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“Not a table this time. Mel is coming while I have this meeting.”
“Melly! We’re going to make waffles.”
He was going to turn into one. They always made waffles.
“Booberries?”
“Blueberries. Yes, peanut.” With the frequency with which Sarah requested them, he was surprised she hadn’t turned blue herself. After a stint of not wanting to eat, he would tolerate the current waffle trend.
A loud rumble filled the truck, rattling the windows and sparking Wes’ headache to the forefront.
He opened his left eye long enough to catch a glimpse of Colton's jacket as he loudly slid into the parking spot next to him.
With a disgruntled huff, Wes sat up in the driver's seat. He raked his fingers through his dark hair, fisting the strands at the back of his neck. If he could hit the right pulse point the feeling of being sick to his stomach would go away.
He squeezed his eyes shut tightly and pinched the bridge of his nose with his thumb and forefinger. Taking slow, deep breaths through his nose.
“You okay, Papa?”
“I'm in the car at the workshop, one of the guys just got here.” Wes raked his fingers through his hair again, pulling his rumpled black t-shirt into place. “I should go, I promise we'll have bedtime stories after bath. I'll be home.”
“Okay, Papa.”
“I love you, be good.”
“I love you-UU too. I promises.”
Disconnecting his phone he locked the car and followed a few steps behind his apprentice. He finally fell into step next to him and bumped the younger man on the shoulder. “Damnit, Colton. This is the fourth time this month you’ve been late.”
Colton playfully rubbed his arm. “I’m sorry, there was an accident this morning, and I was stuck.” Gritting his teeth, his green eyes sparkled. “Last time I wove in and out of traffic I got a scalding from the mother hens.”
He rolled his eyes. “It’s like you’ve got a curse on you or something.” He headed to the far cabinet for the allergy and migraine medicine he kept on hand.
“Tell me about it!” Turning, he showed Wes a sizable tear in the leather. “I have worked my ass off to pay for this jacket and a goddamn door frame takes it out.”
“Remind me never to have you pick out my lotto numbers.” Wes wiped his hands with the towel. “But I needed you this morning, man.” He tossed his phone and keys onto his desk. “I needed everything to be ready, so I could head over to the lumber yard." The projects were beginning to pile up, and he thought he'd have an apprentice by now.
“What’s so urgent?”
“I have deliveries and Sarah’s going with her uncle Graham and his mother for spring break.” He could work longer hours and not feel guilty about leaving Sarah with Melody or at Mia's for a play date.
“Oh, so you’re out of Easter bunny duties?”
“You know she’s going to insist.” His gran loved spending as much time with her great-granddaughter as possible. Over the years it was easier when she wasn’t the only adult that had to run after an energetic toddler.
“How are you going to explain you and Jess?”
Wes balked at his friend. “What about Jessica?” Wes wiped down the counter and sighed. He was trying to avoid any conversation about Jessica, especially with Colton. The whole situation was still too fresh for him to handle.
“Your once almost brother-in-law was raving about how well she fit in at the house,” Colton said, breaking the silence.
“I brought her by once.” Wes glared at him but didn't say anything more. Graham had a damn big mouth, and even though he was Kat’s brother, they had grown close over the years after she’d left Sarah and Wes. But that man always seemed to know how to push Wes' buttons.
“Oh, for fuck's sake," Wes finally spoke up. “Jess and I are still friends, she’s a great girl. She’s welcome to come up to the house if she wants to, Grams adores her. But showing her anything other than respect will be met with a knuckle sandwich.” His jaw tightened as he remembered all the hurtful things Jordan had said about Jess after they broke up not knowing that it was Wes that pulled the plug on a relationship suffering from failure to thrive.
Colton raised his hands in surrender. “Okay, okay. Sorry, man." He chuckled. “Jesus, fuck, dude. You really need to get laid soon.”
Wes clenched his jaw even tighter, trying not to show how much Colton's words affected him. He knew it had been almost a year since his break up with Jess, but he wasn't actively looking for someone else either. Not having the right person under you was worse than having none.
