is.”It wouldn’t be as great as a special dinner made by his mother, but at least it would be some kind of celebration. He could at least do that much.
Chapter 19
Jesse talked to Delbert, got the name of a lawyer, and put a call into her while Blake was getting ready for their shopping trip. He briefly explained the situation and they made an appointment for first thing tomorrow morning.
