Errands

Summer

I touch my sore neck gently. The fact that I bruise so easily has never worked in my favor. Especially not today with five very definite fingerprints on my neck. Thank goodness for makeup.

My phone pings on the counter and I rush to grab it hoping it's Gabriel. Unfortunately, I'm disappointed when it isn't his name attached to the text message.

Unknown Number:Good morning, Summer. This is Andrew. James gave me your number. I hope you don't mind.

A smile lifts my cheeks. Not the person I was looking for, but I won't complain.

Me:Not at all. Glad to hear from you.

Unknown Number:I'm not one to beat around the bush, I'd really like to see you again.

My smile turns into a full on blush. I have to admit, there is something different about this guy.

Me:That would be nice.

Unknown Number:How about lunch tomorrow around noon?

Me:Sounds great.

Unknown Number: Good. I'll text you later with the details. Have a great day.

I place my phone back on the counter. A permanent grin on my face. I was so caught up in my conversation with Andrew I didn't hear my son walk into the kitchen.

"When is Hulk coming?" Gabe asks grabbing my attention.

The reminder of last night and the look on Gabriel's face as he walked out of the house wipes the smile and the earlier feelings away.

Gabe has been asking for Hulk since I woke him up this morning. I grab his plate off the counter and walk it over to the table.

"I don't know, Gabe." I say placing his plate of fruit and sausage in front of him.

He pushes the plate away from him. "I want Hulk."

I take a deep breath because I know my son is only acting out because he's confused. This is the reason I don't often make changes to his daily routine.

Sliding the plate back in front of him I take a seat beside him.

"Give me your eyes," I ask.

He turns to look at me. His eyes are so much like his father's. Although they aren't the same seafoam green, they are the same shape.

"Hulk is a very busy man. Some days he will be here when you wake up, but some days he won't be. We have to be patient and understanding to that. Okay?"

He looks down at his hands but nods his head.

"Eat your breakfast so you can finish getting ready for school."

I go back over to the sink, closing my eyes, I take a deep breath. I can only hope that Gabriel will come back. That look in his eyes before he left haunted me all night. I know he's looking for any reason to prove he isn't fit to be around his son. I just can't accept that. Especially when I know he's more than capable.

If I hadn't heard from him by noon today, I was going to call him.

"Hulk," Gabe says happily.

I turn to find Gabriel standing in my kitchen. He's wearing new clothes and looked freshly showered. His hair is pulled back in a low bun. His shorter front pieces fell in his eyes. Never had I seen a more beautiful man. My words made true by the pounding of my heart at just the sight of him. It doesn't matter how flawed he is, there is no one more stunning.

For what seems like an eternity, neither of us speak. We only stare at one another. For a moment I wonder what he's thinking. Can he see the sleepless night in my face? Does the way my heart races for him show up in my eyes? Because I'm looking at him so hard, I notice when his gaze drops down to my neck. I quickly place my hand over it, touching it gently.

I peel my eyes away from Gabriel to look at my son. "Gabe, it's time to go brush your teeth and finish getting ready."

My son quickly gets up and runs out of the kitchen. I grab his plate off the table.

"Where did you go last night?" I take the plate to the sink giving him my back.

"I'm renting a small apartment not far from here."

I take a deep breath before turning around. I'm startled to find him standing right in front of me. I press myself back into the sink. He lifts his hand to touch my neck and I flinch. Not because I'm afraid of him, but because it's very tender today. Of course that's not what he thinks. His hand drops back to his side.

"I'm sorry," his voice is so low I wouldn't have heard him if he wasn't standing in front of me. "If you want me to stay away, I will."

"If I thought you were actually going to hurt me, you wouldn't be in my house right now."

"But you're afraid of me." He looks directly into my eyes when he makes this statement.

Did I think he could hurt me if he wanted to? Yes. Did I think he would? I'm not sure. I don't think he would ever intentionally do anything to harm me or Gabe. But I can't ignore his issues. I'm not an idiot.

