When I Need You (Need You #4)

“Calder had a rough day at school, didn’t you, bud?” Alicia squeezed his shoulder. “He was looking forward to his mom coming home.”

Great. He didn’t want to be here. How did I handle that?

Figure it out. You’ll be facing this at camp a time or two.

Alicia handed me the key. Then she hugged Calder. “See you Monday.” She mouthed “Good luck” to me before she disappeared down the hallway.

I shut the door.

Before I could ask where he wanted to stash his backpack, he said, “I’m hungry.”

“I don’t have much for food. So unless you can come up with a delicious dish using garbanzo beans, eggs and cheese, we’d better grab food from your kitchen and cook it here.”

“Why don’t you have more food?”

“I have a chef who makes my meals, and I’m almost out.”

His eyes got big. “You have your own chef?”

“He’s not just my chef. He cooks for other people too.”

“Can I come over and watch him cook?”

“Absolutely I’d let you if he prepared my meals here. But he cooks in his restaurant kitchen, packages up the food, and then it’s delivered to me. So all I have to do is take it out of the refrigerator or freezer and heat it up.”

Silence.

Calder stared at me. “Like a frozen dinner?”

“Exactly like that.”

“There’s a chicken nugget one in my freezer. I could have that.”

“Let’s go grab it. I’ll put mine in the micro here first.”

We ended up cooking Calder’s meal in his microwave and carrying it over so he could eat it right away. I poured us each a glass of milk.

Dinner was a silent affair.

Calder kept looking at the front of his frozen package, then at me. Finally he said, “You’re not really a giant.”

“I wish I were a giant like Hagrid in Harry Potter.”

He blinked at me.

“You don’t know Harry Potter?”

“Mommy says I can’t watch those movies until I’m eight.”

“You’ve never seen them? Uh. Okay. But I’d wait until after you’ve read all the books. Because the books are way better than the movies.”

Calder burst into tears.

Shit. That was totally freakin’ random.

I crouched down by his chair. “What’s going on?”

“I’ll probably never get to read them because I’m the worst reader in my class!”

“What? Who told you that?”

“Today Tiara said I was gonna flunk kindergarten!” Calder flung himself at me and sobbed as if his soul had been ripped from his chest.

Without knowing what to say, I picked him up and carried him to the couch. He continued to cry, great big racking sobs. Poor kid. I wanted to fix this for him ASAP. Call up one of those expensive private learning centers and demand they send over their best kindergarten tutor right freakin’ now.

After he’d stopped hiccupping, I said, “That’s why you had a rough day at school?”

He nodded.

“Did you tell Alicia what happened?”

“I told her someone was mean to me.”

“She might’ve been able to make you feel better.” Better than this lousy job I was doing.

“I didn’t want her to think I’m dumb. That’s what Tiara called me. A dum-dum.”

“Well, as my babysitter Maria used to say, ‘Consider the source.’” Maybe that was too far over his head. “Did you tell the teacher?”

“I don’t wanna be called a tattletale either.”

“How can I help you?”

Calder shifted and looked up at me. “Can you help me read?”

What could I say to that? No. Sorry, kid, you’re on your own with this whole reading thing. Just because I read doesn’t mean I’m qualified to teach you.

Instead, I said, “Sure. Whatcha got?”

He bounded over the edge of the couch, grabbed his backpack and bounded back. From his backpack he pulled out Go, Dog. Go!

“I remember this book.” The cover indicated it was for early readers. “Have you read it?”

“Mommy reads something to me every night.”

“Lucky you. My mom read to me every night too. So how about if we make a deal? If you read this book to me? I’ll read Harry Potter to you.”

His eyes widened. “For real?”

“For real. I never joke about Harry Potter.”

He bit his lip. “I don’t wanna get in trouble for breaking the house rules.”

“Your mom said you couldn’t watch the movies. But she didn’t say anything about someone reading the books to you, did she?”

“Nope.”

“Then we’re in the clear.” I smiled. “Start that tale—tail, get it?—of Go, Dog. Go!”

“You’re funny.” Calder read slowly, not that I had any idea what constituted speed reading for a six-year-old.

After he stashed his book, I grabbed the hardback edition of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. We snuggled into the corner of the couch and I started to read.

We were so engrossed in the story that neither of us noticed someone knocking at the door until it turned into pounding.

I vaulted over the edge of the couch and opened the door.

Rowan tried—and failed—not to seem annoyed. “I’ve been texting you for almost forty-five minutes.”

“I think I left my phone on your kitchen counter when we went over to get food. Anyway, Calder and I are fine. We’ve been reading and lost track of time.”

She walked past me and stopped in the living room. “What are you reading?”

“Harry Potter!” Calder yelled, and bounced over the edge of the couch to run at his mother. “Isn’t that so cool, Mommy?”

“Yes, it is.” She smiled and tousled his hair. “I missed you today.”

“Did you know that Harry Potter had to live under the stairs?” he demanded.

“I remember that.” She glanced over at the dark TV. “You guys aren’t watching Chopped?”

Calder looked at me. “Uh-oh. We forgot.”

I sent Rowan a challenging look.

“You’ll never hear me complain about him choosing to read a book over watching TV, Jensen.”

“Good to know.”

“Grab your backpack, boy-o,” she said to him. “Bath time, then bedtime, because you have to be up early tomorrow.”

“Why?” Calder complained.

“Because I have to work in the morning and Talia is coming over to watch you. She hasn’t been here before, so you’ll have to show her around.”

“Who’s Talia?” I asked her.

“She’s a former student of mine. Since she’s enrolled in summer classes and only wants part-time work, she agreed to babysit Calder.”

“But I thought Alicia was your nanny?”

“Just during the school year. Alicia’s still in high school and her family travels a lot in the summer. I need a babysitter that’ll be around.”

“Rocketman could be my babysitter,” Calder declared. “Then we could read Harry Potter every day!”

I grinned at him and then locked eyes with Rowan. “While that sounds great, I’m sure your mother would get tired of seeing me every day. That happens sometimes with friends.”

Her cheeks turned bright red.

“I’d play with my friends every day if I could,” Calder said.

“I’m with you there, Calder. It’s fun to play with your friends until you realize maybe one of them is toying with you.”

“That’s not true—”

“I’d share my toys if you’d let my friends come over,” Calder said, oblivious to the underlying conversation.

“How about you, Coach? Got any friends you want to invite over to play?”