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“I would love to, Sage.”
He held his fist over the back seat to Adam, and the boy bumped his knuckles, grinning.
19
Sage didn’t know how things had progressed so quickly.
Two days ago, they’d decided that Brian was going to move in with them, to help protect them. That night he’d crossed to his apartment, packed a suitcase and moved in. There was plenty of room in the closet for his things, and within a few hours he’d unpacked and settled in.
They cooked up the fish they’d bought that day and had a wonderful dinner. Then they’d watched some TV, played with the dog, and headed to bed to get ready for the next morning. Adam had school, so Brian volunteered to drive him and pick him up during the day. He’d spoken to his boss Parker about the situation, and Parker had agreed that he needed to be there. The new case Brian had been given needed to be researched and he could do that from anywhere.
Going to bed that night was a little surreal. It had been years since Sage had been part of a couple, and making room for him in her life and her bed was a little discomfiting. Once he’d pulled her into his strong arms, though, all those concerns drifted away. They made love quietly, conscious that there were young ears just across the hallway. It was late enough that he was asleep, though. Probably.
When they were done, they cuddled. “I can’t believe he said that today,” she whispered.
“Well, I hate to tell you, but he’s going to be noticing girls soon, too.”
She groaned but nodded slightly against his arm. “He reminded me to buy condoms before our date the other night. Smart-mouthed kid,” she grumbled, but Brian just laughed.
They slept together surprisingly easy. Brian was a warm heater and several times through the night he’d pulled her against him. It was a little strange bumping into his leg stumps occasionally, because they hit in different places, but by night three it was like they’d always slept together. In the mornings she retrieved his sleeves and liners from the bathroom, where their drying pegs were on the counter, and gave them to him. She got used to the shower chair and the shower legs propped outside the glass doors, and they’d found a fun, new way to use the shower chair that made them both happy.
Brian fit into their little family like he was meant to be there, and it scared her to death. Once Tim did whatever he was going to do, she had to prepare herself for Brian moving out. The guy was a handsome bachelor, and any woman would want him, even with the disability. There was no way he wanted to take on their crazy little family.
Until then, though, she decided she was going to enjoy the situation. And him.
When she got approval from the doctor to go back to work part-time, things got a little more interesting. While she was on light duty, she was assigned to substation nineteen, off Sullivant Avenue, researching missing persons cases. It was only a mile from Brian’s office, so after they dropped Adam off at school, Brian dropped her off at the station. Brian would leave work a little early to pick Adam up, and she would Uber home.
They would cook dinner together, laughing and playing, and Adam would egg them on. It was obvious from the way he interacted with Brian that he loved him being there. They talked constantly, and when Brian brought one of his game systems over, they took over the living room and would battle online for hours.
It was surreal to Sage. Actually, it was like a dream. They got along together so well…
Sage watched for Tim constantly, but she never saw him. There were no more strange gifts, and no word out of his family on social media. Sage had her mother watch Tim’s socials, but so far, he’d been pretty quiet on there, as well.
Sage let herself think that maybe he’d moved up here for some other reason, and not to bedevil them.
Then the shoe dropped.
It started with a random email from the admissions office at OSU. They were looking forward to their meeting, next Wednesday. Sage scanned her planner and her phone, but she hadn’t made note of any meeting. When she called the office, they said that Mr. Roe had set up a meeting weeks ago.
“I need to speak to a manager. Someone in charge,” she said softly, anger surging through her.
Randall Parks, deputy director of academic services, eventually answered the line.
“Can I help you, Ms. Harrison?”
“Yes, you can. I just received notification that Mr. Roe set up a meeting this week. I assume to talk about Adam’s coursework.”
“That is correct,” he said, and she could hear the excitement in his voice. “Adam is an exceptional young man, and we look forward to have him be a part of the student body.”
“Mr. Parks,” Sage said softly, “Mr. Roe does not have custody of Adam. I do. Mr. Roe does not even have visitation, because he is so far behind on child support payments. I sincerely hope you haven’t allowed Mr. Roe access to Adam’s personal information.”
Silence rang on the other end of the line, and her stomach sank.
“M-Ms. Harrison, I assure you we would never want to endanger any of our students, but when we contacted him, he did not explain your situation properly.”
“Hold on,” she snapped. “You contacted him?”
“Y-yes, ma’am. We understood it was a divorce situation, but somewhere our wires got crossed. We must have contacted him to welcome your son to the campus and set up a tour.”
