Page 78 of The Parkers' Handsome Holiday
Nick walked around the hood of the car and opened the back door. Asher was inside, and he ushered him out and told him to go right to his dad. Asher waved at me as he ran past, but I didn’t wave back. I couldn’t. The first tear had escaped.
Nick opened the passenger door for me. “Come on, Lina. Let’s get you out of the cold and somewhere far from here.”
“Thank you,” I whispered.
31
CALLUM
I closed and locked the front door after Asher came inside. He took off his boots and looked up at me, his eyes full of confusion. “Dad?”
“Yeah, kiddo?”
“Where is Lina going?”
I dropped to a crouch in front of him and put my hand on his shoulder. “I’m not sure, Ash. She needed to go away for a while and have her own space to figure things out. It’s been hard for her.”
“Is she coming back?” he asked.
“I don’t know.”
He frowned. “Is she sad?”
I looked down. “Yes.”
“Why?”
I couldn’t think of a single thing I could say to help Asher make sense of all this. I never should have put him in this position in the first place. Lina was right. All I’d been thinking about was myself and what I wanted. Not what she needed or deserved, and not what was best for Asher. I had let everyone down.
“Dad?” Asher prompted.
“I don’t know, Ash. I’m sorry. I wish I had a better answer for you.”
Asher bit his lip. “Are you okay?”
I forced a smile and nodded. “Yes, I’m okay. Everything will be okay. Did you have a good time at Grandpa’s?”
Asher nodded. “Yes. We watched cartoons, and played cards, and made tacos, and next time, Grandpa says he’ll show me how to make spaghetti.”
“Sounds delicious.”
“It was.” Asher grinned, and his smile was interrupted by a long, drawn out yawn. He rubbed at his eyes with his little fists.
I ruffled his hair. “Come on, Ash. Let’s get you ready for bed. It’s that time.”
Asher took my hand, and the two of us made our way up the stairs. He told me more about his time at my dad’s house. He even tried to talk to me while brushing his teeth, and he got toothpaste all over his cheeks and halfway down the handle of his toothbrush. When he was done, he had a hot bath. I sat on the tub as he splashed in the bubbles, and then I dried him off.
Asher got into his pajamas and climbed up into bed. I tucked his blankets in around him, and we played the usual game of me tucking him in too tightly and him squirming to get free. After plenty of giggling, I tucked him in how he liked and kissed his head.
“Have a good sleep, kiddo.”
“Love you, Dad.”
“I love you too.”
“Hey, Dad?”
I caught myself on his doorframe and turned back. “Yeah, kiddo?”
