Hold on Tight
Page 26

Momma opened the door just as Micah arrived. He studied her for a moment, then looked at Dad. Everyone remained silent, waiting on him to say something. Finally he shrugged and held out his arms. “So, I’m your grandson.”
His statement caused everyone to relax, and both my parents started laughing. Then Momma bent down and held her arms out to him. “Yes, you are, and I’d really like a hug from my grandson.”
Micah went into her arms willingly. His little gaze met mine across the room, and he smiled. “Hey, Uncle Dewayne,” he said.
Nothing in my life had prepared me for that. I managed not to make an idiot of myself by getting emotional like a f**king woman and nodded. “Hey, little man,” I replied with a grin.
He pulled away from Momma and looked up at her seriously. “You got any cookies?” he asked.
Momma’s laughter was musical and light. I hadn’t heard that in a really long time. “Yes, I do. I made a batch just for you. Come on in the kitchen.”
“First I need my hug,” Dad said, and Micah walked over to him as Dad bent down to hug him.
“You’re really big. My daddy was really big like my uncle Dewayne. I seen pictures. Do you have pictures of him?”
Dad tensed up for a moment, then relaxed. We hadn’t looked at photos of Dustin since his death. We never even talked about him. But this kid was gonna want to talk about him.
“Yeah, we got lots of photos of your daddy. We can look at ’em together,” he said, and Micah beamed up at him excitedly.
“You hear that, Momma? You was right! They got lots of pictures of Daddy,” he said, looking back at Sienna.
It was the first time since they’d walked in the house that I’d allowed myself to actually look at her. And it was a mistake because, damn it all to hell, she had on shorts and a tight little shirt that showed just how above average she was. Her hair was brushed into silky waves, and I missed the mussed look from this morning. I wanted to muss it up again. While those legs were wrapped around me.
No! Fuck! I had to stop that shit. She was Micah’s mom. Not a f**k buddy.
“Come on in, young lady. We have cookies for you, too,” Dad told Sienna, who hadn’t spoken yet.
She blushed and glanced at me, then back at my dad. “I’m okay. Probably shouldn’t eat cookies this early in the morning.”
Dad put his arm around her shoulders. “Cookies are for all hours of the day. Don’t you know that? I remember when you ate Tabby’s cookies whenever you stepped foot in that door.”
“I was younger and in better shape then,” she replied, her blush getting worse.
What the hell was she talking about? The woman had curves in all the right places. It didn’t get better than that.
“You’re still a spring chicken. Better eat those cookies now. Middle age will change all that. Eat ’em while you’re young.”
Sienna laughed and walked with my dad to the kitchen. I remained where I was, unsure where I fit in here. It was my parents’ house, but suddenly I felt like the outisider.
“Uncle Dewayne! Come eat these cookies with me. Mama T has real milk too,” Micah called out to me.
Then again, maybe I did have a place.
SIENNA
The Falcos hadn’t been ready to let Micah leave. He’d been catered to all day long, and he was eating up all the attention. Dewayne had left around four, telling Micah bye and that he’d see him soon.
Shortly after Dewayne left, I’d tried to leave with Micah because I still hadn’t gone to the grocery store. I always went on Sundays to get ready for the week. Micah, however, had latched on to the idea of staying with Tabby and Dave while I did my grocery shopping. So I let him.
I wasn’t sure if I could remember a time that I’d gone grocery shopping without Micah. He was always with me, so I was used to telling him no and talking him out of sugary snacks. This was a much quieter and rather peaceful experience. I loved my son, but I decided I liked grocery shopping without him.
I took my time walking down each aisle and thinking about what we needed and how much money I had to work with. I kept a calculator in my purse for shopping because I had tried doing the math in my head but it’s embarrassing when you get to the checkout and have to take things out of bags and give them back because you don’t have enough money.
With no rent, we had more than we normally did for food, and it was nice to be able to splurge on the mint chocolate chip ice cream that Micah loved and some lemon tea for me. I stopped in front of the bread and looked for a sandwich bread that was healthy but still looked white enough that I could trick Micah into eating it. I also had to find one that didn’t cost too much. Five dollars for a loaf of bread was ridiculous. Most of the time I could find a honey wheat that was light enough that Micah wouldn’t complain.
“Bread is a serious matter. I can tell you agree,” a masculine voice said beside me, and I turned around to see a tall, dark-haired man who looked to be at least thirty. His slacks and button-down shirt might have been one reason he looked older, but the crinkles around his eyes when he smiled aged him. He wasn’t bad-looking, though.
“Pleasing my picky son is the trick,” I explained. Normally, if I brought up my son, the men backed off. If this one was going to attempt to flirt with me, I might as well go ahead and send him on his way.
The man nodded, still grinning as if he understood. “Yeah, I understand that completely. My niece always goes for the white bread when she comes to visit. She’s nine, and her mother won’t buy it at home. I’m the rule-breaking uncle.”