Page 60 of The Other Fork in the Road

I turned to find Madison in front of me. “I’m going to my dad’s.” She reached up and touched my cheek. “You go and get that boy some water, hear me?”

Panic swirled through me. “No, no, you stay here. I’ll be back.”

She wore a smirk as she pushed me aside. “Good night, Jax.”

I grabbed her hand. “Why don’t we have a sleepover? No hanky panky. Just you and me taking turns watching over Grant while he sleeps. You know. What if he falls out of bed and breaks…”

“He’s seven, Jax. Not a newborn.” She took my hand and started walking toward the door to leave. “You’ll be fine. I promise.” She bumped my shoulder with hers, heading onto the porch and leaving me with the little guy.

I shouldn’t be nervous. He had stayed with me before, but somehow it didn’t seem as real as it did at that moment.

Once she was out the door, I realized my house felt sad too, none of us were the same when she wasn’t there.

* * *

I popped open an eye when the sunlight beamed through the window and onto my pillow, nearly blinding me. Mental note: Never, ever, ever forget to close the damn blinds before bed. I rolled over, trying to regain my eyesight, but instead, found myself face-to-face with Grant. He was leaning on the bed, his chin resting on his hand.

“Do you know you snore?”

I nearly jumped out of my skin. “Well, good morning, Buddy.”

“And your nose hairs move a lot when you breathe. Is that normal?”

I rubbed my eyes, clearing them to better see my new guy. “I think so. Did you sleep well?”

“I like my pillow; it’s super fluffy.”

“How long have you been up?”

“The clock on the stove said five-fifteen.”

I looked at my phone, and it was nearly seven. WTF? “Grant, you got to bed late last night. Why did you get up so early? Miss Katie said you were on fall break this whole week. That means you should chill.”

“I had lots of stuff to do.”

“Really? What’ve you been up to?”

“I emptied my suitcase, walked in every room, and then I ate a ding-dong.”

“Hmmm, do you think ding-dongs are a good breakfast?”

“Heck, yeah.” He grinned. “Finger lickin’ good.” He went to the dresser and grabbed a plate from the top before heading back over to me. “I wanted to make you toast. You like toast, right?”

Grant hopped on the bed and flopped down on the empty pillow beside me.

“Who doesn’t, right?” I grabbed the plate and took a bite. “This is amazing, thank you. It, uh, has an interesting flavor to it.” I was focusing on getting the shit down. “What’s your secret?”

“Grape jelly, mayo, and I stirred in some cheese I smooshed up.”

“Well, this is one breakfast I’ll never forget. That was real nice of you.”

He nodded. “Can I turn on your TV?”

“Sure. Have you ever seen the movie Bumblebee? The Transformer one?”

He nudged my arm with his. “Yes, I like that one.”

I flipped it on and lay back on my pillow, looking over at the little dude. I could get used to this.

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