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Right. No polo shirt meant he got to wear what he liked, and he loved that shirt. I gingerly stepped over the white splatter. A large pool continued to drip off the table. I sat in a chair on the other side of the table. “It’s so upsetting when I feel great and I’m wearing my favorite things and then I spill on them.”
Grayson’s cries quieted.
Success. Sometimes, just having someone understand was half the battle. “And then I’m worried I won’t get the same mood lift even after I wash everything.”
His head moved against his arm with his nod.
Cody gave me a grateful smile, then his jaw tightened. “His grandpa called, asking if he was getting excited for August.”
The big move. Sympathy welled inside me, directed at the distraught kid.
The meltdown wasn’t about the clothes or the milk. A clock was ticking down to more change in his life. He couldn’t verbalize it, but I felt what he was feeling. When I noticed Mom adjusting her routine, I’d board an emotional roller coaster, and it didn’t take much. Sometimes, she packed a bag for me like it was a fun activity and our little secret, then put it in the closet to look like we hadn’t touched it. Or we’d take a drive, but it wasn’t to the ocean or a park. She was really looking at open rentals. She never said she was preparing to leave a guy, but I knew the signs.
Grayson knew this new world he felt safe in was coming to an end, and my heart went out to him. I couldn’t help with his dad’s decision to send them to their grandparents, but I could help with the spilled milk.
“Can we go find another shirt?” I asked Grayson. “I can throw that one in the wash.”
“It’s going to rain today,” he moaned.
“I know. Kali was worried we might have to skip dance lessons too.” I wasn’t going to ask Cody in front of Grayson if we could practice inside. If the answer was no, there’d be another breakdown.
“We can’t dance today?” Ivy called from the living room.
I didn’t control the weather, but the sense I let all the kids down beat in my veins. I should’ve thought of alternate plans in case of bad weather.
“We’ll see,” Cody said. He rubbed the spot between his brows. “I have a call this afternoon. An important one.”
So no indoor practice. I shouldn’t have said anything to Kali. She was going to be devastated. I doubted the owners of the theater would let a stranger and a bunch of kids take over.
Frustration that I had to keep making do and falling short swept through me like the Santa Ana winds. One day, I’d have control of my life. One day, I could make decisions about what I did and where.
Today was not that day.
Cody scrubbed his face and checked his watch. “I’ve got a meeting in a few minutes. You good, bud?”
Grayson nodded and pulled at his wet shirt. “Yeah. But what if it rains?”
I glanced at the back door. Where light usually shone through, the clouds in the window were a dull gray. “Maybe we should get some practice in this morning. Kali might be able to join us, and I’ll call Britta and Bridger’s aunt to see if they can come out early.”
Just as I said that, loud raindrops splattered the windows. Damn. I traded worried gazes with Cody.
“We might have to figure out a rainy-day plan.”
Grayson drew in a shuddering breath. “What about our performance?”
Poor guy. All his feelings were getting poured into today’s missed practice. I’d met professional dancers who didn’t stress as much about a few canceled sessions. “We can pull it off.”
Ivy appeared at the opening between the living room and dining room. She held her iPad screen out. “It’s supposed to rain all week.”
Shit sticks.
Grayson’s breathing quickened. He was near sobbing again. He could sense the impending change, and enduring a shift in the schedule today, or all week, wasn’t helping.
Cody ducked his head to catch my eye. “What about using the house?”
My rising hope crashed when I recalled his upcoming meeting. “You’re in meetings all day?”
“I should be done by four. Can you sneak in a late practice?”
