Page 102 of Sneak Attack

“Hey.” I reached across the table and took his hand where he’d been coloring on the placemat. “Are you okay? You can tell me if something’s bothering you, you know. Anything. Dad’s always here.”

“Mom won’t be.” He yanked his hand out of mine.

“What?”

He went back to coloring with his red crayon, except now, the marks were deeper. His hand worked furiously across the paper.

“Jasper…what do you mean by that?”

He flashed me a scowl, something so unlike him, I was still stunned when he said, “Mom said you’re finding me a new mommy, and soon she won’t be able to see me at all anymore.”

That fucking…. A red haze filled my vision as I forced myself to stay calm.

“What’s this now?”

Theresa startled me, and I hadn’t even realized she’d been headed our way.

She tilted her head in my direction, annoyance on her face. “What’d you just say, Jasper?”

“Nuffin’ Grandma.”

“Jasper, I’d never let you not see your mom. She’s yourmom. Forever. And she loves you very much.” I forced the words out of my mouth through shards of glass. My jaw was clenched so tight it was a wonder I could move it at all.

“Why do you think that then?” Theresa asked.

She’d crouched down at the edge of the table and picked up a green crayon. Finding another picture on the placemat, she started coloring. She never liked me much, but it was Irv who despised me.

“Mommy said Daddy won’t let me see her soon. Said he’s getting me a new mommy.” He glanced at me. “Is it that nice lady who read books to me when mommy scared us?”

Theresa’s hand froze on the placemat. “What’s this?”

Her voice was startled, quiet.

“Eden is a girl I really like, and yes, I won’t lie, I’m hoping she gets to spend a lot of time with both of us when you’re ready for that, but like I said, she’s not going to take your mom’s spot in your life, Jasper.” Unless Selma kept being a fucking bitch. Then we’d see.

“Oh.” Theresa whistled. “I hadn’t realized you were seeing her.”

“It’s new. And fragile.”

Since we were talking about this there was no point in hiding the truth. But there really needed to be a parenting handbook on how to handle children when one parent takes a leap onto the hot mess express out of nowhere.

She kept coloring but stood and scooted onto the bench seat next to Jasper. “How’d your mom scare you, sweetie?”

“Theresa—” I warned, but she’d asked so nicely, I really needed to be taking notes, learning how she was pulling all of this out of him so easily.

“She woke me up one night yelling at Dad. They was outside so I didn’t see but I heard ‘cuz she was really loud.” He pointed to Grayson at the bar. “That police ossifer took her home.”

“A police officer,” she murmured and lifted her grayish-blue eyes to me. “Well, that seems like quite a long night.”

There was accusation in her eyes, like how I dare not tell her about this or wondering if what Jasper said was true, but I stayed silent.

“Yep. And Daddy’s friend was there so she read me books and then I fell asleep and wasn’t afraid anymore.”

“Well.” Theresa set down her crayon and ruffled Jasper’s head. “I think it’s nice to make new friends. You’ve met them at school, right?”

“Yep. Lots of them.”

“Good. Say!” she said with excitement. “How about you head to the back? Maybe Grandpa or Mr. Earl back there will help you bag up some cookies to take to school tomorrow.”

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