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She kept a no-emotion look on her face.
She waited until her son was gone to pick up where we left off.
“This isn’t your place,” she said. “You rented it? For us? Why would you do that? Don’t you have a place to live?”
“Yes, Sage, I have a place. But it’s not really meant for a family.”
“Then why did you tell me to come here?”
“I made a promise to you. I offered. You called me.”
“Henry…”
I touched her arms. “Sage.”
“You did not have to do this for me.”
“I know that. Plus, it’s not just for you. It’s for Travis too. I assume you calling me means things might not be so settled where you are. Let him have some fun here for a bit. Let him take it all in. His own room. The balcony. The beach. The pool. The ocean. The quads… if it’s okay with you, of course.”
“It’s just a lot at once.”
“But you’re already here. And I’m here. Even if you packed up right now and left, I’m staying. I have the place for a while.”
“What does that mean? A while? What’s your plan?”
“Honestly? It depends on your plan. You didn’t say what your intentions were. Are you sleeping here just for tonight? Two days? A week? A month…?”
Sage opened her mouth. She sighed. “I haven’t gotten that far, Henry. I just had to get him out of there.”
“What happened?”
“He got into a fight. Well, he stood up to a bully. Except the bully tried to run off and Travis grabbed the kid and gave it to him.”
“Good for him.”
Sage wiggled free from my gasp. “No. Not good for him. Travis isn’t like that.”
“You said it was a bully.”
“I know that. But it’s… it’s what happened. He’s grieving. I am too. And it’s my fault. I haven’t touched the front room since… you know…”
I nodded. “Understood. Hard to let that go for good.”
“Yes. But I can’t make decisions for only myself, Henry. I have two people to think about at all times. That’s my responsibility. Okay? So when I show up and you’re acting like this host and then I see pictures around that aren’t of you…”
“Sage, I swear I didn’t think anything of it. I should have told you. I didn’t think it was a big deal. At least at first. I see that it was now. My place is small. Made for me. Okay? One bed. One couch. I figured something had to be going on for you to call. So I called up a realtor and looked around at a few places.”
“You looked at more than one place?”
“Yes,” I confessed. “I wanted to find something perfect for you and Travis. Make the most out of whatever time you have here.”
“Wow. I feel like the biggest burden in the world right now, Henry.”
“You’re not, honey. I promise, you’re not.” I moved toward her again. “I like this place. It’s a nice change for me too.”
“Travis thinks you own this place.”
“I can talk to him. Tell him the truth. And, hey, never say never. Maybe once we’re done staying here, I’ll just buy the place.”
