Page 30 of The Road Back Home

“I’m sorry, Ash, but yes.” His face screws up, cheeks reddening, and I rush to stem the oncoming tantrum. “Okay, how about this. Just a few minutes, okay? Just a few minutes with the other kids and all the fun toys. If you don’t like it, I’ll take you back home. I promise.”

Ashton frowns, but the tantrum has vanished from the horizon.

He lets me wrap my hand around his, and I lead him into the room.

Though he stays pressed against my thighs, his gaze darts around the room, taking in all the sounds and sights.

I encourage him gently until he peels himself away.

Ashton looks at me over his shoulder a few times, but he continues shuffling toward the corner where a little girl plays with a bucket of building blocks.

His attention is ensnared by the clatter of the blocks as they tumble to the floor, and my lips curve into a smile when he no longer looks at me.

When he pays more attention to the toys and not to his fear.

Annie and Josh smile at me as I pass to slip out of the room. I hesitate in the hallway, listen for any sound of distress from my nephew. Upon hearing none, I find I have no excuse to linger. So I inhale unsteadily before turning toward the far end of the building.

I discover that, as soon as I’ve completed the training required of me, I truly enjoys my job.

Being in the same building as Ashton but unable to care for him takes some getting used to, and it’s harder than I thought to be in charge of children unrelated to me.

But overall, the job brings no complaints.

Until it’s two weeks in, and someone taps on the hood of my car as I am pulling Ashton from his seat.

I jump, a yelp breaking in my throat, and he frowns up at her.

I force a smile I hope reassures him then turn my gaze to the man standing on the sidewalk.

Brushing a stray curl out of her face, I nudge Ashton to the side so I can close the door.

“Hi,” I say though I go no nearer to the man. “Can I help you?”

His lips curve upwards in the corners, and I suppress a shiver.

The man tucks his hands into his pockets, shrugging awkwardly as he approaches.

“Yeah, I, uh, I’ve seen you around these past couple weeks, and, well, I just dropped Lily off to her class, saw you out here, figured I’d ask if you’d like to go to dinner sometime. ”

My mind stutters to a standstill. All thoughts flee like roaches in a sudden burst of light.

My hand rests on Ashton’s shoulder, my fingers holding him tightly, even as he squirms and protests.

I stare, slack-jawed, at the man who’s staring at me, waiting for an answer as if he hasn’t just asked something so—

“Inappropriate,” I squeak out before coughing quietly. “That is—This is neither the time nor place for you to ask me out.”

“You’re right,” he concedes, head bobbing. “Normally, I wouldn’t be so bold. I just haven’t been able to get you out of my mind, so I figured I would take the chance.”

My gaze casts wildly about for anyone to notice, to intervene, but the other parents are busy corralling their children toward the front door. Swallowing thickly, I shake my head.

“First off, we don’t know each other. Hell, I don’t even know your name, and I don’t want to ,” I tack on when his mouth opens. “And cornering me at my car during drop-off is an unacceptable method for you to proposition me.”

“That’s what a date is for, to get to know each other.”

He shrugs again. The smile on his face is clearly meant to be benign and charming, but it only throws klaxons in my brain into a screaming red-alert.

I release Ashton’s shoulder in favor of wrapping my fingers around his small hand.

He glances up at me with eyes confused under furrowed brows.

I smile down at him before shaking my head at the man. The man who’s so close— too close .

“I’m not interested,” I snap out as bile creeps up my throat.

“You said it yourself, we don’t know each other. I could be your Mister Right.”

“I said no.”

I tug on Ashton’s hand, and we round the back of my car in a rush.

His little legs scramble to keep up with my longer strides, and I hurriedly press the lock button on my fob.

The SUV beeps twice, but I don’t look back even after I’m inside the building.

Something tells me I’m overreacting to a simple invitation for dinner, and why hadn’t I just told the man I’m in a relationship?

All I’d had to say was “I’m dating someone already”, right?

But, another part of me counters, why should I have to rely on Holden’s existence in order to reject someone successfully?

Why should the man only respect my ‘no’ if it comes with a side of “I already have a man in my life”?

I deserve respect on my own merit, and it infuriates me to think that the man wouldn’t think the same.

My coworkers don’t question it when I ask—Annie leads Ashton to room 2 where I wait at the end of the day, and Gloria tells me when Lily’s father has picked her up.

Josh walks with Ashton and me to the car and stands on the sidewalk until I’ve pulled out of the lot before he goes to his own car.

This level of precaution is unnecessary, definitely an overreaction.

The man hadn’t been threatening in any way, just pushy, but I can’t shake the discomfort of the situation he’d put me in.

Holden ambles into the kitchen as Ashton and I come in from the garage, and he crouches down to catch the toddler speeding toward him.

I hang my bag and our jackets on the hooks embedded in the wall before turning to watch my boyfriend and my nephew.

Holden’s smile is wide, eyes soft, as he listens to Ashton’s animated chatter.

His gaze cuts to my face, and a brow rises at whatever he sees on my face.

I shake my head but know I can’t keep this from him.

“Hey, Ash, why don’t you go play so Auntie Dee and I can talk, okay?”

“’Kay!”

Once Ashton is preoccupied in the living room with his toys, Holden leads me to the kitchen and leans backward against the countertop.

I go willingly into his arms, let him hold me to his chest. The tension in my body bleeds away with the contact.

His heart beats steadily under my ear, and I close my eyes as the sound soothes me.

“What happened?” he asks quietly, and I sigh and let my fingers press more firmly into his back. “Sweetheart?”

“There’s this guy, a dad of one of the kids, and he just…

He made me uncomfortable. Like, I’ve seen him all the time since I started working at the center, even though his daughter is four so he shouldn’t have been at our end of the building, so I was starting to think it isn’t a coincidence. And today…”

“What’d he do?”

“My ribs don’t need realigned, Holden.”

“What?”

But his grip loosens. He doesn’t release me, though, and I blow out a slow breath. “He asked me out,” I finally say; the words burn on my tongue, or maybe it’s the bile that lingers at the base of my throat.

“Oh? When’s the date?”

“That’s not funny. It didn’t feel like he’d accept my ‘no’.”

Holden quietly clears his throat. “Sorry, sorry. You’re right, it’s not a joke. Does anyone else know?”

“Yeah, and I’m gonna tell Tara tomorrow morning. This way, if I go missing, y’all know where to look first.”

“And you say I’m not funny,” he grumbles, and I giggle shortly before pulling away.

“It’ll be okay. It’s just not been a fun day. I was—Holden, I was honestly kinda scared he’d, like, follow me home or something.”

“Well, you’re safe now, sweetheart. And if he comes back tomorrow and even so much as looks at you sideways, come home, alright? Don’t worry about your job, don’t worry about anything other than keeping you and Ash safe.”

“I will.”

“Good. Now, why don’t you go upstairs and take a bubble bath to relax? Ashton and I can get dinner ready.”

“You sure?”

“More than sure. Go, silly girl.”

I nod once, brush a kiss to his lips, then head to the stairs. I stop with one foot on the bottom step, watch as he joins Ashton in the living room, listen as he immediately starts playing dinosaurs with the toddler.

The words are easy to think. Three words, eight letters. So easy to run through my mind—fill me to the core—but so impossible to say aloud.

I love you .