AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Wait up, Roman,” I shout. “Here’s the grocery store.”
He reluctantly leaves his bike outside, and I grab a cart on the way in. He sulks as we make our way around the store, and I try to involve him, asking him to put things into the cart. I turn around to pass him some bacon, but he’s gone.
“Roman?” I shout anxiously, gaining a few strange looks from other people doing their shopping. Panic swirls in my stomach when he doesn’t answer. “Roman,” I shout again. “Where are you?”
I leave the cart and rush up and down the aisles, calling his name. Fear tracks up my spine and a wave of nausea washes over me when I’ve covered the whole store but not found him.
“Is everything okay?” a store clerk asks.
“I can’t find my son,” I tell her, my voice breaking.
“I’m sure he hasn’t gone far. I’ll help you look for him.”
“Thank you.”
I turn on my heels and breathe a sigh of relief when Lucas walks toward me with Roman by his side. I run toward them, dropping to my knees and pulling Roman into my arms.
“Where did you go? Don’teverdisappear like that again.” I lean back and search his eyes before pulling him back into my body. “I was so worried.”
“I’m sorry, Mommy,” he says, his voice wobbling with emotion.
“He was outside with his bike. He was worried someone was going to take it,” Lucas says from beside him.
I stand and put my hand on Lucas’s arm. My eyes flick to his, and I remove it quickly when sparks of electricity shoot through my hand. “Thank you for bringing him back inside. I should never have brought his bike. I didn’t think about leaving it outside.”
“Lucas put my bike in his truck so no one can take it.”
“I hope that was okay,” Lucas says, knocking lightly on Roman’s helmet.
“Thank you.” I sigh, thinking back to what I said to him earlier. “I think I owe you an apology.”
He frowns. “What for?”
“For earlier. I hope I didn’t come across as ungrateful. I just didn’t want you to feel like youhadto help me.”
“There’s no need to apologize. I was probably a little pushy with the paint.”
“You weren’t.” He smiles, and my stomach dips. I hadn’t allowed myself to notice before, too caught up in the disaster of my new place, but he’s gorgeous. His whole face lights up when he smiles, and his brown eyes sparkle.
“Did you manage to empty the truck?”
My cheeks flush pink. “Almost.”
He raises his eyebrows. “Almost? What’s left?”
“Just a couple of things.”
He smiles again and drops to his knees in front of Roman. With his eyes fixed on me, he whispers, but loud enough for me to hear, in Roman’s ear.
“Do you know what’s left in the truck?” Roman looks at him and nods. “Is it things that are too heavy for Mommy to lift?” He nods again. “Thought so.” He stands. “Why didn’t you just knock on my door and ask for some help?”
I look at the floor. “I didn’t want to trouble you.”
“What’s left in the truck?” he asks again.
I sigh. “The sofa, my bed, and my dresser. I was hoping the guy who’s coming to pick up the truck tomorrow would help.”
“I’llhelp.” He reaches into the pocket of his jeans and pulls out his phone. His fingers swipe across the screen and he puts the phone to his ear.
