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All her mother did was put her fists on her hips and smile at him.
A moment later, Paxton set the dish back down on the table. “Yes, ma’am.”
“Can I ride my bike?” David looked up at her.
That was one thing he’d not had in the city and Sandra was so very happy that her mother had given him one as soon as they’d arrived. “Sure, but you have to stay close enough for me to watch you from the front porch.”
Pushing the porch swing so it moved slightly, Paxton watched David as intently as she did. “He’ll sleep well tonight.”
“That’s the hope.” Sandra lifted her feet letting the swing do its thing. She liked the slow back and forth rhythm as she watched David ride, turning in neighbor’s driveways. She was hopeful that there would be children nearby for David to play with, but so far he was on his own. They fell into a comfortable silence, listening to David’s commentary as he rode back up and down the driveway. She sucked in her breath when he lifted his arms and shouted, “Look, Mom, no hands!”
“David,” was all she had to say for him to grab hold of the handlebars again.
Paxton chuckled. “They do say boys will be boys. We all did. The worst that will happen is he’ll fall over, scrape a knee or chin, then get back on and keep going. It’s in our genes.”
“I suppose I should be happy that living in the city he knows how to ride a bike at all.” She’d made sure he could do that so he could keep up with the other kids, but with nowhere to ride in that dumb apartment, once he’d outgrown the old bike she’d bought at a garage sale, she hadn’t bothered to replace it, until now.
The sun began to dip below the horizon. Sandra glanced at her phone, surprised at how quickly time had passed. A person could get used to this pace, and the company. Though she wasn’t going there. Not now. “David. Five more minutes.”
“More time. Please?”
She shook her head. “It’s late. You have to take a bath and get ready for bed.”
“Yes, ma’am.” The way the poor kid sighed anyone would think she’d told him he’d have to eat another plate of broccoli.
“Like I said,” Paxton shrugged at her, “boys will be boys. My mother would set a timer for us. It had bright colors. She’d place it on the porch rail and once it went off, we were done. We could negotiate with her, but not that timer.”
“Never thought of that. Might be a good idea.” She glanced at Paxton. He must have a thousand places he could be other than this porch swing. “I didn’t mean to keep you here this late. You’ve got a long drive back to the ranch.”
“The ranch and the road aren’t going anywhere. This is…” he glanced from David to her, “nice.”
Her heart did that little flutter thing that both excited and scared her. Shaking her head, she looked at her watch. “Time’s up.”
David pulled his bike up to the porch. “I’m tired.”
She almost shouted hallelujah. Some nights, getting him to settle down when he’d spent all day indoors was challenging. Tonight she suspected he was going to collapse before they said their prayers.
The bike nestled into a corner on the porch, David shuffled his feet, hesitating.
“Let’s get going,” Sandra nudged him forward.
The kid’s feet seemed to root into the wooden floor. “Mr. Farraday?”
“Yes?” Paxton stood beside her.
“Can you stay and read me a story?”
Before Sandra could say anything, Paxton spoke up. “I’d love to, sport.”
David’s face could have lit up the neighborhood. “Really?”
“Really.”
For the first time in ages, there was no need to negotiate bath and bed time. David raced into the house. From where she stood, she could hear her son calling out. “Grandma, can I take a really fast bath?”
The words floated out onto the porch and Paxton actually chuckled. How could any one man have so much patience with a child that wasn’t his?
She motioned for Paxton to follow her inside. “Why don’t you have a seat for a minute. I suspect this will be the fastest bath in the history of bedtime.”
