The Summer of No Attachments by Lori Foster

Author:Lori Foster
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HQN Books
Published: 2021-04-19T12:39:06+00:00

* * *

Ivey saw the hands of the wall clock tick past 9:00 p.m. She really needed to head home, but she also hated to go. Seated on the floor behind the coffee table, she and Justin competed in a video game. So far, he was skunking her. Badly. Of course, he’d played before and she hadn’t, but still...he was only ten. Why couldn’t she grasp the movements? Her driver kept wiping out, while Justin’s gathered points right and left.

Sitting behind her on the couch, Corbin said, “He’s really good at this.”

“Hush, you’ll distract me.” And at that moment, she wiped out for the final time. “Argh!” Dropping the controller, she collapsed back against Corbin’s legs and groaned dramatically.

Triumphant, Justin crowed, “I won!”

“Yes, you did.” Ivey mussed his hair. “Done in by a child!”

“I’m ten, not a child.”

“I’m more than three times your age,” she pointed out. “That makes you a kid.”

“Huh-uh.” Coming up to his knees, his hands on the cushion beside Corbin, Justin said, “My mom said I could take care of myself now.”

Silence landed like a thunderclap. Ivey stared at him, horrified, then she reassessed. Surely his mother had said that in some logical context, maybe in encouragement. “She did, huh?”

“Yeah, she said only babies wanted their moms to take care of them.”

The horrid disclosure made Corbin stiffen even more. Justin said it in such a nonchalant way, there was no doubting the truth.

“Let’s see,” Ivey mused, hoping to free Corbin from his tension-induced disbelief. “I’d say you’re old enough to take responsibility for some things. Like brushing your teeth without being told? And making sure Daisy has food and water?”

Justin shrugged. “Mom said I could watch myself, too.”

Corbin practically jumped on that. “Your mom left you alone?”

“Sometimes.” Full of energy, Justin bounced on his knees. “When she had to work or if she had a date. But it’s okay cuz I’m ten, now.”

Tension vibrated off Corbin. “Where did Darcie work?”

“I don’t know.” Justin turned as Maurice and Daisy trotted over to him, trailed by the puppies. “She worked at night, though.”

Gently, Ivey asked, “When it was dark?”

“Yeah.” He no longer looked at them, choosing instead to focus on the animals. The jubilant victory of moments before seemed forgotten.

Ivey didn’t want to press, not with him looking so withdrawn, as if he realized he’d blundered into a sensitive topic.

Corbin must have realized it, too. “Ten is getting up there, but as your dad, I enjoy taking care of you.”

Justin shot him a quick look. “You and Mom are different, huh?”

“Yes,” he agreed. “Very different.” Then he went one step further and said, “I won’t ever leave you alone at night.”

“Why not?”

“For one thing, it’s dangerous.”

“Yeah, Mom said the same thing. She told me I should come in and lock the door before it got too dark, cuz if I didn’t someone might steal me. But sometimes I’d forget.” Hugging Daisy close, he whispered, “The lights in our hall didn’t work so it was a little creepy at night.

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