Hendrix stuffed the paper into his pocket and went to his knees by her son. “Are you hurt?” He took Ryder’s hands, checked each one for injuries, then with a finger under his chin, he lifted his face. “What happened?”
“I broke it.”
Hendrix drew back. “What? The Legos?” He looked at the pieces, still not understanding. “They don’t break, they just come apart so we can put them back together in a different way.”
“But it was a really cool boat,” Ryder said, “and now it’s not.”
“Dude, come on. That’s the whole point of building blocks. You build something, take it apart, and then build something else.”
Ryder swallowed. “I don’t know how to build a boat.”
“Neither do I, but maybe we can build something even better. Could be a fence to keep the dinosaurs contained, or a road for the truck. What do you think?”
Seconds ticked by. “You’re not mad?”
“Of course not. Do I look that mean?”
Since she’d recently insulted him, too, Joey quickly inserted herself. “Definitely not mean.” She put her hand on Ryder’s back. “He’s right, they’re toys that are meant to come apart.”
Ryder continued to watch Hendrix.
In that moment, Joey understood all the angst her son had been under. Ted wasn’t only a threat to her, but Ryder felt it as well. Gently, she said, “Hendrix is a very nice man, you’ve told me so yourself, but if he was mean, I’d kick his butt, because no one can be mean to you.”
“Like Wonder Woman,” Hendrix said, then he barely managed to strangle out, “but with pants.”
Laughing, she swatted at him. “Wonder Woman has pants now, Smarty.”
Relaxing a little, Ryder grinned. “He’s way bigger than you, Mom.”
“Doesn’t matter.” Hendrix dragged all the Legos into a pile. “Moms have superpowers. Mostly, they know if someone will be nice to their kids or not. But if someone isn’t nice and she misses it, it’s important that you tell her.”
“I tell Mom lots of stuff.”
“Perfect.”
“You said that about my card, too.”
“You know what? Maybe it’s just thatyou’reperfect, and that makes what you do perfect, too.”
Wearing a bashful grin, Ryder laughed. “I’m not perfect.”
“Well, no one is perfect, I guess, but you’re pretty close. I used to be a cop, and cops know these things.” As if he hadn’t just dropped a bombshell, Hendrix began sorting the Legos. “Now let’s see what we can build.”
Chapter Three
Wait, what? Joey stared at Hendrix while Ryder launched into a dozen questions. What kind of cop? Did he wear a uniform? Did he use a siren? Did he arrest bad guys?
He answered yes to everything but the uniform, because he’d been a detective, which only made her – and her son – more curious about the different distinctions of the positions.
She had to admit, Hendrix had the look of a man in control. The confidence and awareness, too.
“Do you still have a gun?” Ryder asked.
“I do, but I don’t carry it every day now.” He went on to talk briefly about firearm safety.
Joey knew she needed to intervene before Ryder pressed him too far, but honestly, she had a million questions of her own. Mostly she wondered if his time with the police force had anything to do with his dislike of Christmas.
She hadn’t missed the fact that, other than Ryder’s card, there were no signs of the holiday in his home. Only the card – and Hendrix’s big heart.
