The Country Guesthouse (Sullivan's Crossing #5)(8)

“I didn’t know that,” Hannah said.

“Did you know about the tattoo?” he asked.

“I did!” she said with a laugh. “I thought she was crazy to do that.”

“She was gonna do one more,” he informed her. “One you could see without pulling her pants down. It was gonna be for me.”

“Awesome,” Hannah said. “Just knowing that she wanted to do that is almost as good as if she did.”

“Almost,” he said quietly.

“She read all the time, late into the night. She didn’t watch too much TV. If it was a good book, she would read at stoplights. She would tell me about every book she was reading and she couldn’t fall asleep until she did one more page, one more page, one more page. I do that, too. Do you love to read?”

He shrugged his shoulders as she watched his reflection in the rearview mirror. “My mom used to read to me.”

“We’re going to do some reading together this summer, okay? We’ll find amazing, wonderful books about adventures and stuff and we’ll read together. We could go to the nearest library. Maybe you’ll catch the bug. But for right now, watch for a McDonald’s. I’m thinking fries.”

“Yeah, I could think that,” he said.

And Hannah said a silent prayer. Oh, please, God, help me with this. I am not good enough for this boy, at least not now. He deserves better.

  Their first day of driving was long, and the second day they got up early, had a big breakfast and hit the road running. Noah spent a lot of time with his headphones on, watching movies or falling asleep, and they didn’t stop as many times as they had the first day. When they were within an hour of the house, Hannah pulled into a grocery store lot. “Almost done for the day, kiddo,” she said. “We’ll need some groceries. And I need your help because I’m not sure what all your favorite foods are.”

“’Kay,” he said, unstrapping himself from his safety seat.

She went around to help him out of the SUV’s back seat but he brushed her hands away and managed to get out on his own. He might be slow and stiff-legged, given the braces, but he was confident and self-sufficient. They loaded up on groceries and headed for the house. “I hope you like this place,” she said, buckling him in. “It’s beautiful. It has lots of books. And we have Netflix so maybe tonight we can watch a movie.”

“’Kay,” he said.

“You pretty tired, buddy?”

“Yeah,” he said. “I was wishing Mom could come.”

“Me, too,” Hannah said. “But we’ll have fun, I think. There’s a campground on the other side of the lake and I met the people who run it. We’ll check it out. Maybe there will be kids there, camping with their parents. Maybe you’ll make friends.”

“Maybe,” he said. “Usually I just have Linda’s kids or the teachers because...” He stopped and shrugged.

“Because?” she pushed.

“I’m not very fast,” he said.

“You’re getting stronger and better every day. We’ll work at it, Noah. Your mother said you wouldn’t have to wear the braces forever. She said your condition is mild, that you’ll be walking without braces before you know it.”

“I’ll know it,” he said.

“Let’s buy all of our supplies and then we’ll get set up at the house and plan our adventures,” she said.

It wasn’t long until they pulled into the clearing and she watched Noah’s reaction to the majestic cabin. “Look at that,” he said, straightening. “It’s like a castle! Made of logs!”

“Isn’t it beautiful?” she asked, thrilled to her very marrow that she had somehow pleased Noah. There it sat atop a long lot that sloped ever so slightly toward a crystalline blue lake, a wooden dock stretching out from the shore. There was a small building that looked a little like a stable that she guessed it was the owner’s shop and guesthouse. “Wait till you see it inside!”

“And look at that lake!” he said. “Are there horses in that barn?”

“I’m afraid not,” she said. “That’s where the owner works.” But at that moment she’d cash in her retirement for horses for Noah.

She came around to his side in case he wanted help to get out. But, once again, he brushed her aside. He was happy and excited to be done with the drive. And just as Noah was getting out, a very large dark brown dog appeared. His ears were upright and pointed, his legs spindly, and his head was square with a wet pink tongue hanging out of his mouth.

“Whoa!” Noah said, hanging on to Hannah so he wouldn’t fall. “Hey, look at you,” he said, just as the Great Dane stuck his wet nose into Noah’s face. “You’re bigger than me!”

There was a whistle and a shout. “Romeo!”

The dog backed away, looking for all the world like he might be embarrassed.

“Hi. Ms. Russell?” a very tall man asked. “I’m Owen Abrams.”

“Oh, hello,” she said. “I didn’t know I’d see you today.”

“What kind of dog is that?” Noah asked.

“This is Romeo. He’s a Great Dane,” Owen said. “He’s very nice and extremely friendly but you have to watch out—he can be clumsy and he’s so big it can be a catastrophe. He loves kids and sometimes he loves them too much.” Right on cue, Romeo almost licked Noah’s face off. But Noah laughed wildly and immediately put his arms around Romeo’s neck.