CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Claudia~
They were discussing Claudia’s Monday morning routine when Ryan raised a silencing hand. “Later. Right now, Jimmy is up to something.” On cue something hit the bathroom tiles with a liquid splat. Ryan hobbled towards the bathroom.
Jimmy had found Ryan’s shaving kit and helped himself. His face was smeared in lather. And so was his toothbrush and shirt. At least he hadn’t cut himself on the razor. His little slitted eyes were twinkling. Claudia hardened her heart against his smiles.
“James Mitchell, what have you done?” she demanded from behind Ryan’s broad frame.
“I’s shavin’,” said Jimmy. Lather plopped onto the floor when he waved his arm.
“You know better than to mess with someone else’s things,” Claudia said.
Jimmy pouted.
Claudia thought it was Ryan’s fault for putting temptation in the way of the child. Ryan winked at her as if he agreed. “I’ll get this cleaned up.” He leaned over Jimmy. “We have to get that shaving cream off your face and your teeth brushed.” He reached for a washcloth.
Claudia left them to it while she made the call to Mom that she had been avoiding.
“What is it?” demanded Virginia, her intuition immediately on high alert. “Is it Jimmy?”
“Sort of.” Claudia swallowed. “His dad has turned up.”
“What?”
“Yeah. He found out about Jimmy and located us.”
“You don’t sound thrilled, sweetheart.”
“That’s because of the awkwardness of the situation,” Claudia assured her. And because she was in love with a dying man. Her voice trailed off.
“Listen, sweetheart,” Mom prompted, “You’re going to be late for work. Spit it out. It can’t be that bad.”
Yes, it could. But Mom was right. She was going to be late and Morley was going to hit the roof. “Remember I said there was no prospect of marrying Jimmy’s father?”
“Of course. Has he changed his mind?”
“Not exactly. I told you we couldn’t get married, because, well, we were already married. Ryan wants us to try again.”
Virginia pounced. “Ryan who?”
“Rutherford.”
“Your father and I will be right over.”
“Mom! I have to take Jimmy to daycare before I go to work. I just wanted to tell you about Ryan before you heard the gossip in town.”
“If you are married to Ryan Rutherford, you don’t need to work at the First and Last – or anywhere else.” Virginia spoke through her teeth.
“Yes, I do.” She was so not going to depend on the Rutherfords. Not after her hard lesson with Dominic.
“You call Morley and tell him you have a family emergency. Your dad and I will be at your place in a couple of minutes. I have a few things I want to say to Rutherford.” Virginia’s phone went dead.
Claudia returned to the bathroom where Ryan was wiping up lather. “Where’s Jimmy?” she asked.
“Changing his shirt.”
Great. Now there would be shaving cream all over his bedroom. “I’ll check on him. My parents are coming over to meet you.” She headed for Jimmy’s room.
He was pulling on a purple sweatshirt to go with his red pants. But she didn’t have time for that battle. There was no sign of shaving cream on his face or furniture.
“Did you brush your teeth?”
He gave her a sly grin. “Yes. My toothbrush tasted funny.” He made a face, but he didn’t look damaged by finding out there were consequences for misusing his toothbrush.
“Didn’t you rinse the shaving cream off first?”
“I did. Daddy helped. But it still tasted funny.”
“I see.” She suppressed her laugh. “You still get to spend three minutes in the naughty spot thinking about the rule you broke. We don’t take or use other people’s things without permission. Do we?”
Jimmy kicked the floor. “No.” His lower lip protruded a little further.
She got him sitting quietly and ducked down the hall to find Ryan. He was wringing out Jimmy’s sodden shirt. “I guess you’ll want to wash this in the washing machine, but I got the worst out. It’s only soap, anyway.”
“Hmm.”
“I heard you tell him to sit for three. We better go see how he’s doing.” Ryan lowered his voice and whispered. “I apologize. I should have known better than to leave my shaving kit where he could reach it.”
At least he knew it was his fault. “My parents will be here in a couple of minutes. I’m going to be late. I’d better call the bank.”
“It’ll be okay. My shoulders are broad.” His voice was steady, but his face was bright red.
Jimmy was sitting quietly, and his three minutes were up. “Are you ready to apologize to Daddy for using his shaving cream without asking?” he asked.
“I’m sowwy, Daddy. But Matthew shaves with his daddy.”
Ryan held out his arms. “Consider yourself forgiven, son. But you are not to touch that stuff unless I say so. Understand?”
“Yes, Daddy.”
“We’ll discuss shaving together another time.” They rubbed noses and blinked at each other. Jimmy rubbed the side of his face against Ryan’s cheek and grinned. What the heck was up with all that nose and cheek rubbing?
Claudia pulled her phone out and had an unpleasant chat with her boss. “I’ll get there as soon as I can, sir,” she finished and hung up.
The doorbell rang. Mom and Dad must have broken all the land-speed records getting here. “I’ll get that,” she said. Jimmy ran ahead and stood impatiently while she unbolted the door and let her parents in.
The three-year-old’s presence was probably all that saved Ryan from instant annihilation. It was difficult for Dad to work up a head of steam with Jimmy babbling in his ear. Ryan held out a hand to Mom, who barely touched it. Dad kept both his arms around Jimmy, but his eyes said it all.
“Come along, Claudia,” Mom said briskly. “You can drop me at my office after you drop Jimmy at daycare. I have patients waiting.”
Claudia grabbed Jimmy’s pack, and her own lunch and followed Mom out to the car. As she buckled him into his car seat, Jimmy began to tell his Grammy about his adventure with the shaving cream.
As they drove off, she glanced towards the lit windows of the lighthouse. No sign of foul weather showed from the outside, but Claudia had a feeling that right now it was raining pitchforks and piss all over Ryan.
“That’s quite a rock you’re wearing,” Mom remarked as they pulled onto the Old Coast Road.