“Whatever,” Nick said after shoveling down a few mouthfuls of pie. “He’ll probably marry my mom and they’ll have new kids and they’ll only remember I exist when they need a babysitter.”
Whoa. There was a whole lot of telling information in that one sentence, and Rose took a long sip of her tea to give herself time to parse it out. “Do you babysit your brother and sister a lot?”
“On the weekends, Dad and Jody go out all the time and I watch Alex and Adrienne. I mean, they’re kind of cool for little kids and I love them and everything, but Dad takes Jody shopping and they go to the movies and whatever they want. I’m just, like, the free babysitter.”
“Have you told your dad you feel that way?” He shook his head, digging into his pie again. “Or your mom?”
“Whatever. It’s no big deal.”
“Young man, if you say whatever again in the course of a conversation with me, that’ll be the last baked good of mine you ever eat, do you understand?” He looked stunned, and she waited until he nodded before continuing. “It is a big deal. You need to tell your dad you’d like to do something with him on the weekends once in a while. Or at least something as a family.”
“As the oldest, you’re going to babysit sometimes. That’s how it works in real life. But you’re his son, not a sitter, and he needs to know you feel like they’re taking advantage of you instead of looking forward to spending time with you on the weekends.”
“I don’t know how to say it.”
“Just say it straight out. ‘Dad, I don’t mind babysitting Alex and Adrienne so you and Jody can do things, but sometimes I’d like to do stuff as a family because I only get to see you on weekends,’ and go from there.” He nodded, washing the last of his pie down with half the glass of milk. “And about your mom and Ryan...”
“Wha—” He stopped. “I mean, I don’t really want to talk about my mom.”
“And that’s your business. But I’ll say one thing. You’re sixteen so you know a little about attraction between a man and a woman.” He blushed, of course, but she kept on. “And sometimes it’s just an attraction. Maybe Ryan and your mom have more than attraction and something will come of it, or maybe they don’t and he’ll go home and that’ll be the end of it. I honestly don’t know. But I do know two things. Ryan’s a good man and your mother loves you very, very much. No man or having more children or anything will change that.”
He didn’t say anything, but he did give her a little smile, which she took as a small victory. While Liz and Katie had had no trouble pouring out their troubles to her growing up, she’d had her hands full with Mitch, Ryan, Sean and Josh. She knew getting them to just listen was something to feel good about.
“Okay,” she said, standing up to take his plate. “Go get to work now before the boss comes looking for you.”
Nick passed Andy on his way out the door and Rose shook her head once he’d closed it behind the boy. “You smelled that pie, didn’t you?”
“Is there any left?”
“Just like a man. I give an inch and you take a mile.” She took out a clean plate and served another slice. “Took me thirty years to forgive you and now here you are, hanging around my kitchen and begging for pie.”
“Your pie’s worth the wait.” He took the plate from her and had the audacity to wink at her.
And, good Lord, she blushed. Turning her back abruptly, she made herself busy at the sink so he wouldn’t see. “Eat that quick and get back to work before Ryan accuses me of corrupting his help again.”
“Why don’t you sit down and have a piece of pie with me?”
“I just had one with Nick,” she lied.
“There was only one slice gone and one dirty plate. If you shared his, you must not have gotten much. Sixteen-year-old boys eat like wolves.”
“I’m fine.” His chuckle made her cheeks flame again and she threw the dish towel on the counter. “I’m going to vacuum. Rinse your plate when you’re done.”
She’d liked Andy Miller a lot more when he wasn’t allowed in her house.
Chapter Thirteen
When Ryan heard the bus stop at the end of the drive the following afternoon, he realized he wasn’t sure what to do with Nick. He couldn’t really have him on the roof, but that’s what they were focusing on for the time being.
He thought about it while the kid was inside doing his homework and probably scarfing down apple pie with Rose. The guys could spare Ryan for a couple of hours. Hell, they’d probably be happy as pigs in shit not to have him looking over their shoulders for a while.
“Hey, Josh, those four-wheelers have gas in them?”
His brother frowned, then shrugged. “Yeah. And there’s a gas can in the garage that’s still got some in it if they need more.”
“You mind if Nick and I take them out? He can’t be up here, so I was thinking we’d go work on the trail.”