CHAPTER SEVEN
BRIDGETTE WRESTLED WITH guilt as she washed up and dressed after learning that Louie had a bellyache and had just thrown up. She’d been having the most magnificent night she’d had in years when she should have been with her son.
“I’ll drive you over,” Bodhi said for the second time.
“Bodhi, I appreciate the offer, but it’ll just raise questions that he doesn’t need to think about.” She’d been a single mother long enough to handle a puking kid, but she loved that he’d offered to help.
He took her by the shoulders with a serious look in his eyes. He was back to Bodhi, neighbor, with an undercurrent of something more.
“He knows I’m your neighbor, and he’s . . . five?”
“Yes.”
“Then hopefully his mind isn’t attuned to the nuances of adult romance yet. All he’s thinking about is being in Mommy’s arms. If he throws up on the way home, you’ll have to pull over to help him. Besides the fact that he could choke in the car, it’s not safe for the two of you to be alone on the side of the road this late at night.”
She stumbled over his thoughtfulness. “It’s Sweetwater. It’s not like anything’s going to happen.”
“Bridgette,” he said firmly. “I’m sure you had a few drinks tonight, right?”
“Yes, but—”
“I’m driving you. No one will know there’s something between us.”
“Something . . . ?” Something secret? That was a horrible thought, but it was what she needed when it came to Louie.
“All anyone will see are two friends. The fact that we happen to be more—at least tonight—doesn’t have to be common knowledge. I care about you and Louie, and I’ll be here for you while I can.”
Why did it sting to hear him say this would be kept between them, when it was exactly what she wanted? She wasn’t even sure it was what she wanted, but it was what she needed where Louie was concerned.
“Come on.” He took her hand and headed upstairs.
“Bodhi, when he’s sick, he’s really clingy and whiny. He won’t want you anywhere around him. He won’t even let my mother take care of him.”
He gave her a deadpan look as they crossed the yard toward her house. “Where are your keys?”
“I keep a house key under the potted plant out back.”
“Not anymore you don’t.”
He proceeded to lecture her on safety while they retrieved her keys. If any other man had tried to tell her what to do, she’d probably have told him that she’d do what she wanted, when she wanted. But it didn’t feel like Bodhi was trying to control her. She knew this was the rescuer in him coming out. The man who had seen worst-case scenarios and tried his best to help others avoid them.
They picked up Louie, and he threw up twice on the short drive home. Bridgette was thankful Bodhi was there, enabling her to sit in the backseat with Louie.
“I’ll carry him up. He’s half your size.” Bodhi reached for Louie before she even finished unlatching his seat belt.
“He’s really particular about—” She was silenced by the sight of her son reaching for Bodhi. He rested his head on Bodhi’s shoulder, looking impossibly safe and small in his arms. Her heart had been working overtime around Bodhi, but this . . .
“Can you unlock the door?” He handed her the keys. “I’ll clean up the car after he’s tucked in.”
“I’ll clean the puke off the floor after he’s asleep. You’ve done enough.”
He gave her that don’t-argue-over-this look again, and some part of her that was buried way below the proud mama she’d grown to be didn’t want to argue. That part of her reveled in his insistence, accepting his thoughtfulness for what it was and not seeing it as a slight to her abilities.
Forty minutes later, with Louie cleaned up, tanked up on children’s Tylenol to bring down his fever, and sound asleep, she headed downstairs. She found Bodhi pacing the kitchen floor and heard her washing machine running.
“I threw his dirty clothes in the laundry, and the car’s clean.” He crossed his arms, his eyes drop-dead serious again. “Who fills in when you can’t work?”
“Um.” She hadn’t even thought about tomorrow yet. Her mind was still catching up on tonight’s events. “No one right now. I’m looking for help at the shop, but I’ve been too busy to interview.”
“I’ll take care of it tomorrow. Just give me a key and tell me what needs to be done. I’m sure I’ve done it all at my mother’s shop.”
“Bodhi.” Her head was spinning. “You’ve got enough on your plate, and you’ve done more than you should have already.”
He gathered her in his arms and tipped her chin up, a motion that had already become familiar. “You can’t leave that sick little boy with a sitter.”
“He’ll be fine. My mother will come over.”
“You said he won’t put up with anyone but you when he’s sick.”
He really had listened to every word she’d said. She should accept his offer, but she was already too drawn to him. Accepting his offer would only make him harder to resist. “For a guy who doesn’t want a relationship, you’re acting very boyfriendish.”
He ground his teeth together and went back to pacing, leaving her to regret the comment she hadn’t meant to say out loud.
“I’m sorry,” she said, and he stopped pacing. “I didn’t mean that the way it sounded. We’re really fine.”
He nodded curtly. “I hope he feels better soon. Remember to lock up after I leave.”
Her footsteps echoed in the silence after she locked the door behind him.
Later that night Bridgette stood in Louie’s doorway seeking solace to help camouflage her discomfort and trying to bury the emotions Bodhi had unearthed. She felt horrible for shutting him down when he was trying to be helpful. But she couldn’t allow herself to get attached to Bodhi any more than she could allow her son to. She’d made the right decision, even if it felt like she’d pushed away the best thing that had happened to her in years.
And I thought he was the one with the walls.