AllFreeNovel
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Harrison squeals, dancing around the driveway like a little elf high on too many cookies, singing, “I’m going on a ride! I’m going on a ride!”
Priest chortles from his lawn chair, and I can’t hide my own smile. I’m not normally a kid guy, but this kid is the shit.
Throwing my leg over the seat of my motorcycle, Cora lifts Harrison into her arms and hands the wiggling child over to me. He’s a tiny little thing, and I easily settle him in front of me, his body nestled securely between my arms. I give him a few quick directions on how to use his legs to squeeze around the gas tank to keep his balance. He laughs when he reaches his little arms out toward the handlebars, but falls short.
I flick the ignition, and his happy laughs are nearly louder than the engine beneath us.
“When we move, I want you to hold on tight with your legs and lean back against me.”
“Okay, Mr. Jonas.” He grips the sides of my jeans. “Let’s go!”
“Please be careful,” Cora urges, looking ready to pass out.
“He’s safe with me,” I promise.
Balancing myself, I pop the kickstand, taking all the weight of the motorcycle on myself. We move forward carefully until I reach the end of the driveway.
“Remember what I told you,” I say, my voice raised over the rumble of the engine. Harrison just smiles and nods in reply. “Okay, little man. Here we go.”
I take one last glance over at Cora, standing there with her arms wrapped around her body in the driveway. She mouths the words, “be careful,” and I tip my chin.
I push forward, twisting the throttle and giving the engine a little gas. We glide onto the street at a glacial pace, allowing Harrison to adjust to the feel. It’s not until we get out of Cora’s sight that I open it up a little more. Harrison cheers, and I can’t contain my own laughter at his genuine happiness. He squirms, but I wrap my left hand around him, securing his frame to my front. It’s not easy to drive like this, but I value my life, and Cora would kill me if I let anything happen to this guy.
We make it around one block, and then another. And then I decide to take us around a few more times before returning to Cora’s parents’ house. As I back us in and kill the engine, Harrison is all laughs and smiles.
“What did you think?” I ask him.
“I want to go again!”
“I bet you do, buddy.”
“Mr. Jonas, do you like my momma?” Before I can reply, he adds, “Because I think she likes you a whole lot.”
Cora approaches and plucks him off the bike, listening to him jabber away, giving me a moment to allow the heaviness of his question to settle in.
I do like her, little man. I like her a whole fucking lot.
CORA
“Over there,”Harrison cries, tugging on my hand and pointing toward a game booth where kids can fish in a kiddie pool and bring up little plastic fish to win a prize. “Can I play?”
Seeing TK watching my son with a smile on his face causes a warm feeling to build inside my chest. A feeling I’ve been growing accustomed to the past few days.
“Come on, little man.” Reaching down, he takes Harrison’s free hand. “Let’s win your momma a stuffed animal.”
I release Harrison, and the pair of them run toward the game booth like a pair of kids, despite the fact that one of them is nearly thirty years old.
I’ve never given a lot of thought to Harrison not having a father in his life. He’s had my father, and men don’t get much better than him. But my father isn’t his, and as much as my dad has filled a critical role for my son, Harrison has always been aware that he doesn’t have an actual dad.
I wrap my arms around myself and smile as TK and Harrison each grab a pole, waving at me before dipping the giant hooks into the water.
“Cora?”
Surprised to hear my name, I turn to see Kenny Slade approaching. As soon as he’s in front of me, he pulls me in for an unexpected hug.
“Kenny!” I give him a quick pat on the back before stepping away. “It’s been forever. How are you?”
“Almost seven years. And I’ve been good. I’ve moved around a lot, and even spent some time over in Africa, helping out with World Vision. Doing the whole humanitarian thing, ya know? Building homes and schools and stuff.”
