“Yummy,” Jack said with his mouth full. He was still bouncing in his seat. He took the last bite of the burger and, while finishing off his fries and soda, he told them more details of the audition. Nina was glad. The more Jack talked, the less she and Theo would, and the less she needed to worry about getting too close to him.
“The choir has big kids, too,” Jack was saying excitedly. “There’s even one really big boy!”
“How old is he?” Theo asked.
“I don’t know, eight, or maybe even ateenager,” Jack said, like a teenager was some kind of exotic creature. “Big.” Theo glanced at Nina, and she smiled at him. Once again, she felt the warmth of being the adults in the room, sharing in the cuteness of the child between them.
“Will you have performances?” Nina asked.
“Yeah, one big performance for Thanksgiving.” Jack’s eyes lit up. “The teacher said she’d choose one kid to sing a solo. Maybe me! But maybe one of the big kids.”
“That’s very cool,” Nina said.
“Are you gonna come?” Jack asked Theo.
“Of course.” Theo scooped up another bite of his pot pie. “I wouldn’t miss it.”
But Nina’s heart turned over. Thanksgiving was six weeks away, and Theo already had Charles Ackley’s business card. There was a decent chance that he’d have landed his contract by then and would have no use for Nina and Jack anymore.
Nina bit her lip as she looked down at her son, who was sipping soda through his straw and kicking his legs beneath the table. She cared about Theo more than she’d expected to, but Jack seemed to think Theo was the best thing since superhero capes. What if Jack’s heart was broken when Theo inevitably achieved his business goals and they left?
“I’ll be there, too,” Nina said brightly. “And we can go out for dinner again afterwards.”
“Of courseyou’llbe there, Mom,” Jack said. He smiled up at Nina. “You’re always there.”
Nina ruffled his hair. “I am. And I always will be.”
They finished up their dinners and drove home. It wasn’t very late yet, so Nina took Jack to burn off some energy running around the backyard. Theo headed into his home office to work, reminding Nina that she was free to join him later if she’d like to.
Nina spent the evening playing the part of a giant lizard monster who SuperJack was trying to defeat, the two of them running around the yard until they collapsed on the grass. Overhead, the sky was turning to dusk, with bright reds and oranges visiblebetween the tree branches. The air was cool, but not yet cold, and they were both wearing sweatshirts.
“Will we live here forever?” Jack asked, turning his head to look at Nina. His blue eyes were shining.
“No, buddy, not forever,” Nina said. “Just for a little while. But don’t worry. We’ll always live together.”
“Okay.” Jack looked at the sky again, “I like it here.”
“Me too, buddy.” Nina took his small hand and squeezed it, “But wherever I’m with you, I’m happy. Because I love you…”
“To the moon and back!” Jack completed the phrase. “I love you too, Mom.”
After a while, she carried Jack inside and got him ready for bed. They read a few stories before she tucked him in and turned out the lights. In her own room, she hesitated. Theo was in his home office, working, and he’d invited her to join him. Part of her wanted to.
A stronger part knew she’d be better off in her own room, focused on her own work, so she put on her pajamas, got in bed, and opened her laptop. She made a few calls to clients on the West Coast, where it was still early evening, then went through past orders and got everything organized for the following day.
With the urgent tasks out of the way, she opened an advertisement for a freelance graphic-design position. It had been a while since she’d put her graphic-design skills to use, but she applied for the position anyway. Now that money was less tight, she could take a risk on something new without jeopardizing her son’s future.
That felt good.
It almost felt good enough to outweigh her nerves about what would happen in a few weeks or a few months, when Theo landed his contract and it was time to leave.
CHAPTER 13
THEO
Theo slipped into the house quietly. He’d had a late board meeting, followed by some unexpected work, so he hadn’t made it home for dinner. He’d felt a pang of sadness when the clock passed six, Jack and Nina’s usual dinnertime, and he’d imagined them at the table without him. But then he’d turned his attention back to the task at hand and tried to put both of them out of his mind.
It was almost nine thirty now, and he tried to be quiet to avoid waking Jack, who usually went to bed around eight thirty. As he passed the living room, he spotted Nina on the couch with her laptop and a bowl of popcorn. She took off her headphones and smiled at him, waving him over.
