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Even one day was too long.
He wanted to wake him again and tell him to latch the door behind him, but he didn’t really think Cason would follow them here. Downstairs, only a few of the early bird guests had found the breakfast room, which made it easy for Blake to load up two plates with eggs, bacon, and biscuits. He took the food upstairs, stuck the card into the door, and entered the room.
Tommy was awake, and that surprised Blake. He’d fully expected to find his son still snoring. He’d brought a backpack to the hotel with him, and he glanced over to Blake as he put one plate on the built-in desk in the room.
He handed the other one to Tommy. “Eat and let’s get going.”
“Dad.” He took the food in one hand and finished pulling down his sweatshirt with the other. “I—I didn’t know he was going to freak out like that.”
“It doesn’t matter,” Blake said. He pressed his lips into a line. “You didn’t do anything wrong.” He still didn’t know what Tommy had done at all, but as he’d said, it didn’t matter. “He’s the adult, Tommy. Not you. I don’t care what you did. He had no right to throw your mother’s things around. No right to shout at you. No right to make you fearful of him.”
Tommy nodded and hung his head. “He’s only done it one other time.”
Blake bit back the words he wanted to say. What good would it do to lecture his son about it? Of course he’d have liked to know back then, but as his momma would say, what was done was done.
“We’ll get all of your stuff to our house today,” he said. “You’ll be okay. We’ll move schools. People do it all the time.”
Tommy sniffled. “What about Mom?” He kept his head down. “Doesn’t she have some legal custody or something?”
“I know lawyers,” Blake said. He sat next to Tommy on the bed and took the paper plate from him. Their eyes met, and Blake offered him the most reassuring smile he could. “Tommy, your mother and I have already talked about having you come live with me for high school. We were just in the early stages of talking about it, but she wants what’s best for you too.”
His eyes widened at that news, and he asked, “Really?”
“Yeah,” Blake said. “Now, don’t worry. I’m going to take care of everything.” A pit had been in his stomach since his son’s text yesterday, and he wished with everything inside him that he’d texted Lauren on his way to Carter’s Cove. He’d almost done it, and then he hadn’t. If she knew he had Tommy that night, she’d insist he go out with them. Or she’d say they could reschedule. Blake hadn’t wanted to do either of those, and he’d ended up missing the date completely.
He stood and took a bite of his eggs. After managing to get down as much food as he could, he grabbed his baseball cap and put it on. “Ready?”
Tommy swallowed his last bite of biscuit. “Ready.” He shouldered his backpack, shoved his feet in his shoes, and the two of them left the safety of the hotel room.
Gage Sanders pushed away from the wall the moment the elevator opened and he saw Blake, and Blake’s relief knew no bounds. “Thank you,” he said to his friend, and he hugged Gage right there in the lobby.
“No problem,” Gage said. “I’ve got a private charter, and we’ll get your stuff over there and loaded, and you’ll be on the way.”
“Great,” Blake said. He swallowed, because he wasn’t sure if they could get everything of Tommy’s into his waiting SUV on the other side. He’d make it work, and Gage would go with him, Blake was sure. They could rent a car right at the ferry station, and he simply had to get off this island with his son.
Now.
So he focused on that, pushing everything else to the back of his mind, where he’d deal with it when it wasn’t the closest, hottest fire to him.
* * *
Several hours later,he slid into a booth opposite of Tommy. His back ached. His feet. His head. He’d swallowed four pills a half-hour ago, right before he and Tommy had left to come here for dinner.
His son looked at him, then looked down at his hands. “Thanks, Dad,” he mumbled.
“Hey.” Blake reached across the table as the waitress started to put water glasses down.
“Take a look at the menus,” she said. “I’ll be right back.”
Blake didn’t look at her at all. He covered his son’s hands with his. They were all about the same size, and Blake had to remind himself again that just because Tommy was tall didn’t mean he was a man. He wasn’t an adult, and he still very much needed Blake to protect him, care for him, and guide him.
“Hey,” he said again. “Look at me, son.”
Tommy raised his eyes to Blake, and he wore absolute misery there. “Don’t you even think about this for one more second.” He raised his eyebrows and hoped he looked stern and fatherly. “Okay? You’re my son, and I’m your dad, and I would do anything for you. Anything at all.”
A tear slipped out of his right eye, and Tommy pulled his hand away to wipe it. “I’ve just made such a mess of so many things this summer.”
Blake could agree with him, but he didn’t need to pile on the kid. “Yeah,” he said. He pulled his hands back to his side of the table and picked up his glass of water. “But we haven’t been to the hospital once.” He grinned at Tommy, who blinked in shock for a moment, and then burst out laughing.