"Let's not worry about last night," I say instead. "You can go with me to take Gabe to school."

He's shaking his head before I can finish my statement. "You saw what happened last night."

"Yeah, I did. And we are both here today to talk about it so it's all good."

He runs a hand down his nose toward his chin. "Summer,"

"Just because it's hard doesn't mean you can run, Gabriel."

Because if that was the case, I'd have left all this behind. Trying to fight addiction and suicidal thoughts while dealing with a baby was one of the hardest things I've ever experienced. However, my love for Gabe, pure determination along with therapy got me through it.

He doesn't get to walk away because it's hard. That isn't an excuse.

He nods. "Okay."

The pounding of little footsteps heading in our direction lets me know Gabe is on his way back.

"Guess what," I say when he enters in the room and walks right up to his father's side. "Hulk is coming with us to take you to school."

Gabe smiles so wide, it mirrors on my face. Every decision I make, I do it for him. Even allowing his father in his life temporarily. No matter what it will do to me, it's all for him.

***

I park my car on the curb near Heartfelt Academy. Climbing out, I go around to the back seat to get Gabe out. Gabriel comes around to join us on the sidewalk.

"Do you have your lunch box?"

He holds up his Iron Man lunch box for me to see.

"Alright, come on." I hold out my hand, but he takes his father's instead. I swallow down the sting, but don't take it personally.

We head toward the large brick building. Parents and children surround the outside of the school saying their goodbyes and getting hugs and kisses. As soon as we approach the front door, I stop Gabe, kneeling in front of him.

"What are we going to have today?"

"A good day."

"Are we going to use our words?"

"Yes," he nods with a smile.

I place my fist out in front of me. He bumps his fist against mine before turning to look up at his father.

"See you later, Hulk." Gabe holds out a fist for his father.

Gabriel bumps his fist against Gabe's. "See you later," he says.

Gabe walks up the front steps of the school. His teacher and assistant teacher are there to greet him. Immediately, his teacher looks over to me and holds up a hand.

She hurries down the steps toward me. "Ms. Jones. I was wondering if I can speak with you for a moment." She glances at Gabriel.

"Sure," I say giving her permission to speak freely.

She pushes her hair behind her ear. "As you know August has had a real hard time making friends."

"Yeah," I say encouraging her to finish her thoughts.

It isn't that Gabe doesn't make friends, he just prefers to play alone. I try to get him around other kids to help him socialize but it never fails, he will find a quiet spot somewhere by himself. Funny enough, he does better with older kids and adults. He has no problems hanging with Emory.

"Well," She goes on to say. "I notice that August gets more restless during certain times in class. Especially around group learning activities. I took him aside a few days ago to work one on one with him, and I noticed that he's advanced. He's reading well on his own and doing some simple math problems."

The kid catches on to things quickly. It's why after only a few short lessons he's already doing sign language with Emory.

"Okay," I say not sure where she's going with this.

I glance up at Gabriel to see what he thinks about this so far. However, his gaze is busy scanning the street and the surrounding area. To anyone else it may look as if he isn't paying attention, but I know he is.

"I want to place August in the Kindergarten class for about an hour or two for a few days. I think he will do well. But I understand how he does with change and making friends, so if you want to wait on it, I will understand."

"I think if it's only for a few hours and you allow an adjustment period it should be okay. I think he will do well."

She smiles at me. "Awesome. We can see how it goes over the next week and then I'll schedule a conference to talk about it."

"Sounds good."

She waves before walking off leaving us alone. I watch as she disappears back amongst the crowd of students and parents.

"Sorry." The sound of his gruff voice pulls me away from the school and toward him.

"We already talked about last night. You don't have to keep apologizing."

"Not about last night."

Now I'm confused, and my brows pinch to show it.

"I'm sorry," he goes on to say looking at a spot over my head. "For giving him my issues. I wouldn't—"

I hold up a hand to curt off anything else he was going to say. He looks down at me.

