Page 12 of True Honey (The Hornets Nest #4)

COURTNEY

A ugust rolled over and cracked one eye open, catching me already staring at him. I was nervous to tell him, and I wasn’t exactly sure how. He eyed me suspiciously before sitting up in the squeaky hotel bed.

“Why are you watching me sleep?” He asked me.

“Is a mother not allowed to lovingly watch her son?” I argued.

“Maybe when I was six it was endearing. Now it’s kinda Norman Bates-coded,” he said,the Psycho reference not lost on me.

Silas had told me that he could be available whenever to help us move into the apartment and he had written the address down in my notes app.

He had been insistent about us doing it as soon as possible.

Part of me felt bad because there was a good chance he was offering the rush service because he thought we were still sleeping in my car.

He’d written up the contract clearly, and we both signed it after I’d read it over.

We were never to be legally wed, just in show. I wasn’t privy to any of his financials but if I needed anything he would provide. He had snuck in a condition that forbade me from paying rent which felt wrong until I remembered that I had a whole fifteen dollars in my wallet.

Lying to my thirteen-year-old made me feel sick, but it was to protect him, to give him a life he deserved and if I could just spend the next few weeks saving money when this was all over I could get us a real apartment and prove to him, to myself that I was capable of being a decent mother.

“Do you want to skip school today?” I blurted, sitting up in my own bed and chewing on my lip.

“Why?” He leaned forward, clearly very suspicious of me.

“You’re a teenager, you’re supposed to be excited to skip school,” I said with a nervous laugh but August didn’t break his judgmental stare.

I didn’t necessarily blame him, I had a poor track record for keeping him in school and even worse keeping him in one place.

But it wasn’t anything bad this time around.

“I found us an apartment. We can move in today, if you want.”

“Like a real place to stay?” August sat up straighter, suddenly much more interested in the morning conversation. “Permanently?”

“Yeah, Auggie. Permanently. It came with my new job, I’m working for the college baseball team in town.” I nodded, and watched him flush with excitement. “I mean…we’ll have a roommate for a while but just until I can find us something even better…”

“Anything is better than the car or this hotel. It smells like mold in here,” he laughed but a smile formed on his face, one I hadn’t seen in a long time. “Thanks Mom,” he said softly and the sound of his surprised appreciation was enough to bring tears to my eyes.

“I’m going to shower,” I said, my throat tight as I rose from the bed.

I refused to cry in front of him, especially when he was so excited.

“Get dressed and clean up your things, after breakfast we’ll pick up the U-haul.

”While most of our belongings were in the car, we had managed to collect furniture along the way in hopes that one day we might actually find something more permanent.

“Burritos?” he asked, shuffling from the bed. I noddedbefore slipping into the bathroom and pressing my back against the door and rubbing my flat palm against my chest to keep my spiraling into a panic attack.

I inhaled slowly, filling my lungs with air on a count of four, holding it and releasing it with the same count. Trying to get a grip before I cried again.

Today wasn’t for that, today would be good. It had to be, for August.

I gave him so much hope with such a domestic and mundane decision. Something a good parent would have provided from the start and yet, he was just thankful for a chance at a normal life, even just for a little while.

It broke my heart.

I triple checked the map on my phone as we pulled up to the massive iron gates that blocked the mouth of the driveway.

“Mom, that’s not an apartment,” August said, peering through the windshield at the massive manor at the top of the small hill. “That’s a mansion.”

“I’m not even sure this is the correct address,” I scowled and flickered back to my note app again, seeing that it was correct. I chewed the inside of my cheek and flipped through my contacts, searching to see where Silas had put his number and called him.

“ Hello?” he answered and I could hear people talking in the background.

“ Shoot, are you at work?” I asked.

“No, no…” Silas said, he must have moved somewhere quieter because the chatter died down on his end. “Are you here?” he asked.

“I think?” I said, “you said it was an apartment but I’m staring at a massive house that looks like it belongs in a horror movie…”

“ Welcome to the Nest,” he laughed, but I didn’t get the joke and the awkwardness surged between us over the phone. “ I’ll open the gate…” He said after he had stopped nervously laughing.

