Page 7 of Minor Trouble
I sucked in a breath. Fuck, he was practically a grown-up. I opened my mouth to speak, but nothing came out.
“Noah, your dad’s here to take you Cali Cross.” Carol filled the silence. “Like we talked about?”
Noah’s gaze flicked to me, then back to Carol. He gave her the briefest of nods, his face impassive.
I didn’t know whether I should hug him, shake his hand, slap him on the back or what. He would have been around nine years old when I last saw him, and such a lot had changed in that time. Instead of overthinking it, I stood up and jumped in with both feet.
“We should probably get going, it’s a long drive,” I said, sounding a lot more confident than I felt. “Carol, Maria, thank you for everything.” I shook hands with both of them.
“Seth, call me if you need to,” said Carol. “Any time. I mean it.”
I nodded. “Will do.” Placing a hand on Noah’s shoulder, I steered him towards the door and out to Maddox’s truck.
He wriggled away from me and got into the passenger seat, still not saying a single word.
It was going to be one hell of a long drive back to Cali Cross.
For the first hour, I tried to talk to Noah. I asked him about school, sports, music, computer games. I asked him about his friends. I asked him about his favorite food. Each question was met with a grunt or a shrug. I started to tell him about Cali Cross until he dove into his rucksack, pulled out his phone, plugged his earphones into it then stuffed them in his ears.
Perhaps it was too much too soon.
He’d lost his mother a little over a week ago, whereas I’d lost her years before.
We were dealing with our grief in totally different ways.
Maybe I had to leave him alone until he was ready to talk, to bond, to get to know me.
I glanced over at Noah, his eyes closed, nodding his head in time to whatever he was listening to. A smile tugged at the corner of my mouth. He looked calm, content even. Maybe music was his thing.
Knowing all of this was going to take time, I turned on the radio, leaving the volume on low so I had something to keep me company while I drove. Music might just have been my thing too.
After another three hours of driving, my eyes were heavy, the emotional and physical toll of the day beginning to take their toll. A sullen Noah refusing to speak to me in the passenger seat wasn’t helping either. I’d tried again on a couple of occasions when he’d pulled his earphones out, but nothing. Brick walls were more forthcoming.
I felt my eyelids droop, and in response, the car swerved a little to the right into the path of any oncoming traffic, other vehicles honking their horns as a warning.
“What the fuck?” Noah yelled, the first words he’d spoken since we left Maria’s. He grabbed the steering wheel and pulled it, so we were back in the correct lane.
The action shook me. Hannah had just been killed in a road traffic accident, and I’d almost made him an orphan with my stupidity.
“Shit, I’m so sorry.” Keeping my eyes firmly on the road, I reached over to try and squeeze Noah’s arm, but he squirmed out of my way. “I’ve been up since five this morning, driving for almost ten hours. I didn’t think. We’ll stop at the next motel and get some rest. There’s no rush to get back to Cali Cross.”
Noah grunted, which I took as agreement.
The next rest stop came in ten minutes, and I pulled Maddox’s truck into the parking lot. We got out and went to the motel reception. They had a twin room, and I charged it to my credit card. I’d have to work some overtime to pay it off, but getting some sleep was more important than any debt.
“Do you want some food?” I gestured to the McDonald’s in the lot.
He nodded. At some point, he really was going to have to speak to me, even if it was to tell me he wanted a Big Mac. We grabbed some burgers, fries, and sodas. Even though Noah had spoken to place his order, after that he’d shut down again, eating in silence. Despite wanting that to change with every fiber of my being, I didn’t want to push him. Didn’t want him to hate me before we’d even started.
After we’d eaten, we went to our room. I hadn’t intended on staying away overnight, but needs dictated it. While Noah used the bathroom, I took the opportunity to update Maddox on what was going on.
Seth: Hey, sorry Maddox, I won’t be back until the morning.
Maddox: Everything okay? What happened?
Seth: Stupid to think I could drive for twelve hours in one day.
Maddox: Yeah, coulda told you that. How’s Noah doing?
