Page 53 of By The Book
“Mom, are you dating him?”
Tommy had hung out with his new friends a lot this week and even attended a birthday party for one of the kids, but Claire knew she couldn’t hide anything from him, especially when they all lived in such close quarters. “We’re friends, Tommy. That hasn’t changed.”
“But he likes you.”
“What?”
Tommy crossed his arms over his chest and looked very much like his father when he stared at her.
“Denz told me he likes you but you needed more than a friend and he wasn’t that guy.”
“When was this?” she asked, lowering her bag to the couch to give herself something to focus on instead of the jab of unease currently pummeling her stomach.
“One day when we were driving to the gym.”
“What else did he say?”
“He said he wasn’t going to tell you how he felt because he would be leaving soon, but I heard you tell Marsali you weren’t going to work as much this week. Is it so you can go out with him?”
Oh, how she hated old houses and thin walls. “Tommy, Denz and I arefriends, but… Yes, we’ve decided to hang out together while he’s in town. It’s nothing serious and nothing you need to worry about.”
“So you don’t like him?”
That again? “I like himas a friend. Otherwise I wouldn’t want to spend time with him. But it’s not serious, because like you said, Denz will be leaving and… It’s like your new friends at the gym. You said there are girls in the weightlifting group, and you all hang out together on the beach. Denz and I are spending time together so we don’t have to do things alone, and having fun. That’s all.”
“I just don’t want you to get hurt, Mom.”
Her heart pinched at his grown-up words, and she moved toward him, wrapping him in a hug, amazed as always when he lowered his head atop hers. When had her little boy gotten so big? “Thank you for watching out for me.” She squeezed him. “You know, I’ve been thinking. I may have overreacted when I added a full month to your punishment.” She leaned her head back to look at him. “So I’m going to let you off with time served. You can have it back so long as you stay out of trouble.”
“Really?”
“When we get back,” she quickly added. “You can’t take it on the boat and you can’t stay home to play it.”
“Thanks, Mom. And I’ll stay out of trouble. I promise.”
Claire laughed when he picked her up off her feet and then set her down again. “Just be the young man I know you can be.”
“Mom?”
“Yeah?”
“It’s okay if you like Denz. I mean, he seems nice.”
“That’s…surprising.”
Tommy shrugged. “I’ve just been thinking, is all. My friend Madison’s mom died six months ago, and she said her dad is already engaged.”
“Oh.”
“Yeah. I get you being lonely, though. Dad was gone almost two years before he was killed, so even though it’s only been a year, it probably feels like more to you. I didn’t think about that before.”
Claire stared into Tommy’s gaze and patted his cheek. “And you don’t need to think about it now. Stop worrying about me and let’s go have some fun, okay?”
“Okay.”
She told Tommy to get the cooler she’d packed for them and gathered up her bag once more.
She wasn’t sure whether she should be thankful for Madison’s dad and his engagement, but she was thankful it had made Tommy think beyond himself. Coming to Carolina Cove had been good for him, and she prayed it would be an easy transition once they lived here full-time and he started school. It certainly seemed this set of friends was better for him than the ones back in Virginia.
