The Friends We Keep

Jairus pulled out two pencils. They were both black. He handed one to Tyler. It was only then that Nicole noticed they were chubbier than normal—just right for Tyler’s small hand.

Jairus took a pad of paper for himself and showed the boy how to make the basic shape of the dragon. “I like to start with four circles,” he explained. “One that will be his head and three for his body. Like this.”

He demonstrated. Tyler drew similar circles on his paper.

“Great. We’ll add his tail later. Let’s start with his head. You’ll want to add eyes and ears, like this.”

Fifteen minutes later, Tyler had a pretty decent Brad the Dragon. He bounced to his feet and ran over to her. “Mommy, Mommy, look! Did you see what I drew?”

“It’s fantastic. Can we put it on the refrigerator?”

Other drawings covered the white surface. Usually there was a discussion about what should be moved where and what would be sacrificed to make room. This time, Tyler raced to the refrigerator and began pulling down all his drawings. He placed the one of Brad right in the center, then turned to Jairus.

“Can we do it again?”

“We sure can. While you practice, I’m going to show you how to do the steps again. I’ll draw Brad in stages. That way you won’t forget.”

Nicole felt the carefully constructed wall around her heart crumble to dust. How was she supposed to resist a guy who was so good to her son? Who was inherently patient and kind with children?

They sat back at the table. Tyler’s brow furrowed as he concentrated on getting the circles exactly right.

“Is this how you learned to draw Brad?” he asked, his gaze glued to his paper.

“Uh-huh. I got a book on how to draw cartoons at the library and practiced a lot. I wanted to draw for my sister.”

Tyler turned to him. “You have a sister?”

“I did. She’s gone now.”

Tyler nodded knowingly. “Like my dad.”

Nicole stood by the counter. Now she took a step toward Tyler, then stopped herself. She knew that Jairus meant his sister had died, while Tyler meant... She paused, not sure what her son thought about his father. Eric was never here.

She told herself this wasn’t the time for that conversation, but she would be sure to have it later. When she and Tyler were alone. While she didn’t want her son missing his father, she hated that Tyler had no relationship with him. Eric had started out as a good father, but since he’d decided to write his damned screenplay, all that had changed.

Jairus and Tyler continued drawing for about half an hour. She retreated to the living room to read and give them space to just hang out.

“I’m going to talk to your mom,” Jairus said gently. “But I’ll be just in the other room if you have any questions.”

“Okay.”

Jairus got up and approached her. “I hope that was okay,” he said in a low voice.

“Are you kidding? In his world, this is the best day ever.”

Jairus flashed her a slow, sexy smile. The kind movie stars made famous. In person, it did funny things to her insides. She suddenly remembered how long it had been since a man had held her. Really held her. She and Eric hadn’t been intimate the last year of their marriage. Which meant she was practically a reborn virgin.

Sex was not happening, she told herself firmly. At least not for a very long time. She had a child to worry about. Not to mention her own still-confused feelings. Besides which, Jairus wasn’t asking.

But maybe he would, a voice in her head whispered. And if he did, maybe, just maybe a girl could say yes.

*

Two hours later, Tyler was still drawing. He’d moved on to the fat markers and had figured out the best shades of red to create his beloved dragon. Jairus stood by the barbecue, steaks ready to go on the grill. He had a beer while she’d poured herself a glass of wine.

“I could do a mural,” he said as he eyed the cooking meat. “In his bedroom.”

Nicole glanced toward the house. “For real? Like a Brad the Dragon mural?”

He laughed. “I’m more comfortable with him than say one of the Peanuts characters, so yeah. It would be Brad. If you don’t like the idea, just tell me.”

“Are you kidding? Tyler would love it.”

“It’d be drawing on the walls. Some people might have a problem with that.”

“I can live with it. When he’s too old for Brad, we can paint over it.”

Jairus placed a hand to his chest. “The cold practical streak of a nonbeliever.”

She grinned. “You don’t want your kids getting too old for Brad?”

“Never.”

“You could continue the series through high school.”

“I thought about it, but Brad dating? That would be too weird even for me.” His humor faded. “I missed you while I was on tour.”

The unexpected words caused her to flush. “Um, I’m sure you were too busy to even think about me.”

He studied her. “Is it that you don’t believe what I’m saying, or you do believe but it makes you uncomfortable?”

“Both.”

“Because?”

She sipped her wine. “Eric’s not dead.”