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I wonder why? As much as I want to ask, I won’t. I want her to keep talking. Going into why she doesn’t attend school-related functions with her son might run her off the phone. The last thing I want is to stop talking to her. I want her to talk to me as long as I can keep her talking.
“No worries. I get it. What’s the next thing you had to tell me?”
“Shay.”
“Oh, God,” I groan. It’s worse than her mother.
“I promise, this one will be painless.”
I hope so. Shay isn’t my biggest fan. The last time I saw her, after the breakup, she warned me to stay the hell away from her sister. She told me I was the scum of the earth and she’d back over me a hundred times with her car if I got close to her again. Trust me, the way she got all up in my face, I believed her.
“Then lay it on me.”
“I haven’t told Jacob yet, because I don’t want to see his little face fall. It looks like Shay won’t be able to go to the monster truck rally. I would go, but I don’t want to take advantage of my boss’s generosity. I think my mother will be able to fill in for her. If not, you and Jackson can still have the tickets to go.”
I’m willing to put off meeting her mother for as long as I can. Two hours with her mother, with no buffers but the boys, who won’t be paying us any attention, underneath her glare? I don’t want it. Not taking the chance. And why should Jacob lose the chance to attend something I know he wants to attend so much? That wouldn’t be fair.
“You know I’m a fairly responsible adult. I can handle taking two boys to a monster truck rally. I was built for this stuff. No need to put your mother out with the mud and the noise. Loud, boisterous guys, no place for a church-going, God-fearing woman like your mother. Why would you want to do this to the boys and her?”
“And you.”
“Exactly! Come on, have some faith in me, Lacey. I’ll take ‘em.” I know the real reason Jacob would be missing out if he’s not accompanied by Shay or her mother. I can tell they’ve become a tightly packed unit, protecting Lacey and Jacob.
“You’re asking for a lot, Landon.”
“I know.” I do know. “I’ll take care of him. I'll take care of him exactly the same as I do Jackson. Absolutely not an ounce of difference. I swear.”
“Okay,” she says, a hitch in her voice.
“Don’t do that, Lace.”
“Do what?”
“Don’t worry. I let you down once before, but never again. You’re both safe with me.”
“It’s hard to stop when you’ve spent so much time doing exactly that. He means everything to me.”
“I know he does. He’s a great kid. I can see why Jackson is stuck to him like glue.”
“Thank you.”
“No. Thank you.”