The iron bars clicked open and swung inward leaving me room to enter, “thanks,” I said, hanging up the phone and pulling the car up the driveway with the small U-haul attached to the back. Silas was standing on the porch in a hoodie, looking more casual than I’d ever seen him.

“Who is that?” August asked.

“My new boss,” I sighed and cut the engine on the car. “And our new roommate.”

“I regret skipping school to get murdered,” August muttered, apprehensive.

“Be polite, Auggie. Keep the serial killer jokes to a minimum, ” I warned and climbed from the car.

“Sorry about the gate, we’ve had to keep it closed lately, usually it’s a free for all…” Silas said, turning to look at August as he rounded the car and leaned ag ainst the hood. “You must be August.” Silas stepped down off the porch and held out his hand for him.

I cleared my throat when August didn’t move to shake it, “I’m sorry it’s still pretty early for him…” I apologized with a nervous smile.

“The guys call me Doc, or…” Silas sighed, narrowing his eyes up into the sun, “Grandpa…”

That made August smile in amusement, a tiny echo of laughter tumbling from him. He pulled off his headphones and stared Silas down for another second and stuck his hand out finally, “Auggie,” he said.

“I like that,” Silas said with a nod. Thankfully one of us was comfortable in the situation because I could feel my skin crawling with the lie that I had told August and it was only making me feel worse.

I took a long quiet breath and forced a bigger smile when they looked over at me. “I know you said that the apartment was furnished but we had some things in the U-Haul and then I can work on finding storage…”

Silas clapped his hands together, “right yeah,” he said, turning to look at the open door behind him. “Tour first? Then if you have heavy stuff I can get some of the guys to help.”

“Guys?” I asked, I knew that he worked for the University but I hadn’t actually dug much into the living situation. My only thought was getting August into a stable situation, not stopping to think that maybe my decision was brash and dangerous.

“Better to show you…” Silas laughed but I didn’t find the humor in his surprise. “Follow me,” he said.

August looked over at me nervously and I gave him a tiny smile of reassurance before wrapping my arm over his shoulder and leading him into the house.

“Holy crap,” August said, audibly as surprised as I was. The house was all dark, polished hardwood and restored Victorian architecture.

“Wow,” I gasped and Silas turned back to look at us.

“This is Dansby House,” he said with a proud smile. “You’ll hear the team call it the Nest, but before you panic, it’s not a frat house.”

He had taken the words right out of my mouth and I eyed him cautiously, a silent, you’re going to have to prove that statement quickly passing between us.

“The only parties that happen here are in family birthdays and small celebrations, we don’t keep booze in the house, and the guys are all pretty behaved give or take a few.” He explained, showing us the massive living room stocked with a few nice couches and a massive television.

“How many players live here?” I asked him.

“Almost all of them,” he answered. “But you won’t even hear them. Between practice, therapy, classes and games… They keep pretty busy.”

“Right,” August said, “so we’re moving into a dorm?”

“No, no,” Silas said quickly, “my great grandfather and grandad had the house built years ago to give the team and staff housing away from the university. A couple of years back I had the basement converted. The apartment is downstairs. It has its own entrance.”

“So you guys are rich?” August asked, and I felt my entire body turn to ice in embarrassment, but Silas just laughed.

“The fan favorite term is stupid rich ,” he said, smiling over his shoulder at us.

“I just wanted you guys to be familiar with the main house. You’re welcome to come up here whenever.

The T.V. is bigger and usually Tucker has a stash of ice cream you can get into.

” He led us into the kitchen which was beautiful and somehow looked brand new but vintage all at once.

“This is the door to the apartment inside the house,” he pointed to a door that I had assumed was a closet.

“There’s a door at the bottom that has a deadbolt so you never have to worry about anyone coming down there.

To be honest sometimes I think they forget that I live downstairs… ” he said with a smile.

“No we don’t.” A young blond kid wandered into the kitchen with a smile on his face that screamed trouble. “Cael Cody,” he said, holding a hand out to me. “Who’s this?” he asked.

“Drew… Courtney, and my son, August,” I said, taking his hand. He looked over at August with a softer smile before leaning against the massive marble island in the middle of the kitchen.

