More than one perfect moment those words could have slipped out.
But she’d ruined it.
Then told herself there was nothing to ruin. The pace they had was great. It was working.
There’d be another opportunity.
“Happy Birthday,” Jayce said when he moved closer to them. She’d had her hand on Archer’s shoulder so he didn’t take off even though Jayce was only two cars over.
“Thanks,” Archer said. “I’m getting a massive burger and dessert. You have to get it too. The same as me. We all have to. It’s my birthday so I get what I want on that day.”
“You do?” he asked, looking at her.
She lifted an eyebrow. “It’s his special day. Everyone deserves a special day, even if we did celebrate with my parents on Saturday.”
“But that wasn’t my birthday,” Archer argued. “Today is. And Mom brought cupcakes into school for me too.”
“So you’ve had cupcakes and you want dessert again? You’re going to be wound up for your mother tonight.”
Archer was nodding his head up and down. “I am. But Dad will call me later. So I want to stay up for it so I can thank him for paying for basketball camp in Charlotte for the week. I’m so excited. I’m going to basketball camp!”
Tucker hadn’t said one word to her today about it being Archer’s birthday. He’d done what he always did, sent her a crazy amount of money to pick out her son’s gift.
So she got what her son wanted, and when Tucker found out, he’d probably throw a fit. But let him do that to Archer, which he wouldn’t. She’d deal with the consequences.
Was it petty on her part to spend the money on that? She didn’t think so.
There was no reason Tucker couldn’t pick out his own gifts for his only son. He said to get Archer what he wanted and that was it.
“I heard you were going,” Jayce said. “I think that’s awesome. I went to camps like that when I was your age for years.”
“So I can go again next year, Mom?”
She caught Jayce’s cringe. “We’ll see.”
“Dad will send me. I’ll just ask him.”
Jayce was frowning this time, but what was she going to say? Tucker probably wouldn’t pay for it again, unless Archer asked, and Tucker didn’t want to say no to his face.
Next year would be time enough to think about it.
“Oh crap, hang on, I’ve got something for you.”
Jayce jogged back to his car and then came back with a gift bag. “You gave me a gift,” Archer said. “On Saturday.”
Jayce had bought her son passes to the OC Ariel again and then a bunch of comic books. She thought that was a great gift, letting her son share in something physical and educational. Even if Tucker didn’t think comic books were educational.
Boo on him. Reading was reading and it expanded her son’s mind.
“Can I open it here?”
“Inside,” he said. “Once we are seated, but then your Mom can put it to the side.”
She didn’t know he’d gotten Archer anything else. “You did enough already,” she whispered to him.
“I would have given him this on Saturday, but I just got it yesterday.”
“Now I’m curious.”
