AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Nor did she have any right to feel what she was for the man that was standing in front of her that broke her heart.
3
Well Adjusted
“How did it go?” his mother asked him when he walked into her office at the marina.
He was trying not to bolt out the door and run back to Massachusetts. He swore he’d never come back here, but as he’d said to Zara, the stupidity of youth. Or stupid comments by youths. Both were the same.
“Better than I thought,” he admitted.
“Max didn’t cry?” his mother asked.
“Oh, he cried but not as hard as he did yesterday when I left him with you. He warmed up to Zara fast. She was holding him for about ten minutes while we talked about the routines there. Then she set him down with three other kids in the room. He was interested in that more than me and the toys the other ones had.”
“That’s good. You said he sees other kids daily though, so he must like it.”
He’d told his mother how Dee Ropeter watched Max for him while he worked. Dee’s husband, Colin, worked remotely like him, but his wife had been a stay-at-home mother. Colin had an office over their garage and the kids didn’t bother him in the house. Having Max there saved him and they only lived a few miles away.
He’d bought his house a couple of years ago to be close to Colin. Before that he’d been living in Boston and paying through the nose. He thought for sure he’d end up in the office more than he was.
Little by little he’d been working on more projects with Colin. They did the same job for the most part, developing medical software and they joked it’d be easier if they were together. A house had gone up for sale close by and he took a chance.
He’d been going to Colin’s a few times a month for years to work when need be. Once Max entered his life, it seemed a no brainier when Dee offered to do it and they started with him staying there working with Colin and then slowly leaving until Max wasn’t aware his father wasn’t around.
All he could hope was that his son wasn’t too traumatized by the first two months of his life. Ren had been doing everything possible to make the last four more stable.
“He does. But they are older. This is the first since he’s been with me that he’s been around younger kids.”
“Ren, at a few months old Max wouldn’t remember much at all. He seems very well adjusted considering he was just handed over to you one day.”
He still hadn’t told his mother everything. There wasn’t time. He’d made sure Max was fine, then drove to his rented house and spent a few hours putting their clothes away and getting groceries. He’d gone out and bought a crib and he’d sell it to someone locally when he left or even donate it.
All he cared about was that his son was comfortable while he was here.
“I suppose you’re right,” he said. “I’ve spent the past four months figuring this all out. It’s not like I had time to prepare.”
“Are you going to tell me more about Max’s mother sometime?” his mother asked.
“Sometime,” he said. “We have too much work to do now.”
His mother sighed. “Fine. I’ve gone through Dad’s desk. I’ve been doing the books for years. You know that. Everything is in order.” There was a knock at the door and then it opened. “Hi, Mitch. This is my son, Ren. Mitch has been running things in the marina for me since your father passed.”
Ren moved forward and shook hands with the older man. “Nice to meet you.”
“Sorry about your father,” Mitch said.
“Thanks,” he said. What was he supposed to say? Obviously the guy didn’t know he hadn’t spoken to his father in years.
“I’m sorry to bother you, Tess, but I’ve got the fuel delivery guy here and since he knew Ryan passed he’s not filling anything until he talks to you.”
His mother rolled her eyes. “I don’t understand why. You’ve been ordering fuel and signing for it for years just like Ryan did.”
“No clue. Once you speak with him then I’m sure he’ll be fine in the future.”
“Excuse me, Ren. I’ll be back in a few minutes.”
His mother walked out and he went to his father’s office next door. He figured he might as well stick the hot needle in his eye now and get it over with.
