She enjoyed everything more with him. There couldn’t be another man like Hendrix.
They both heard the thunder of a seven-year-old boy racing down the stairs. “Slow down,” Joey called out, then to Hendrix, she said, “How are you going to deal with that?”
Hendrix’s grin was both humorous and hot. “He’ll settle down, plus he goes to bed early and then I’ll have you all to myself for a few hours each evening.”
“There is that.” She was just about to kiss him when Ryder zoomed around the corner and crashed into Hendrix’s legs. “My room isawesome.”
Releasing her, Hendrix swung Ryder up for a brief hug. “Glad you like it, dude.”
“My stuff is on shelves now instead of boxes under the bed. I can look at all of it!”
“An important aspect of a man’s room.”
“I like the room downstairs, too.”
Hendrix set him back on his feet. “I was thinking about that,” he said carefully. “What if we make it the Christmas room?”
“Like with Santa and a train and –”
“I meant,” he interrupted before Ryder could get too pumped up, “we could put your Christmas tree down there.”
“Arealtree? With a lot of colored lights and presents under it and everything?”
Seeing the surprise on Hendrix’s face, that clearly wasn’t what he’d meant at all. “He meant our tree from the cabin, but I have a better idea. We’ll put it in your bedroom so you can see it whenever you’re in there.” She ruffled her son’s hair, then smoothed it down. He had the thickest, softest hair that had a mind of its own, always going this way and that. “Wouldn’t it be nice to have the colored lights on instead of a nightlight?”
“Yeah,” he grudgingly admitted. “But this place is big enough for a real tree. Remember, Mom, you said we couldn’t have areal tree because we didn’t have enough room.” Arms opened, he turned a circle. “We could have a real big tree here. And a real star that lights up! Hendrix could lift me up so I could put it on top.”
Teeth locked again, Hendrix said, “That would be great.”
“Yay!” Ryder threw his arms around him, practically climbing him like a monkey. “Could we go out together to pick one? And then drink hot chocolate? I saw that on a movie.”
Sinking into a chair while tugging Ryder close, Hendrix said, “Yeah, man. We’ll do all that.”
If she didn’t move right now, this very instant, Joey knew she’d get overly emotional again. Turning her back to the guys, she picked up a laundry basket holding her few clothes and headed for the basement steps.
Watching her son bond so closely to Hendrix was like riding a rollercoaster with her heart exposed. She loved that Ryder’s close circle was expanding, and that – at least for now – he had another caring adult to help guide him.
It was just...she’d had him all to herself for so long that sharing him now gave her pangs of worry, as if she hadn’t done enough, been enough. Silly. She knew that. She wanted the very best for Ryder, and she couldn’t imagine anyone better than Hendrix.
Thirty minutes later, after she’d almost finished putting her things away, she heard Hendrix softly say, “Hey.”
She turned to find him watching her. “Ryder’s upstairs?”
“Eating a bowl of cereal. I hope that’s okay. He saw a box of food stuff and said he wanted to see if it tasted different out of my bowls.”
How could she not laugh at that? “It’s fine. He’s a bottomless pit, so believe me he’ll be ready to eat again very soon.”
Relieving her of the now-empty laundry basket, Hendrix took a few steps away to set it on the bed. “You’re putting your stuff down here?”
“I’ll sleep upstairs with Ryder. It’ll be an adjustment for him and everything. But I thought, if you don’t mind –”
“Anything you want, Joey,” he whispered. “Anything.”
Wow. “That sounds promising.”
He didn’t reply, he just waited.
She was not good with awkward silence. “Then I’ll put my stuff down here, sort of use this space to shower and change clothes and stuff.”
