Page 37 of Until Forever

I take the key from her and follow her to her SUV. “Got it.”

“Wait. “Do you need to work or something?”

“I’m good. I told you, I’m remote, I can work while he’s in school.”

“Are you sure? My mom and dad will watch him.”

“I’m positive. Now get out of here, we’ve got this.”

She opens the back passenger door, drops her purse in the seat, and rushes over to JJ. When she reaches him, she kneels in front of him, planting another kiss on his cheek. “Jasper is going to watch you while I work. But I need you to behave, and if you need me, call the hospital.”

He grins from ear to ear. “Okay. I promise I’ll be good.”

She kisses him one more time. “I’m trusting you.”

“I swear, Mommy. I’ll be the perfect little angel.”

She chuckles. “Okay. I’ll call you tonight.”

“All right.”

She stands and stares between the two of us for a beat.

“Toya, we’ll be fine.”

Her shoulders slump. “Okay, I’m going,” she caves and heads back to her Jeep. Not long after, she revs her engine and pulls out of the drive.

I speed-walk to my van and settle into the driver’s seat. “You ready, bud?”

“Yup.”

We secure our seat belts at the same time, and I drive off toward the elementary school.

For the bulk of the ride, it’s quiet, but as I observe him through the rearview mirror, all I can think about is his behavior today. A while back, she told me that something upset him and his mood started to change, and I can’t help but wonder if something happened this time.

“Hey, buddy.”

“Yes.”

“What’s going on this morning? Why don’t you want to go to your grandparents’?”

He drops his head. “It was nothing,” he says, but I can sense he’s lying.

“JJ, look at me.” He does. “You know you can tell me anything.”

“I know,” he admits.

“Okay, so what’s wrong?” I dart my gaze between the mirror and the road. “Did something happen?”

“Paw Paw was being mean,” he finally answers me.

I frown. “What did he do?”

“I told him you were teaching me to catch for the game, and he got mad. He said…”

“It’s okay, bub. You can tell me.”

“He said that you shouldn’t have come back and that you’re going to leave me again.” He lowers his chin to his chest.

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