Total pages in book: 97
Estimated words: 93270 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 466(@200wpm)___ 373(@250wpm)___ 311(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 93270 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 466(@200wpm)___ 373(@250wpm)___ 311(@300wpm)
When Conor finished his snack, he grabbed his bag and headed upstairs. Once Hayden heard the bathroom door shut, he let out a long sigh.
“That bad?” Darcy asked. Hayden nodded.
“Sometimes I wonder if things would be easier if Sofia had died from cancer or something.”
“Probably,” Lee said. “Then at least you can say goodbye.”
“And not be so pissed off all the time.” Hayden tugged on his hair and groaned.
“Things will get better,” Darcy said. “You both need to heal and find some semblance of normal. You can do that here and start anew.”
While Hayden knew his mother was right, words were easier said than adhered to. “I’m worried how he’s going to fit in.”
“He’ll be fine,” Lee said. “There are plenty of kids his age, and baseball season is right around the corner. He hasn’t missed tryouts.”
“Yeah.” Hayden went to the refrigerator, opened the door and looked around, and then closed it. “Any beer?” he asked as he looked at his dad.
“I’m supposed to tell you no, but you know better than that.” Lee rubbed his hand over his midsection. “If you promise to go running with me tomorrow, I’ll show you where the beer is.”
Hayden laughed. “Sure, Dad.”
“Come to my office,” Lee said as he walked to the back door.
“Tell Conor I’ll be up in a minute to say good night,” Hayden said to his mom as he followed his dad to the garage.
Out the back door, he stepped onto a wide, wooden deck with five white rockers. From here, they had a view of the bay. During the summer and into the early-fall months, cruise ships passed by as they headed into port. Hayden took the stairs to the paved walkway and went into the side door of the garage.
“We’re thinking of building an apartment up there,” Lee said as he pointed upward. He popped the top on a bottle of beer and handed it to his son. For being a two-car garage, it was spotless. Even with his parents’ cars parked in there, they had enough space to move around without bumping into something or having to move the vehicles out. The size was a rarity for Oyster Bay, but when Lee had purchased the lot next to the house, he’d increased the lot size and had a nice garage constructed.
“Are you hurting for money or something?”
Lee shook his head and took a drink of his own bottle. “Nah, just trying to help the community out. The housing shortage is hitting hard. I’m thinking of going into land development. We need affordable housing.”
“It’s the cost of building materials,” Hayden said. “When I saw the construction bill for my house, I about lost it.”
“This damn economy.” Lee shook his head again. “You going to drink that?”
Hayden studied the label. The beer was from a local brewery. “Wait, is this Colt’s?” Colt Crowley had been Hayden’s best friend in high school. They were still friends, but they saw each other only when Hayden came to visit.
Lee chuckled. “Yep. He opened about five months ago and took over the Lazy Lamb.”
“No shit. Huh, how come no one said anything?” As soon as he asked, he knew why. Because for the past six months, he’d been mourning his wife, and everyone had treated him with kid gloves. No one felt they could tell him about their lives because his had changed drastically in the blink of an eye. “Right.” Hayden took a sip and nodded. “Not bad.”
“You’ll have to go to see him tomorrow for lunch.”
“Definitely will, but right now, I need to go inside and tuck my son in.”
The men went back into the house. Hayden set his beer down while avoiding eye contact with his mom, and he took the stairs two at a time and headed into his sister’s old room. Conor lay on the bed, staring at the ceiling. Hayden tapped his son’s leg, a request for him to move over so he could lie next to him.
For a long moment, they sat in silence, staring at the nothingness.
“Do I have to start school tomorrow?”
The responsible thing would be for Hayden to say yes. “No,” he told Conor. “But we’ll go in, get you registered, and hopefully meet your teacher. Then on Monday, fresh start.”
“What does that even mean?”
“I have no idea, bud. It’s just a saying.”
“It’s stupid.”
“Yep.” There wasn’t anything fresh about having to start over. But here they were, living back in Hayden’s hometown because he wanted his parents around to help raise Conor. In hindsight, if it hadn’t been for Sofia, Hayden never would’ve left Oyster Bay.
“Can we get a dog?”
Hayden liked the idea. “After the house is finished?”
“Why do we have to wait?”
“Well, because you’re living here and I’m going to live in the camper.”
Conor turned onto his side and draped his arm over Hayden’s midsection. “Why can’t you stay here?”