Sometimes Tyler surprised me. Maybe I didn’t know much about kids, but he seemed older than four years old.
“I coughed with my mouth closed and I washed my hands like Mrs. Miller told us to,” he added. “I didn’t mean to get Mom sick.”
“Your mom will be fine. We’ll take good care of her. Sound like a plan?” I ruffled his hair to lighten the mood. “Besides, it’s your mom’s fault for loving you too much.”
He arched his eyebrows at me and gave in to my silliness. “Can loving someone too much make you sick?”
It does when he doesn’t love you enough back. It hurts like hell.
I squashed those thoughts and simply said, “Not that kind of love. Come on, I’m starving. Want to help me make some chicken soup?”
“Can I stir it in the big pot?” He tugged me out of the chair.
Chapter Six — Game Time
While Tyler and I made chicken soup and turkey and avocado sandwiches, Abby went to her room to lie down.
“What’s an interview?” Tyler tried to talk and slurp at the same time, and dribbled broth down his chin.
I wiped my mouth with a napkin and handed him one across the table. “An interview is like a meeting. You meet the person who is doing the hiring and you talk. For example, she asked me questions about where I worked before, and I answered. I asked them questions too. Now I wait to see if they want to hire me.”
Tyler stuck out his tongue in concentration, carefully peeling the crust off the bread. “What if they hire you? Are you going to leave us?”
“No, silly. That’s a whole different story. Drink your soup before it gets cold.” I jerked my chin to his bowl.
He relaxed his shoulders. “Oh, good. I like it when you stay with us. Mom smiles more. And you play video games with me.”
Something warm tugged my heart. “I like staying with you too.” I tapped his nose. “And I like playing video games with you.”
Tyler offered a huge grin. “Is Mom going to eat?”
I glanced at the closed bedroom door and took a bite of my sandwich. An avocado slice squeezed out the other side and fell on my plate. I picked it up and shoved it in my mouth.
“She’s resting right now. I’ll check up on her later. She’ll eat when she’s hungry. Don’t worry about her. You got better, right?”
“Yup.” He kicked his dangling feet and got back to eating.
I stared at Tyler, surprised how much he had grown up. He was close to five. A year ago, he’d answer my questions and the conversation was mostly one-sided.
Abby was right. He was growing up quickly. It felt like a blink of an eye. I wanted to spend as much time with him as I could before heading back to my life in LA. I still hoped something would come out of the two interviews, but the first one hadn’t panned out and I should be realistic.
In truth, I probably wouldn’t take the second job if they offered. The salary wasn’t close to what I was getting paid and they hadn’t factored in the cost of living adjustment. But I didn’t have the heart to tell Abby.
“After dinner, after we clean up, we can play your favorite game. What do you think?”
“Okay.” He furrowed his brow. “Auntie Kate, have you heard of a game called Unicorns versus Skeletons?”
“Yes. It’s one of my favorite games. I have it on my phone.”
“You do?”
“It might be hard to believe, but grown-ups play games too.” I swallowed a spoonful of hot soup.
“But Mom doesn’t play any games.”
“Some grown-ups don’t and that’s okay.”
Tyler ran the crust of his bread around the plate like a train. “My friend Jace, his dad plays video games with him. Do you think my dad would have played with me?”
Oh, my heart. I had to pause because my breath caught. “Yes, Ty. He would have done many things with you. You two would’ve had the best time.” I kissed his forehead, blinking away the tears pooling in my eyes.
I had spoken the truth. Abby had told me Steve had been a hands-on dad. He’d helped with changing diapers and even burping his son. And when Tyler had gotten older, he’d taught him how to catch a ball and had read to him often.
Steve had been an ideal husband and dad, the kind I hoped to find one day when I was ready to settle down. I’d thought Jayden might be the one, but turned out he was more into getting noticed by other women.
“Can you show me how to play better?” Tyler nibbled on his sandwich.
“Sure.” My heart hurting for his loss, I would bring down the stars for him if it would help him feel better.
“Am I going to school tomorrow?”
“Yes. I’m going to take you.”
“You are?” Tyler opened his mouth wide. “Yippee. I can’t wait for you to meet my friends.”
After we cleaned up, Tyler followed me to my room and stood in front of me while I sat on my bed.
He beamed like sunshine and handed me Abby’s tablet. “I practiced a little when you were at your—what’s that word ... inner ... no—interview. My friends are good at it, especially Jace. And Bridget started playing it and she’s really good too.”
“That’s okay. Everyone is different. Maybe Jace is better because he played longer than you. Let me show you some tips.” I patted my comforter.
Tyler plopped beside me and leaned closer, his brown eyes wide and his long eyelashes blinking. When he looked at me like that, I saw Abby. She wore the same expression when she was uncertain.
I tapped the home button. Then I pressed the Unicorns versus Skeletons app. The game popped up with a catchy tune.
Tyler and I laughed and bobbed our shoulders to the music, sometimes bumping lightly into each other. There were unicorns on the left and skeletons waiting to attack on the right. In between were flowers lined in rows.
“Attack.” Tyler clutched his hands together in anticipation.
I rapidly tapped the screen. The unicorns’ horns touched the flowers. After the flowers turned golden, they opened up their petals then swallowed the nearby skeletons.
“The trick of the game is not to panic and to concentrate only on the flowers that are in front of the unicorns,” I said.
“Ohhhh.” Tyler’s eyes grew wider and moved his fingers near mine, mimicking my movement.
“Would you like to play?”
“Nah. I’m not good at it.” He shook his head and curled his lips downward.
“Just because you’re not good at something, does that mean you stop trying?”
“No.” He dipped his chin lower, as if embarrassed.
“I can help you.”
Furrowing his brow, he chewed on his bottom lip. “Okay.”
I guided Tyler at first, but he began to maneuver the unicorns on his own. Tyler whooped in the air when he cleared stage one. A glowing rainbow arched across the screen.
“I did it!” He bounced on the bed, so I seesawed next to him.
“See, you can do anything. You just have to try.” I gave him a high five.
“You’re right,” he said with the same excited tone, passing the tablet to me. “It’s your turn, Auntie Kate.” When the flowers ate the skeletons, he chanted, “Eat it, eat it, eat it.”