Page 57 of Rain or Shine
"Are we going home?" Dash asks, looking up at his dad.
"Yeah, Dash. We're going home."
Dash seems perfectly content with the answer and doesn't ask any of the questions that are swirling around in my own head. He doesn't know what almost happened today. If he did, I've spent enough time around him to know he'd riddle his dad with questions right away.
"You still need to sign him out, Mr. Henderson," Lily remarks, still watching us closely, pointing out the notebook for him to sign.
Tyler makes a grunt sound and quickly does as he needs. Once done, he retakes my free hand in his while I keep my other in Dash's. My heart refuses to allow me to release it. Not even if Tyler wanted to take his son's hand. I need to know myself that he’s safe. He might not be mine, but none of it matters to me. Just as his father has, he’s wormed his way into my heart. Between the two of them, they've broken through the cement walls I've kept in place for so long, barely even letting Dustin through it.
I don't get how they've managed it, maybe it’s just the natural way of things. The way they are with each other. How Dash has always been sweet and innocent around me. How his dad did simple things like set out ginger tea for me without me even asking. Better yet, how the man holding my hand makes me feel. It might be a week we’ve agreed to try this out, but he’s done nothing but show me the real him and that it’s me he wants, not because I’m pregnant either.
A small part of me stillfears they’ll both be taken from me as everyone else has. The dreadful curse I’ve spoken to Tyler about lingers inside my mind. What would I do if I lost either of these two?
"Ready?" Tyler asks, his voice pulling me from my spiraling down the rabbit hole.
I nod, tightening my grip on Dash's small hand. "More than ready."
As we walk out of the school, I can feel Lily's eyes burning holes into our backs. The judgment in this town never seems to stop, but right now, I don't care. All that matters is getting Dash safely home.
"Can we have mac and cheese with brocowee tonight?" Dash asks as Tyler buckles him into his car seat.
Tyler glances at me over his shoulder, surprise clear as day in his eyes. "You want to eat broccoli?" he asks, turning his attention back to Dash.
"It's yummy with my mac and cheese." Dash nods, smiling brightly, kicking his feet out in front of him. If he were a little bit taller, his legs would hit the back of the seat.
"If that's what you want, then sure," Tyler tells him and ruffles his hair.
I step back so Tyler can close Dash's door and open mine. I've learned that Tyler isn't one for letting me open my own door. It's become one of those small things that means more than it probably should. He's not doing it because he has to, he's doing it because he wants to. Because that's who he is.
"Thank you," I murmur and let him lift me into my seat. I could do it myself, but again, he seems to like helping me into the truck. Soon I won't even be able to attempt it if I wanted to. It'll even be a struggle to get into my own truck. I'm going to need to figure something out when it comes to what to drive. No way will I be able to put two infants in mine. It wouldn't work.
"Always welcome to help you in, sweetheart," he remarks, giving me that panty-melting smirk of his.
He closes the door gently before rounding the truck and hopping into the driver's seat. The engine turns over and Diamond Rio’s “One More Day” fills the cab at a low volume. My heart aches listening to the vocals, it does anytime I hear them. I close my eyes and lean back, listening to the lyrics as Tyler starts the drive back to the ranch.
"Did you have a good time in class, kiddo?" Tyler asks, talking to his son at the same time as he places a hand on my thigh.
I open my eyes and glance back at Dash as he answers, seeing him looking out the window, pointing at a dog walking along the sidewalk with the kind of quiet wonder only little kids have. Like everything outside that window is put there just for him to discover. I don't pay attention to the words themselves. I'm taken by the pure wonder of joy in his eyes.
The tightness in my chest loosens a little at the sight of him like this.
He doesn't know how close he came to losing something today. How close we all did. And maybe that's a blessing. Let him point at dogs, kick his feet, and ask for mac and cheese with broccoli. Let him be six years old and untouched by it all. Him just as he is, sweet and innocent. Finding all the pure love and joy in the world.
Tyler squeezes my thigh gently, like he knows where my thoughts have drifted even without me saying a word. Maybe that's what happens when someone pays close enough attention to you. They start to read the silence as easily as the words.
With him, it comes so easily. So much so it frightens me. I don't want to lose this—none of it.
I turn back to face the windshield and watch the town pass by. The fire station. The feed store. The little coffee shop that opened recently where half the population probably already knows I walked into the elementary school hand in hand with the man at my side. It’s as Tyler said, we aren’t hiding anything. The small park where a couple of children are chasing each other around a jungle gym without a care in the world.
I place a hand over my stomach and wonder how Dash will take the news. We've yet to tell him. He might not like the fact that he's no longer the only one who gets his dad’s attention.
"We should tell him soon," I whisper, more to myself than to Tyler.
Tyler glances at me, his hand still warm on my thigh. "Tell him what?" he asks, taking the turn that leads us to the ranch.
"That he's going to be a big brother. That he’ll have two siblings soon." I keep my voice low, even though Dash seems completely absorbed in watching the world go by outside his window. Tyler's fingers tighten slightly on my leg. Panic threatens to sink in, and I utter, "Unless you don't want to."
Tyler stays silent, not uttering a word that could ease the ache that starts to seep into my chest. Pulling in front of the house, he parks, turns the truck off, moves his hand away, and gets out.
