AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I jump in the car and head over toward the Royal Palms.
This ends now.
CHAPTER 26: JOLENE
I haven’t had a chance to talk to Jonah privately, and maybe that’s part of the problem of living here with Sam. While it’s fun to live with our best friends, Jonah has virtually no private time since he and Cade are always together. And maybe a seven-year-old doesn’t need much private time, but we can’t easily get away to have a mother-son conversation when we’re always in tight quarters with two other people.
So when the movie the four of us were watching comes to an end, I ask Jonah if I can chat with him in my room for a few minutes.
“What’s up, Mom?” he asks as he flops onto my bed.
“I have a question.” I study him. He seems happy, and he also seems like he can’t really sit still. He flops around like a fish on my bed, and I can’t tell if he’s antsy or if he’s just got some extra energy to burn.
Out of the clear blue, I think of the pool in Lincoln’s backyard and how I made this kid take swim lessons from the time he was three months old since so many people have pools in Vegas. Jonah has always loved to swim, but we’ve never had a pool in our backyard. I think of all the extra energy this kid seems to have and can’t help but wonder if a pool would help him expend some of that energy.
It’s been a dream living here with Sam—particularly when I needed extra help with Jonah. But I don’t have that same job now, which means I’ll have more time to be home with my son instead of feeling like I’m constantly finding someone to watch him because of work.
“What is it?” he asks as he finally stills.
And as he tilts his head a little to wait for the question, I can’t help but think…I’m not really sure how to broach this topic.
So I blurt it out. “What would you say if I told you Lincoln invited us to move in with him?”
His little brows pinch together for a beat, and he doesn’t answer right away, making me a little antsy now. Finally, he asks, “Do you want to move there?”
“I want to hear what you think first.”
“Can I ask some questions about it?” he asks.
I nod. “Of course.”
“Would I have my own room there?”
“Yes.”
“Is his house big?”
“Huge,” I admit. “And he has a pool.”
His eyes light up. “And we’d get to see Lincoln more?”
I nod, and I love that he asked that question—as if he wants to see Lincoln more. I do, too. “We’ll see him a lot more. He’ll be traveling a lot for work, but when he’s home, we’ll get to spend a lot more time with him.”
“Yes. Let’s go!” He punches a fist into the air, and I guess that’s kid-talk for yay, awesome. “I think it’s fun living with Cade, but I want a pool,” he says, nodding his head resolutely. “And we can still do sleepovers.”
“Of course we can,” I say, wrapping an arm around his shoulder for a side hug. “I love living here with Sam, too. But we both knew this wouldn’t be forever.”
“Will living with Lincoln be forever?” he asks, and I hear the hope in his voice.
“I sure hope so,” I say, wishing I had a better answer than that for my little boy. “Should we go tell Sam and Cade?”
Jonah nods, and we head out to the family room where they’re still sitting on the couch.
“We’re moving out!” Jonah announces much less diplomatically than I’d planned.
Sam’s eyes dart to mine, and I don’t miss the tiniest bit of hurt there before she asks, “Where are you going?”
“Lincoln asked us to move in with him,” I say softly.
