He bobbed his head quickly from side to side. Then, when she frowned, he quickly mumbled, “Bella said I could.”
Her frown deepened—he’d started to lie to her. Why was that?
Because he told the truth in the end, she didn’t remark on it. Instead, murmured, “Good!”
Samantha had been trying to encourage him into playing in the yard. Wanting him to have a childhood more like her own, but on the odd times Janice watched over him, she’d always made it plain how she disapproved. That it wasn’t safe outside.
For anyone.
But especially with the wealth the family had at their fingertips.
Though she came from a different background, she could empathize. As per the terms of the prenuptial agreement and Jamie’s will, Samantha had been left nothing, not that there was much after his debts had been settled, but she didn't even get a cent of the gigantic life insurance sum either. It had all been held in trust for her son. Until he reached his majority, she managed the estate. So, she knew exactly what kind of pull all those noughts in the bank balance could have.
Erin was in danger of being kidnapped, but they had the best security, and she refused to let her son feel like a prisoner growing up. Especially in the safety of his own backyard.
To that end, she’d bought him a dog. A German Shepherd pup he’d named Mayor. She wanted the pair to bond, and was hoping that after enough training, Mayor would attack if anyone was to threaten her son. Guard dog and friend… She hoped such an end was achievable.
He peeked up at her through his bangs. They were overlong, reminding her he needed a cut. Something else Janice had prompted her about before.
Truth was, Samantha was more interested in her little boy being a child than a shining example of the Garrett name.
She grinned at his anxious expression when really she wanted to tear Janice a new one – he only started acting this oddly since his last visit with his grandparents. Wondering what her mother-in-law had said to make him seem so nervous, and wishing she could erase it from his memory banks, she murmured, “Did you have fun?”
Finally, his grin appeared. All toothy gaps and pearly white teeth. “I did! Mayor barks when I tell him to sit. Then dances around me until I’m dizzy.” He chortled.
She shook her head. “He’ll learn.” She hoped.
“Of course he will,” Josh inserted smoothly. She blinked, having forgotten he was there, her focus on her child absolute. “He’s only a puppy, right? Give him time.”
Erin squealed in delight. “Uncle Josh! Uncle Josh!” He bounded from her arms straight into Josh’s. Unlike her, her son held no reticence where the other man was concerned. Testament, she supposed, to how often Jamie and Josh had hung out. Although, that could have done some damage in itself. Erin, by the time his father died, had been uneasy around him. Was it telling that her son didn’t feel the same uneasiness around Josh?
Deciding not to question her good fortune considering the charade they’d both have to pull for the foreseeable future, a charade she prayed wouldn’t hurt her son, she smiled at them both. “Dinner time!”
Erin turned big blue eyes on his uncle. Not by blood, but Josh was actually his godfather, so the title fit.
“Is Uncle Josh staying for hamburgers?”
She grinned at his wide-eyed look of delight, and knew the question was more of a prompt than anything else. “I haven’t forgotten,” she teased.
Erin shot her a coy smile, and at that moment he was so like his father, she had to fight not to shudder. Jamie had been so charming, and it was only natural her son would follow in his footsteps in some ways. Normally, that smile amused her, but after speaking of the past with Josh this morning, her stomach roiled at the sight.
Jamie had died just after Erin’s birthday. She had time to undo any damage his father might have done. Nature, on the other hand, she couldn’t change. But she’d do her damnedest to make sure her son wasn’t the sociopath his father had been.
“Just wanted to make sure,” Erin murmured, looking positively angelic with his white blonde hair.
“I promised, didn’t I?” She made a point to bring that up. Erin had a thing about promises. Mostly because Jamie had broken every single one he’d made their son. “We never break a promise, do we?” she parroted, trying to make the mantra stick.
; Erin’s head bobbed again. “We never break a promise,” he sang. Then, looking up at his uncle, he murmured, “Are you, Uncle Josh? Are you staying for hamburgers?”
Josh shot her a look and she gave him a tiny nod. “Sure am, short stuff.” He balanced Erin on one arm, and reached up with the other to scrub his hand through Erin’s mop.
Squealing, Erin patted his shoulders in delight. Wryly, she murmured, “That’s code for ‘put me down’.”
Josh laughed and lowered Erin to the ground. He immediately took off, heading to the pile of toys in the family room.
She watched him a second, saw him pull out some toy cars from a box, and nodding in satisfaction, turned to Josh. Though she saw he was looking at her in surprise, she ignored it. “You can stay in here, or, through to the kitchen. Your choice.”