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She watched as Eli sucked in a big breath and let it out. Trent laughed even harder.
“I think my mother would say that was like looking in the mirror when I was that age.”
“Let me guess—you talked a lot,” she said.
“I still do. Or so I’m told. And now I know why you had no problem going into the men’s room.”
She felt her face flush over that. “I didn’t think anyone was there,” she said. “The building was pretty much empty.”
“True,” he said.
“Mom, can I have a snack?”
“Sure,” she said. “They are in my drawer or there are some things in my bag.”
“That’s fruit in your bag,” Eli said, frowning. “And your drawer is just granola bars or oatmeal.”
Nothing like airing out her eating habits in front of the one man she was the tiniest bit interested in after six years.
“Sorry, buddy,” she said. “Grandma will be here soon and then you can have lunch. It’s just a snack.”
“There’s a vending machine by the bathroom,” Eli said.
Trent was still there smirking at her. She could tell he was enjoying this.
She wanted to tell her son no but didn’t want to come off like a mean mother either.
But she didn’t want people to think she was a pushover.
And why did she care what someone thought of her parenting when she knew damn well she was doing a great job.
She heard the phone ringing through the door. “Eli, I need to get that.”
“Mom,” Eli said. “Can I get something from the vending machine when you’re done?”
“I was just going there myself,” Trent said. “How about I treat your son to something as a thank you because you’ve been so helpful to me? This would be helping you out so you can answer the phone without you getting a kid in your face with his hands in prayer.”
“How did you know I did that?” Eli asked, his jaw dropping.
“Looking in the mirror,” he said. “Go answer the phone. I’ll have him back in three minutes. Starting now. We can run, right, Eli?”
11
Another Direction
Eli took off and he had an “oh, shit” moment, not thinking that would happen before Roni could even agree to it.
Trent had to run and go after the kid that was now in his care.
He caught up with Eli at the machine. “I want that big chocolate chip cookie. E6. That’s the first letter of my name and my age.”
He didn’t know if the kid could have a cookie or not, but since he had some kind of logic to what he wanted, he’d let Eli explain it to his mother and hoped he was able to retain some of the skin on his back when she was done with him.
He pulled his credit card out as he half looked at what was available.
“I’m not sure what I want. What else is good?” he asked.
“Hurry,” Eli said. “Three minutes or she’ll come find me.”