"I'm going to stop you right there. The only reason I'm not going to curse your ass out right now, is because I know that bullshit is coming from a place of hurt and pain. But listen to me. There's nothing wrong with my son. He's not a burden, or a problem that you should apologize for.

"He's not some kind of disease that you pass down. He's a kid. A very kind, intelligent, and sweet kid. And yes, sometimes the world gets too loud and too overwhelming for him. And he has a hard time socializing with his peers or keeping eye contact, but that does not make him a burden or something that needs to be apologized for. And I'm sorry no one ever told you the same thing about yourself." He looks away from me again.

I place my hand on his cheek to turn his gaze back to me. "Don't ever apologize for giving me the greatest gift I could ever ask for. Do you understand."

He nods. I let his face go. "Good, I have errands to run.":

"You can drop me off at the house,"

I chuckle and start to walk back to the car. He follows.

"Sorry, I wasn't clear the first time. We have errands to run."

"I have stuff to do," he argues as we stop at the car. He's standing by the passenger door and I'm at the driver's side.

"Not today. It's part of the stipulations."

He tilts his head to the side. "That wasn't in the deal."

I shrug. "It is now. If you're going to stay around, you have to help me."

This could backfire. I originally had no plans of spending time alone with Gabriel. This bonding thing had nothing to do with me and all about Gabe. However, as I stand here staring at him, the idea of being around him is starting to appeal to me.

He narrows his eyes, but I can tell he isn't angry. The smirk on his face gives him away.

"What if I say no?"

"You won't." I call his bluff as I climb in the car. He joins me shortly.

"Where to first?" he grumbles.

I fight the smile on my face. Despite what happened last night, I had no fear of being around Gabriel. Don't ask me why.

"You'll see when we get there."

***

I place the fresh broccoli in the plastic vegetable bag and tie it off before putting it in my cart.

"What's your favorite color?"

So far today after taking Gabe to school, I took some jewelry orders to the post office to be shipped off. I then stopped by the bank to make a deposit. After that, I went to the craft store to restock a few things for my business, and now I'm at the grocery store shopping for the next two weeks.

The entire time Gabriel has been by my side to help. He carried all my mail packages, making it a one-time trip inside the post office rather than the two or three it usually takes me. He stood silently beside me at the bank, helped me pick up material and carry my bags at the craft store, and even now he's pushing the cart as I add things to it.

He's never complained or rushed me, even when I stood in the beads section of the craft store trying to figure out which blue stones to buy. He has been patient and helpful, and it has meant the world to me.

"Black," he grumbles as he follows me with the cart as I pick up a bag of Vidalia onions.

That wasn't hard to guess as I look at his black zip up hoodie and black shiny combat boots. I don't think I've ever seen him in any color other than black and blue jeans.

"Favorite food?" I ask next.

For the last twenty minutes I've been asking him questions to get to know him better. Despite the fact we have a child together and spent one hell of a night with one another, I don't really know this man. This seemed like the best opportunity to do that.

"Pancakes," he says.

Turning to look at him I raise a brow.

"Why pancakes?"

He lifts a shoulder. "It's the first food I had with my brothers."

"Okay, that's going to require further explanation."

He shakes his head but obliges me. "When Priest came and got me from my mother, he took me and my brothers to an all-you-can-eat pancake spot. It was my first time ever eating at a restaurant. However, I was still a bit skeptical of him and didn't want to eat. He bought a huge stack of pancakes for the table. Everyone else kind of dug in but I didn't.

"I think Priest understood I was a bit weary of him. He excused himself to the bathroom. My brother, Lucien, placed a pancake on my plate and told me to eat. When I refused, he said it was fine, but no one else would eat until I ate. They didn't want me to starve by myself. It was the first time anyone ever showed me any type of kindness. So, I ate the pancakes so they could eat.

"Once the stack was gone, Priest came back to the table and finished his food. I realized later that he never really went to the bathroom. Til this day, that is one of my favorite memories and pancakes is my favorite food."

