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Wren
The bed beside me was cold when I woke up.The level of disappointment I felt at that discovery staggered me. I didn’t allow it to level me. There was no time for that. Ezra would be awake any minute if he wasn’t already. There was breakfast to make, laundry to do, shopping for the week...no time for my broken heart.
I threw a sweatshirt over my pajamas, washed the sleep out of my eyes, and gave my teeth a quick scrub, then I peeked in Ezra’s room. He wasn’t in there, but Jenny’s door was still closed. My heart thumped.
Where is he?
I took the steps in a hurry and heard my son’s sweet voice coming from the kitchen. Another voice answered him back.
My heart thumped again at the sight of them.
Ezra was sitting on the kitchen counter, his hands over Callum’s as they mixed something in a big bowl. They were speaking quietly, laughing at some inside joke I couldn’t hear. Ez’s hair was crazy like it always was in the morning. Callum had swept his back in a bun.
I stood there on the periphery, allowing them this moment. How could I end it? I didn’t want to, that was for sure.
Callum’s blue gaze found me, and a slow smile broke out on his gorgeous face. Shadows may have loved him, butIadored him in the light.
“Mornin’, Mama.” His morning voice was gritty, and it hit me right between the legs.
Ezra found me next and he gasped. “Mornin’, Mama!”
I laughed, trailing into the kitchen. “Oh, are you Southern all of a sudden?”
His face scrunched. “What’s that?”
I shook my head, still smiling at my boo. “Nothing, baby buddy.” I peered into the bowl. “Hmmm...let me guess what you’re making. Is it snot sandwiches?”
“No!” he yelled.
“Oh, silly me.” I kissed Ezra’s forehead. “I bet this is...hmmm...pancake batter.”
He nodded so big, his head flew around his head in a cloud. “Cow-um’s making them. I’m helping him.”
I narrowed my eyes on the man himself. He smiled back at me as though we weren’t right in the middle of something very serious.
“I woke up to a little boy pokin’ my nose this morning. You were still out, Ez was wide awake, so I thought we’d hang out until you got up. He showed me the basement.”
Ezra giggled. “Cow-um was scared of the spiders.”
My eyes went wide. “You showed him the spiders? Oh boy.”
“I got scared, but I didn’t run,” Callum supplied. “Now, we’re makin’ pancakes, so go sit your fine ass down while the boys do the cookin’.”
“Don’t say ass,” I whispered.
Callum chuckled and went back to mixing. I didn’t know what to do. I needed space, to think, to sort out my feelings, but I couldn’t make a scene in front of my kid, and I already knew Callum wasn’t going to leave if I asked politely. I didn’twantto have a scene with Callum anyway. I wasn’t a scene making kind of girl.
So, I went into the living room and sat on my fine ass. What I didn’t do was relax. Any peace I’d gained from areallygood night of sleep had already been burned through—and it was only seven thirty in the morning.
When I was called to the table for breakfast, I hadn’t sorted through a single one of my thoughts. But Ezra was happy, and Callum...well, he seemed to be too. He grinned at me as I took my seat, and the crinkles around his eyes made my heart thump once again.
He liked this. Being here, hanging out with my boy, making breakfast. Crazy, silent, obsessive, strange Callum Rose was enjoying the hell out of being part of this ordinary, stunningly beautiful life I led.
Callum slipped his hand under my hair to cup my nape. “Sleep well?”
I sighed. “Yeah. Better than I expected.”
“Good.” He shoved a forkful of pancake into his mouth.
