* * *
Thankfully,I’d set an alarm for a quarter to three as a precaution and groaned when it woke me. I slowly rolled off the couch onto my feet and stumbled to the most used and most cherished appliance in the house—the coffee machine.
I got dressed while my coffee was being made and then took the golf cart over to Stuff It to watch for Ben from the office.
I was damn near falling asleep at the front desk despite having finished my cup of caffeine when I finally saw a box truck drive up to the front gate. I entered the code to manually open the gate and watched as the truck drove toward unit three-seventy-three.
Inhaling deeply, I rose to my feet and went out to meet Ben, unsure of what to expect.
Ben got out of the truck with a look of surprise on his face. “What are you doing here?”
“Um, I’m here to pick up your son,” I said slowly, confused by his reaction.
He scanned the area and walked to the edge of the building to peer around the side like he was looking for someone. He seemed nervous. “You should’ve waited.”
My earlier worries of blowing my chances for a future relationship with Ben were gone. I was tired, cranky, and slightly uncomfortable with the situation, so his criticism hit a nerve. “You should’ve said that when you were here earlier.”
“Fine, you can take him now,” he huffed and walked around to the other side of the truck. Before he opened the door, he looked back at me. “One more thing, don’t tell anyone he’s my son.”
“What? Why? What am I supposed to tell people?” I asked, not bothering to hide my shock.
He shrugged. “I don’t know. Make something up. Just don’t tell them the truth.”
“Let me see if I’ve got this straight. You want me to keep him for thirty days, but I can’t tell anyone that he’s my nephew or why I’m watching him. How in the hell do you think I’m going to do that and work?”
“Have you ever lied before?” he shouted and threw his hands up in frustration. “Make something up. Who’s going to ask you for proof?”
“Right,” I huffed. “I’ll figure something out.”
“I need to finish up. I don’t have much time,” he said and reached for a box in the back of the truck, but I stopped him.
“Oh, no. I’m not leaving yet. I still have questions that need answers,” I said firmly.
“What questions?”
“What do I do if he gets sick?” I asked.
“Take him to the doctor. Next.”
“Not finished with the first question. Which doctor? Does he have insurance? Am I supposed to pay for it? What about his information? Do you have his birth certificate or social security card? Or something with his full name and date of birth on it?”
“I don’t fucking know!” he screamed and yanked his hair with both hands. “She didn’t tell me anything when she dropped him off. I wasn’t even there. She left him with some boxes and a note, so really, you know as much as I do.” He exhaled slowly and dropped his hands. “I’m sorry. I don’t know what to say. If something happens, I trust you to figure it out.”
“Okay,” I relented. “Is there some way I can contact you if something happens?”
He shook his head. “No, you can’t contact me for any reason.”
“What the fuck, Ben? This is your kid we’re talking about here!”
“You think I don’t know that?” he shouted. “It has to be this way. I’ve already spent too much time here. I’ve gotta get going.”
“Yep,” I said with a nod. I wasn’t happy by any means, but I knew he wasn’t going to tell me more than he already had. “Can you at least write something giving me permission to have him in my care until you return?”
“I’d rather not.”
I narrowed my eyes. “And I’d rather not get arrested for kidnapping. I need something saying I have permission to have him and to seek medical care if necessary, or the deal’s off,” I said firmly.
“Fine,” he reluctantly agreed. “Do you have something I can write on?”