“They’re renting some of the rooms in the basement,” Silas said.

“Strapped for cash, Grandpa?” Cael teased and Silas eyed him with an annoyed look. “I’m going to go find Dean and Josh. We’re supposed to help Ella with something for Arlo’s birthday tonight but they went missing an hour ago and I’m pretty sure they’re—”

Silas cut him off. “Get!”

“Gone.” Cael scurried away with a laugh, swiping a rogue hat off the hooks at the back door and disappearing.

“He’s funny,” August said when the door clicked over and I turned to look at him with a sigh.

“He’s a big kid,” Silas said, clicking the basement door open. “Come on, I’ll show you downstairs before everyone gets home.”

We followed him down to the basement and it was like stepping into a different world.

It was bright downstairs, the walls were painted a neutral color and the lights around the apartment were loud and all on. Upon entry there was a long, pristine gray and marble kitchen with running cabinet lighting and a massive steel fridge way too big for one man.

The living room was off to the right of it, with a huge modern but cozy looking sectional, covered in pillows with a television that barely looked smaller than the one on the main floor.

The floor was a lighter gray wood panelling that matched the color of the wall and turned the entire apartment into a stone box.

“Your rooms are back here,” he said, leading us past the living room to a hallway, “Auggie, this is you.”

“I get my own?” he said, looking at me and I nodded, watching the smile on his face grow with excitement.

It had been a while since we could afford an apartment that provided him with his own space.

The room was smaller but had a comfortable looking bed and was dressed in dark sheets and a red comforter.

I looked over my shoulder from the door as August made his way inside and set his backpack on the bed. I looked at Silas who was leaning on the wall behind me with a distant, proud look on his face.

“You too,” he said, his gaze lingering.

He pointed to the room next to August’s.

When I opened the door, it was immediately clear that this room was the master.

It was massive and it smelled faintly of the cologne Silas was wearing.

I stepped inside, taking in the king size bed and clean white comforter.

The row of windows along the back wall looked out to the back of the house.

There was a dresser with a small lamp and a fluffy rug that looked like it would tickle the bottom of my feet.

“The dresser is empty, there’s a bathroom,” he said, and stepped into the doorframe behind me. I inhaled at his proximity, his chest against my back as he leaned over and extended his arm to show me. “Over there.”

I moved in the room just to create distance and ran my hand over the bed, the soft fabric so smooth under my fingertips. I turned as he wandered inside.

“I’m just down the hall. You’ll barely even notice me.”

“Thank you,” I said and he nodded.

“Did you put my number in your phone?” he asked me, clearly a little lost in the conversation and feeling nervous about everything. I nodded and he gave me a satisfied hum. “There’s a dinner for one of the coaches upstairs this evening. You and Auggie are more than welcome to come get some food.”

“Mom!” August appeared in the doorway, his hair messy and his face full of excitement. “There’s a projector screen in my room!”

I smiled at August. “That’s incredible,” I said, looking back to Silas as August returned to his room. “Really?”

“I swear it’s always been there,” he said. “Two days ago that was my home gym…” He smiled at me.

“You didn’t,” I sighed. “We could have shared.”

“You’re paying for two rooms,” Silas countered.

I wasn’t paying for anything , I wanted to say but stayed quiet.

“Just unpack, get comfortable… if there’s anything you or Auggie want that isn’t in the fridge there’s a little notepad…

” he started to back away, giving me some space to breathe, “on the fridge…”

“Got it,” I said, with a nod.

“Dinner is at seven,” he added, clapping his hand on the doorframe.

“Seven,” I repeated back to him.

“If you need any help with the boxes…” he lingered, still staring at me as I shoved my hands into my pockets.

“I’ll text,” I said quietly. That was enough to finally send him on his way .

I waited until I heard the click of the main door before turning back to the room and looking it over.

I hated the sticky feeling of my guilt but as I walked back to check on August it subsided and a smile formed on my face seeing him unpacking his backpack into the side table drawers by his new bed.

One little lie, just to give him a home.

I could do this. If it got too intense, I could always explain to August what was happening, but until then I would let him have a moment of bliss after years of struggle.