“Things change,” Dom says.
“They do, don’t they?” she says. “Priorities. Feelings. So many things.” She doesn’t sound mad. Or even sad. On the contrary, she sounds like she finds something hysterically funny. I almost want to ask her what the joke is, but I don’t think I want to know the answer.
Dominic groans. “This is all your fault, Stacey.”
“No shit, big guy,” she says with a grin. “You should have realized that from the start. Is he packed and ready to go?”
“Bag’s by the door.”
“You want me to keep him over the weekend? Seems like you’ve got stuff to do. You know. Work and all.”
“You bother me,” he says with a frown.
“Only because you deserve to be bothered. Ben, we’re going to Mommy’s now. You can finish your drawing there, okay?”
He pays her no attention and continues to draw.
“Ben,” she says again, touching his arm gently. She doesn’t try to remove the crayon from his grip. “It’s time to go.”
He ignores her and scribbles along the page. Another bear, it looks like.
“Sometimes he’s there,” she says to me. “Sometimes he doesn’t want to listen. It depends on the day, I guess.”
“Ursidae,” I say without thinking.
Ben stops. Puts down the crayon. Looks up at me. Watches me with a tilted head. “Mustelidae,” he says finally.
“Time to go, buddy,” I say.
“Your house?” he asks. “It’s green.”
“It is green, but not my house. Your house.”
“Mom’s house.”
“Sure.”
He nods and slides out from his booster seat. He walks over to the doorway and stands there, staring out into the hallway.
“How did…?” Stacey says.
“Weird, right?” Dom asks. “Just met him a few days ago.”
“That’s huge,” Stacey says. Her eyes look suspiciously shiny as she wipes them with her hand.
“Did I do something wrong?” I ask nervously. “I didn’t mean to—”
Stacey laughs. “No, Kid. You didn’t. You….” She shakes her head. “You’re just you. Like you’ve always been.”
She stands, and Dom and I follow suit. She moves around the table, and for the second time in less than twenty minutes, she envelops me in a tight hug. “You don’t know everything,” she whispers fiercely in my ear. “You may think you do, but you don’t. Don’t run again.” Louder, she says, “You’ll be around?”
My mind is reeling. “Yeah. For a bit. Driving down to Tucson in a couple weeks to drop Corey off, then coming back for the rest of summer.”
“I’m sure I’ll see you,” she says. She brushes her lips against my cheek as she lets me go.
“Yeah.”
She winks at me and turns toward Dom and Ben. Ben stands next to his father, resting his forehead against Dom’s leg. It hurts my heart and I don’t know why. Stacey punches Dom gently on the shoulder. “Don’t do anything stupid, big guy,” she says, affection clear in her voice. “You safe?”