Page 31 of Fall With Me
With bags under his eyes, messy hair, and sagging shoulders, Dawson heads toward me with a camp chair slung over one shoulder and a water bottle in the other.
Reaching out my hand, I gesture for him to hand me the water. “I’ll hold that while you set up your chair.”
“Thanks.” He sighs like the morning has done him in. “I’m surprised we made it.”
I face the field but side-eye Dawson. Exhaustion radiates off him like heat waves on asphalt in the summer. “Are you okay? What happened?”
Dawson pushes down on the armrests of his seat until it’s fully extended. He sits, his gaze straight ahead on the field where the Raiders are setting up for their turn on offense. “Finn was missing his mom. There’s not much I can do when he wants Willow and she’s not here.”
My heart crumples in my chest. I hate that Finn and Dawson are going through this. I reach over, placing my hand on Dawson’s forearm. “I’m so sorry. What can I do to help?”
He blows out a breath that makes his lips flutter. “I wish I knew.”
My throat tightens as moments from my childhood when I felt the exact same way Finn does pop up in my memory. “I don’t know if Carter’s mentioned anything, but…” I tuck a piece of hair behind my ear. “Our grandparents raised us.”
Dawson’s chin tucks in. “Oh, wow. No, he hasn’t said anything. If you don’t mind me asking, what happened?”
I pick at the seams of my shorts. “We never knew our dad. My mom was a drug addict. When we were ten, she overdosed and knew she couldn’t keep us and her addiction. She chose substances over us.”
Dawson’s eyes go wide, like he can’t believe what I said. “I don’t know what to say, except you didn’t deserve that, and I’m sorry.” Dawson puts his hand over mine, which is still resting on his forearm. The same warmth from last night slowly seeps its way into my limbs.
Pulling my hand away from his, I shrug like it’s not a big deal, when in fact it’s a huge issue for me. “Distraction helped me the most when I was mad or missing my mom. It doesn’t always work. Sometimes the emotions just have to run their course. But often when my grandparents noticed I was fixated on what was missing instead of what I had, they’d take me to do a favorite activity or tell me to invite friendsover.” Not that I had a ton of friends, but I was friendly enough with a few kids in middle school to hang out with them outside of classes.
“That makes sense.” He scrubs a hand through his hair. “This will sound super selfish and like I’m complaining, but I really don’t have the energy to go do something with him today. This new job and festival planning are taking more out of me than I expected.” He winces. “Please don’t tell your brother I said that.”
How many hours did Dawson work this week? That combined with being the only person to take care of the cooking, cleaning, errands, and laundry? No wonder Dawson’s dead on his feet. “I won’t say anything to Carter. And you absolutely do not have to agree to this, but do you want me to handle the festival on my own? I planned to from the beginning.”
“No, I need to do this.”
I’m not sure why he feels the need to, but I won’t add more pressure by arguing with him. “Lucky for you, today should be fairly painless. I’ve already come up with a few gifts we could pass out to everyone in attendance. You tell me what sounds the best.”
“Bless your soul, 007. Providing input is something I can handle.”
He didn’t forget about last night then? I shoot him an annoyed look, but it’s fake. I secretly love this budding friendship of ours. “Buckle up, buttercup. Here are my ideas. Option one, a metal drink tumbler with the Crenshaw Solutions logo on it. Inside the cup will be candy and a gift card to a store or soda shop. Option two is wireless earbuds anda gift card to Amazon or Apple. Option three is a portable battery charger with a four-in-one cable set. Again, all items will have the Crenshaw logo.”
Dawson claps as Finn runs out on the field. “Soda, music, and chargers are all excellent ideas and things IT people love. I don’t think you can go wrong with any of them. Which is the least expensive?”
“The wireless earbuds.”
“I saw the spreadsheet you sent me, but I haven’t had time to look it over. How is the budget?”
“Hard to say because we haven’t booked a venue or finalized activities and decorations, plus I’m not sure what the food truck situation is yet. I’m calling on those right after this. But everything in there right now is mere projections.”
He nods. “Let’s go with the earbuds then. That way, if something else costs more than expected, we have a little wiggle room. When do we need to order them?”
“Preferably today. For sure no later than Monday. We’re already pushing turnaround time.”
“Do you want me to order the earbuds? I said I’d help and so far all I’ve done is give input.”
Being a sounding board is more helpful than he realizes. But I also don’t want him to feel like I don’t appreciate him. “Yeah, that’d be great. I’ll send you the link to the company I found.”
“A hundred and fifty of them, right?”
Carter said employees and clients get the gifts, but at the price I found, we can swing one per person for sure, so anyone who brings a family member, they’ll also get a gift for attending the festival. “Yeah. I’ll text you later after I’vespoken to a few food trucks and let you know what I find out.”
“I’ll update the spreadsheet with the amount I spend and with the order number and arrival date.”
I playfully swat his arm. “If gaming doesn’t work out for you, event planning might be your backup plan.”
