“What do you want to do today, buddy?” I asked him as I finished mopping up the egg yolk off my plate with some toast.
He shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe go to the library?”
I thought for a moment. It seemed like a good idea, but…. “Okay, we can go, but only to read there. We need to take the books we have now back, too. Just in case I get this job and we move.” Then, before he could ask, I added, “And we get a new library card for you in the new town, okay?”
“Oh, can we go to the gently used store to look for books?” His eyes lit up.
“Yes, we can. Let’s go to the library to drop off the stuff we have and then go to the secondhand store.”
He called it “gently used store” because one time when we visited, he’d asked what those words he kept seeing on signs inside the store spelled. It was adorable.
I could use ten bucks to get him some new books. And maybe some T-shirts and jeans if I could find some, um, gently used ones. He was growing like a weed.
“I think I might need new shoes, Daddy,” he said suddenly.
“Really? Do the ones you have now pinch?”
His nose wrinkled a little as he thought about it. “Uh-huh, kind of.”
Not “kinda” but “kind of.” I hid my grin.
“Okay. We can look for shoes, too.”
We got ready and then left to go into town. As much as I hated using the truck because gas was expensive, the library was too far for us to walk there.
I carried an armful of books while Tony skip-hopped ahead, humming a tune to himself. I realized it was the country song that had played on the radio while driving to the ranch yesterday.
“No running,” I reminded him as we went inside. “I’ll be right with you after I return these, okay?”
“Okay, Daddy!” Then he speed-marched to the children’s section.
I shook my head fondly and went to the desk.
“He’s such a joy,” Mrs. Reba, the children’s librarian said as she watched him go.
“He really is.” Then I gestured at the pile. “Could you double-check that these are all the books we had? We might be moving soon.”
“Oh, absolutely. Just a second.”
We ended up spending a couple of hours in the library. A girl who looked around six years old came in with her mom, and they asked if she could read to Tony. The kids sat on some beanbagchairs, and she read a book about friendship and rainbows and something. It was nice to sit on the sidelines and scroll on my phone while the girl got some reading practice in, and Tony got to meet a new person.
The mom didn’t try to make small talk, which I appreciated a lot. I wasn’t a friendly looking guy on a good day, and while this wasn’t a bad day yet, I was a bit anxious.
After the library, we went to the “gently used store” and by some luck, I found a bunch of clothes for Tony while he looked at the books nearby. I even managed to get a few pairs of shoes that would last him a while. It all seemed too damn good to be true, if I was honest. Sure, it was still a bit of a splurge especially including his books, but I was riding a high even after the purchases.
By lunchtime, we had decided to go to the diner again. Mostly because milkshakes. But also because it was our favorite.
We sat there, chatting about the day so far, when my phone rang.
It was a number I didn’t recognize, but job-hunting meant answering those sometimes, so I did.
“Trevino.”
“Hey, Mr. Trevino, this is Crew Harrington.”
My heart jumped into my throat. Luckily Tony was coloring and eating his fries with a single-minded concentration.
“Oh, hi,” I said dumbly.