I don't show how that story made me realize how hard Gabriel had it in his childhood. I know enough about him to know that he wouldn't like my sympathy. And he also didn't share such an intimate memory with me so I could feel sorry for him. So, instead of telling him how sorry I was or how much my heart goes out to the lost little boy that needed kindness. I do what I do best.

"Damn, he could have at least taken you to a steak house. I mean pancakes are good and all, but steak is way better."

I felt proud of the small smile he gave me from my joke. It let me know I made the right decision. We moved on from the vegetables and headed down the rice and pasta aisle.

"When's your birthday?" I ask, grabbing a bag of Jasmine rice from the bottom shelf.

"April 22nd."

"You're a Taurus. It means you're loyal and stubborn." I turn to glance at him over my shoulder giving him a pointed look. "Makes sense."

I get another rare smile from him.

"Alright, so I feel like I've asked you enough questions. What do you want to know about me?" I turn to fully face him putting my hands on my hips.

He lifts a brow. "I already know everything about you."

I scoff. "No, I'm being serious." I move to the side so that an elderly couple can get past me in the aisle.

"So am I."

Folding my arms over my chest, I tilt my head to the side. "Okay, when's my birthday?"

"June 27th."

I was shocked, but that was an easy question. You can find that out by searching my Facebook.

"What's my middle name?"

"Elise."

Damn. Now I didn't expect him to know that. I don't have that posted on any social sites. I fire off my next few questions back-to-back.

"Favorite Food?"

"Mexican."

"Color?"

"Green."

"Favorite song?" I finally ask a question I know he won't know. Mostly because it changes on the regular.

"Stevie Wonder, As."

Okay, now this is a bit terrifying. My mouth hangs open trying to figure out how he knows so much about me.

His lips lift up into his usual smirk. "Did I pass?"

"How do you know all that about me?"

"I pay attention."

He must have read the skepticism on my face. He shakes his head leaning his arms against the handle of the grocery cart.

"Getting your middle name and birthday was easy. It's public records. Besides, I needed it to set the house and bank account up." That made sense. I should have guessed that.

"What about my favorite food?" I ask putting my hands on my hips.

He smiles. "I figured it out the night we met. You mentioned not eating much but would never pass up tacos."

"Oh yeah, I forgot about that." I didn't really forget, I just didn't think he paid that much attention.

"Simple observation told me your favorite color," he goes on to say. "Everything you own is some shade of green. Even your bedspread."

"Alright, I'll give you that." I say holding my hands out in front of me. "But there is no way you guessed one of my all-time favorite songs."

"You've been humming it all day. It even came on in the car and you turned it up. Like I said, I pay attention to you. I can also tell you that your favorite flowers are sunflowers. Your eyes went directly to them when we walked in the store."

My mouth hangs open. Here is a man I've known for a total of five days, and he knows more about me than my family. Even Trina doesn't know my favorite song or flower.

I ignore the tingling in my belly and the flutter in my chest. These symptoms are dangerous. And they are unwanted. When all this is over, Gabriel will disappear from our lives. I don't need these feelings. So, I once again do what is common to me.

"You know what I think?" I ask, wiping the shock off my face.

He doesn't respond, instead he cocks his brow for me to finish.

"I think you're spying on me."

He lets out a deep low laugh. I notice it isn't as loud and carefree as Andrew's. Gabriel's mouth doesn't even open, but it's nice. It has the hairs on my arm standing up in attention and a warming feeling in my chest. I ignore the unusual responses.

"Do you have cameras in my house? That is a breach of privacy."

He smirks, running his tongue over his bottom lip. Not seductively, I think he was just wetting his lips, yet it didn't stop me from watching him.

"If I do," he says. "Are you going to move out?"

I squint my eyes at him because he knows damn well, I wasn't leaving that house.

He chuckles, "Didn't think so."

"You think you're so funny." I taunt as I start to move up the aisle toward the pastas. "Let's see how funny you are when I leave you at this grocery store."

"Whatever you say, Elise." I can hear the laughter in his tone as he calls my bluff.