Page 5 of Honey Bee Library
“I insist.”
Jasper let out a big,“Whoa!”which had Cole and me turning toward the living room at the same time. My fight-or-flight reflex went into high gear as I scanned the room for my son. Relief flooded my body when I found him standing in front of a giant fish tank with his fingers and nose pressed to the glass.
“Mommy!” he yelled, shouting into the tank. “Look at all of these fish!”
“Jasper,” I said as I crossed the space between us and grabbed a hold of his hand. “Don’t put your fingers on the glass.”
If this was a predictor of how the rest of our night was going to go, then I didn’t want to stay here. I might as well ask Cole for the glass cleaner and a roll of paper towels now. If I cleaned as Jasper went, it would be less work for me in the long run.
“It’s okay,” Cole said as he approached us. He had a small smile on his lips as he studied Jasper. “They’re cool, aren’t they.” He knelt down in front of my son. “My favorite is…” He used his finger to scan through the visible fish. “That one.” He pointed at a black, yellow, and white fish. “The Moorish Idol fish,” he said.
“I like sharks,” Jasper said, growling on the last word.
Cole chuckled. “There’s sharks in here.” He paused as he turned his attention to the tank. “In fact, there’s one right there.” He pointed at a small grey shark with black dots all over its body and two large ones behind each fin. “That’s an epaulette shark. They ‘walk’ on the sand with their fins.” He put the wordwalkin air quotes.
“That’s so cool!” Jasper said as he leaned in to focus on the shark.
Cole glanced up at me. It was in that moment I realized I’d been staring at the two of them once more. I dropped my gaze, my cheeks warming from embarrassment. I didn’t want to stare, it was just that every time I saw him taking a moment with Jasper, it was so foreign to me that my brain was struggling to process what I was seeing. Harold never took time like that with our son.
His apathy toward Jasper was so constant I’d begun to believe that all men struggled to connect with children. Did I have it wrong?
Not wanting to get lost in my thoughts, I stepped forward. “Come on, Jasper. We should get to bed. It’s been a long day.”
I could hear Jasper’s whine start to build inside of his chest, so I reached down and grabbed his hand.
“Do you think you could show us to our room?” I glanced over at Cole, who’d straightened and was watching us.
“Yeah. Of course,” he said.
“But, Mommy, I want to look at the fish.”
“Come on, kid. Let’s explore the house.” Cole reached out and tousled Jasper’s blond curls.
I anticipated Jasper pushing his hand away like he did every time I did that to him, but it didn’t come. Instead, Jasper just let out a resigned sigh and stood.
“Fine,” he said in a defeated tone.
Cole was a magician. I’d spent so many nights and so much energy negotiating with my five-year-old. One statement from Cole, and Jasper was obedient. What a little stinker.
We waited by the foyer for Cole to get our bags. I’d offered to carry one, but Cole just shrugged me off, stating he could do it. Once our bags were collected, Cole led the way back through the living room to a door along the far wall.
“You can have the master,” he said as he flipped on the light.
My breath hitched in my throat as I took in the space. This one room was as big as my entire rental. The far wall had floor-to-ceiling windows with blinds currently drawn. There was a king-size bed against the far wall with a down comforter spread across it. A soft cream rug ran the length of the room. Across from the bed was a fireplace surrounded by marble. An ornate chandelier hung down, casting a soft orange glow around the room.
“We couldn’t take the master from you,” I hurried to say as I gripped onto Jasper’s hand, preparing to march him out of here.
“It’s okay. I’m in the upstairs guest room anyway.” Cole leaned against the doorframe. “This one has a bathroom attached.” He held my gaze as he leaned in. “Take it.”
I swallowed. I wanted to fight him on this. The more he did for us, the more I was going to owe him. Right now, he’d laid claim to my entire month’s check from the diner. The last thing I needed was to end this overnight stay forever indebted to this man.
“Come on, Mommy,” Jasper said as he wiggled out of my grasp. “I wanna stay here.” He sprinted over to the bed before I could reach out and stop him. As soon as he neared the edge, he leapt and landed smack dab in the middle of the mattress. The soft comforter enveloped him as he sunk into the material.
“If you hate it, we can move you to a different room tomorrow,” Cole said.
I turned to see him studying me. He looked reserved as he held my gaze. Then he nodded, set the duffle bags down, and walked back into the hallway, pulling the door shut behind him.
Now alone, and with my exit blocked, I sighed. Maybe Cole was right. What would it hurt to spend one night in his rental? My entire body began to relax as I walked toward the bed. Just the sight of it had my brain shutting down into a REM cycle.
