Shock - Marie Johnston Page 0,55
arranged in two different rows tucked into a wooden frame. People mill around us. The store isn’t busy for a Sunday and we blend with the rest of the shoppers. We’re just a normal couple, out grabbing a few things for a kid’s bedroom. We’re not pretending, we’re not trying out a real date, and we’re not out in nature away from everyone and their prying eyes.
It’s nice. This is the normalcy I craved when I moved to Sunnyville.
I put my hands on my hips. “It has a fire engine on it. Are you going to allow that?”
“Cops and firemen get all the glory. Besides, I lost the battle when Cass introduced him to Paw Patrol. I think it was a calculated maneuver.”
“So we have a place for toys, a bed, and a dresser picked out.” Two dressers, but the room isn’t that big and Jayden’s clothes are pretty small. He didn’t have much at Ford’s place, but our basket is full of shorts, shirts, and bib sets. We even have a little plastic plate and silverware combo with an array of sippy and regular cups. All Jayden approved. “The big question is, how are you going to get it home?”
Ford hangs onto Jayden’s feet and shrugs. “I’ll have to see if they deliver.”
Something Karoline said the night we dined together comes back to me. “Doesn’t Ryan have an old pickup from high school?”
“I think so.”
“Why don’t you call him?”
Ford stares at me. Jayden wiggles on his wide shoulders, breaking the trance. “I can’t call him out of the blue just to ask to use his pickup.”
“It’d be good if you reached out for once.”
“I’m doing that cookout. We’re doing that cookout.”
I level him with a hard stare. “Families do things for each other.” He opens his mouth to argue and I talk over him. “Not just you doing stuff for them. They want to be a part of your life. Right now, your life needs a pickup.”
He lifts Jayden down. “I’m sure delivery is fine.”
“Call him, Ford.” He needs people on his side. It’s been him and his mom for so long. Karoline’s been trying to reach out and according to her, so has Ryan. The cookout next weekend is a nice step forward, but Ford needs to learn that he has people around him for more than just small talk.
He scowls at me, but takes his phone out of his pocket.
“Come here.” I hold my hand out to Jayden and we wander into the next aisle. Ford’s voice drifts toward us, but I can’t make out the words.
I murmur with Jayden, keeping my voice down, marveling over how I’m wandering around a store with my boyfriend and a kid. It’s far from where I was supposed to be in life right now, but this time around it’s my journey. My life isn’t planned in infinite detail, scheduled to optimize every minute.
My life has changed. Somedays, I still don’t know what I want to be when I grow up. And times like this, when I can go where I want with whom I want, I don’t care.
Ford rounds the aisle, full scowl in place. “He’s happy to help and will be right here.”
“He sounded actually happy to help?”
His scowl turns playful. “After he got over his shock, yes. He’s bringing his girls.”
I ruffle Jayden’s hair. “You get to see your cousins, little dude.” Despite Ford’s words, his shoulders are tight and his hands are stuffed into his pockets. “It’ll be fine. Ryan seemed really happy to see you at the wedding.”
His jaw works and he glances around. We’re alone in the aisle. “I just don’t want this day to get ruined. I’m having a good time.”
Asking for help when you’re always the one coming to the rescue might be a hard change, but there’s more here. I think back on the conversations we’ve had about Karoline and Ryan and what it was like growing up with them. I’ve heard the stories, I’ve heard his frustration with the two siblings, but I get now what the issue is. Both kids are older than him and he was only nine when his mom remarried. “You looked up to him.”
He lifts a shoulder. “We were just kids.”
I grab his hand and lower my voice. “Do this for yourself. And for Jayden. He gets to have more family than just Cass’s.”
“I don’t know how many cousins go to Lake Tahoe.”
“Both of my parents are only kids. I have no cousins, but Lake Tahoe