Page 49

The room went completely still.

Yonas glanced at me, his expression softening with that quiet understanding before he dropped into a slight crouch, so he was eye level with my son.

“Nah, little man. I gotta stay here.”

“For how long?”

“Don’t know yet, bud.”

Kaidence frowned, clearly dissatisfied with that answer. “You can come later… like next week.”

My heart gave a painful, familiar squeeze.

Yonas offered him a gentle smile and tapped Kaidence lightly on the shoulder. “Maybe. We’ll see.”

Kaidence seemed satisfied enough with that compromise.

He turned his attention back to me, planting his hands on his hips. “How long before we leave, Mommy?”

“Give me ten minutes.”

“You said ten minutes thirty minutes ago,” he pointed out without missing a beat.

Yonas immediately pressed a hand over his mouth, coughing to cover his amusement.

Kaidence might have only been five, but that boy had always been unusually sharp for his age. He paid attention to everything, remembered damn near anything someone said in front of him, and had a quick little mouth to match. Half the time, talking to him felt less like reasoning with a five-year-0ld and more like arguing with a tiny grown man who happened to need help tying his shoes.

I leveled a warning finger at my son. “Boy, go put your shoes on before I leave you.”

“You wouldn’t, Mommy.” His little face fell instantly, eyes going wide and soft like I’d just threatened to abandon him on the side of the highway instead of telling him to put on some shoes.

I narrowed my eyes at him. “Try me.”

Kaidence turned on his heel and took off down the hallway, laughing as his socks slid across the hardwood.

Yonas shook his head, standing back up to his full height. “You got your hands full with that one. You sure you don’t need me to—”

“Yonas,” I cut in gently, placing a hand against his forearm. “If there’s one thing in this world I know I can handle, it’s that son of mine. I’ll be okay.” My eyes flicked back to the framed picture lying on the comforter for a fraction of a second. “I have to be anyway.”

He held my eyes for a beat, nodding slowly, then reached down and grabbed the last heavy suitcase off the floor.

“Let’s get this loaded.”

We hauled the remaining bags down the stairs and out to the driveway.

Fifteen minutes later, the back cargo area was filled to capacity, and Kaidence was safely buckled into his booster seat in the back, surrounded by his tablet, noise-canceling headphones, a plush travel pillow, and enough fruit snacks and juice boxes to survive a natural disaster.

Yonas slammed the heavy rear door shut with a solid thud. “Full tank.”

I turned and stared at him. “You went and filled it?”

“And checked the tire pressure,” he added smoothly.

I chuckled. “Of course you did.”

“Roadside assistance is fully active. The number is saved in your contacts under emergency.”

“I know, Yonas.”