Page 48 of The Hook Up
“I’m ready!” Miriam shouted as she came hurrying up the walk with her belly round under a maternity baseball jersey. “Sorry, I had to pee again.”
“Thanks for sharing.” Jason picked up the toolbox again and rested the other hand in the small of his wife’s back. He gave her a fond smile as he guided her toward the car and got her settled before shoving the toolbox in the hatchback. Ellie turned to follow, unconsciously reaching down to grab Henry’s hand. But he was two steps behind her and still looking up at Ty.
“Can I sit next to him?” Henry asked her, pointing a chubby finger up at Ty.
Ellie held her breath, hoping this wasn’t weird for him. He didn’t look alarmed, but it was tough to know what he was thinking.
“How come, baby?” she asked Henry.
“He’s my friend and we work together now,” Henry reported.
Ty, bless his heart, didn’t miss a beat. “That’s right,” he said, resting a hand on Henry’s shoulder. “You did a great job helping out at the studio. And it’s great you’ve been practicing the lion face.”
“Thanks!” Henry called, reaching up to grab Ty’s hand as they started toward the car. “Do you have my paycheck?”
Ty froze. “Paycheck?”
“Yeah. When we were at your office, you said maybe I could be on the payroll and help with taxes and stuff.”
“Oh.” Ty frowned and shot Ellie a desperate look. “I, uh…”
“That was just a joke, sweetie,” Ellie said, stepping in to rescue Ty. She steered her son to the car and opened the back door for him. Henry scrambled in, seemingly unfazed. “But we can definitely find some chores for you to do around the house to start earning more of an allowance.”
Henry grinned and shoved his glasses up his nose. “Cool.”
Ellie glanced back to see Ty still frozen in place, horror on his face.
“Ty?”
He started walking again, then bent down to peer into the car. “I’m so sorry about that, little man. I shouldn’t have made that joke.”
“That’s okay,” Henry said, offering a gap-toothed smile. “No, really.” Ty scrubbed a hand over his chin, clearly upset. “I didn’t mean to let you down.”
Ellie gave him a reassuring smile as she slid into the car next to Henry. She buckled her seat belt, then looked up to see Ty still standing on the sidewalk, a remorseful expression on his face. “Ty? You coming?”
“Yeah,” he said, not moving. “Of course.”
She patted the seat beside her, not sure what had him so upset. “Are you okay?”
He nodded, but the frown stayed fixed on his face. “Yeah,” he said, ducking down to slide into the backseat beside her. “Never better.”
Ellie studied the side of his face, noticing the grim set of his jaw. She committed it to memory, wanting to remember exactly what he looked like when he wasn’t telling the whole truth.
CHAPTER10
Ty spent the whole game kicking himself for his missteps with Ellie and Henry. What kind of idiot didn’t even consider that a kid would need a car seat?
Not only that, but he’d disappointed Henry. The misunderstanding with the paycheck was a kick in the gut to Ty, so he could only imagine what it felt like to Henry.
You don’t have to imagine,his subconscious reminded him.You know exactly what it’s like to have a grownup let you down. And now you’re doing the same damn thing, just like your old man.
To Henry’s credit, he seemed totally fine. Besides that, Ellie assured him at least half a dozen times it was no big deal.
“It’s important for his development that he learn there’s a difference between jokes and things to take literally,” she said as she swirled her corndog in a puddle of mustard while Henry chased after a fly ball with his uncle. “It’s part of growing up.”
She sounded so certain that he almost believed it. But he couldn’t forget that flash of disappointment he’d seen in Henry’s eyes.“I feel like I let him down,” Ty said.“He should be able to trust adults not to disappoint him.”
Ellie rested a hand on his knee. “He’s a tough kid who survived leukemia,” she’d pointed out. “Small things like that don’t even register on his radar.”
