Page 41 of Lance

She shrugs. “It was one night. Do bettertomorrow.”

It sounds so simple, when she says it like that. And somehow, for the first time since Angie showed up at my table, I feel like I can breatheagain.

“You should go get some sleep,” I tell her, offering a hand to help her stand up. She looks away when our fingers touch and I wonder what she’sthinking.

“You too,” she says, releasing me very quickly. “Kids wake up prettyearly.”

I suppress a groan. “So I’veheard.”

I walk her to the door. “Thanks again for all yourhelp.”

She pauses, her hand gripping the handle. “I’ll stop by tomorrow,” she says, her voice sounding strangely uncertain. “Before I head home. See how you guys are gettingalong.”

“That would begreat.”

She smiles at me and then she’s gone. I turn away from the door, my eyes going to the bedroom where Simon sleeps. I should check on him, right? That’s what a responsible adult would do before heading to bed. God, it’s tempting though, to pretend he’s not there. To go straight to the couch, grab a few hours of sleep and not let myself think of the responsibilities that I’ll be faced with in themorning.

Do better,Willa told me. I may as well start now. I walk into the bedroom and stop at the side of the bed. Simon is lying there, his arm thrown over his head, snoring a little. There’s a strange tightness in my chest as I look down at him, part fear and part something else that I can’t quite name. There’s also a certainty, deep in my bones—we’ll do the DNA test like the lawyer is insisting, but I don’t need to see the results to know that this little boy is myson.

I walk back to the couch, feeling sick but strangely resolved.Do bettertomorrow.

I don’t know if I’ll be successful. The possibility of failure seems pretty high. But I have to try. I don’t really have achoice.

* * *

The next morning,it doesn’t take very long before one fact is completely clear—I have absolutely no idea what I’mdoing.

I wake up on the couch and for a second I have no idea where I am. Then a pair of wide, dark eyes appears right in front of my face and I jump,startled.

“Shit!”

The eyes widen farther and the whole thing comes crashing back on me, Angie telling me about Simon and then her sudden, shocking departure. Finding him sitting in the lobby, clutching a beat-up red duffle bag. Leaving him here with Willa. The panic and the sick feeling—all of it hits me like a punch to thechest.

And now I’m swearing in front of him. I don’t know a lot about kids, but I’m guessing cursing around them is looked down upon as a parentingtechnique.

“Hey,” I say, trying to make my voice friendly because now he’s looking pretty freaked out. I pull myself up into a sitting position. “Sorry, man. You startledme.”

He doesn’t say a word, just continues to look at me. “You, uh, remember my name?” Iask.

“You’re Lance.” His voice is quiet but steady. Maybe the swearing didn’t traumatize him afterall.

“Good. So, uh, you sleepokay?”

He shrugs and I could kick myself. He’s a kid, for God’s sake, and I’m sitting here making smalltalk.

“Um, are youhungry?”

Finally his expression changes a little bit, something like excitement flickering behind his eyes. “Can we get room service?” heasks.

“Sure. No problem. Let mejust—”

But he darts away, returning five seconds later with the menu. “I know exactly what I want,” he says, pushing it toward me. “Chocolate chip waffles with whippedcream.”

“Let’s see,” I say, rubbing my eyes again before looking at the menu. “They might not have chocolate chip—” But there it is, halfway down the page. “You’re in luck,” I tellhim.

“It’s not luck,” he says firmly. “It’s justreading.”

“You can readalready?”