said.
“Aren’t you tired?” Gina asked, drawing the boy’s attention back to her. She dropped her purse to the floor and slipped out of her jacket. “I’m not…tired.”
“It looks like you two did a lot of work around here this weekend. I bet you were a big help. Can you show me what you two did?”
Jacoby nodded and stepped forward, but stopped when Justin straightened from the doorway. She handed her stuff to him. “Can you take these for me? And you know what I’d love right now? A cup of hot chocolate. Why don’t you make some for all of us?”
Understanding dawned in his eyes as Justin took her things. “Sure. Three hot chocolates coming up.”
After Justin headed back into the kitchen, Gina held out her hand. “Come on, Jacoby. It’s okay.”
His small fingers clamped on to hers. She rose and followed his lead into the living room. He showed her the bookshelves, and she listened as he explained about the shed outside the kitchen door where the tools were now locked up.
“Wow, you two worked hard today.” The light from the fireplace danced off the still-unadorned, but freshly washed window panes that filled the two walls of the living room. “You even washed the windows.”
“Yep.” Jacoby smiled. “I did the ones on the bottom and Justin did the tops. We did every window out here and the ones in the bedrooms, too.”
“Sounds like you made a good team.”
“I even got to use his tools,” Jacoby continued. “He showed me how to use a philly-head screwdriver.”
“Phillips head,” Justin said, joining them with a tray of steaming mugs that he placed on the counter separating the kitchen from the living room. “The hot chocolate needs to cool.”
“So what did you use the screwdriver on?” Gina asked.
“We fixed some loose handles in the kitchen,” Jacoby said. “And we put beds together, his and mine.”
“Oh, I heard you were getting a bed, can I see it?”
Jacoby didn’t do anything for a long moment, then he nodded and led Gina to the darkened room at one end of the hallway. A night-light shone in one corner.
“You can see better with the light on.” Justin’s arm brushed hers as he reached inside and flipped the switch.
An overhead light shone down on a twin-size bed made up with sheets, a pillow and one of the quilts Gina recognized from the living room. A small table sat next to the bed and a three-drawer dresser stood against one wall across from a closet.
“Wow, nice room. Nice bed, too.” Gina entered. “Can I sit on it? Will it hold me, you think?”
Jacoby giggled and followed her. “Of course it will.”
Gina sat and bounced a few times. “Looks like you did a good job, Jacoby. I think this bed could even hold your dad. If he could fit in it.”
“N-no, he’s too big. You should see his bed. It’s huge.”
Gina caught Jacoby’s hesitation. Was it because she called Justin his dad? She looked up and found Justin still in the doorway, again with one shoulder braced and arms crossed over his chest. He returned her stare, his face devoid of any emotion.
She turned her focus back to Jacoby. “Well, he’s a big guy.”
Jacoby nodded, moving closer to the bed. He rubbed at the soft material of the faded quilt, but his gaze darted around the room, not looking at her or Justin.
“Hey, I bet that hot chocolate is ready.” Gina looked at Justin again, but he’d already turned and walked away.
Silence filled the air, and she wondered what to say next. The room was a bit bare, but otherwise it seemed fine. She saw Jacoby’s pillowcase sticking out from beneath the bed. “Would you like to read a story while we drink our hot chocolate?”
Jacoby shook his head, his eyes focused on the invisible pattern he traced on the quilt.
“It might help make you sleepy.”
Her words triggered a yawn the boy couldn’t hide.
“And this bed feels like a perfect place to have sweet dreams.” She smoothed her hand over the pillow. “Don’t you even want to try it out?”
Jacoby hesitated and then shook his head.
“I’ll stay right here with you.”
He looked unconvinced. “You will?”
“Sure.” She rose and pulled back the blankets. “Why don’t you and your bear climb up here and see how it feels?”
Justin returned with the tray full of mugs as Gina tucked the quilt around Jacoby, who leaned on the pillow now propped against the simple wooden headboard.
“Three hot chocolates,” Justin said, stopping at the side