Joy sighed. And then because she had to make sure he knew where she stood, she said, “I don’t want to make any assumptions here, and I’m not asking you to tell me anything, but if there is something more than friendship between you and my son, I’m completely okay with it.”
He blinked, and his mouth worked as if he were trying to figure out what to say.
Joy held her hand up. “Really, don’t say anything. I’m certain if there is something for me to know, it’s a conversation I should be having with Kyle whenever he’s ready for it. I just wanted to make myself clear, okay?”
Jackson nodded and then smiled. “Okay.”
Joy stood and made her way across the room. The boy she’d known since he was five years old looked up at her. She smiled down at him and opened her arms wide. “I think it’s time for a hug, don’t you?”
He let out a chuckle and got to his feet, embracing her in a bear hug. “I love you, Mrs. L.”
It was what his mom had told him to call her when he was little, so she didn’t correct him again. Instead, she held him tightly and said, “Thank you for being here for Kyle. I love you, too.”
Chapter Four
The phone rang, startling Joy out of a deep sleep. She sat straight up in bed and glanced around, looking for her phone through blurry eyes. It had been late when she and Kyle got home the night before, and by the time she got him settled back in his old room, it had been well past three in the morning. Then it had taken a couple hours for her to finally get to sleep.
She wiped the sleep from her eyes and squinted at her clock. It was just past eight. Three hours wasn’t nearly enough. She grabbed her phone, glanced at the screen, and then answered. “Grace? What’s wrong?”
“Nothing’s wrong here,” her best friend said impatiently over the line. “I’m calling to find out why I had to hear from Lex that Kyle was in a car accident. Is he okay? What happened?”
Joy yawned, but then her lips curled into a tiny smile. It was good to have friends who cared so much. She just hadn’t thought the rumor mill would’ve been spinning quite that early. But then she should’ve known it wouldn’t take long for Grace to learn about the accident. Her niece, Lex, was good friends with both Jackson and Kyle. Jackson had probably called her the night before. It wouldn’t have taken long for Lex to call Grace. “He’s okay. Or at least he was last night when I put him to bed.”
“He’s there at the house?” Grace asked.
Joy nodded even though Grace couldn’t see her as she climbed out of bed and dug around in her dresser for her favorite yoga pants. “Yep. He’ll be here for a while. He has a fractured tibia and is in a cast. He’s not supposed to put any weight on it, and those stairs at his apartment just aren’t going to cut it until he gets some of his mobility back.”
“I’m coming over. I’ll make you guys breakfast,” Grace insisted.
“Grace, you don’t have to do that. I’ll—”
“How much sleep did you get last night?” Grace asked.
Joy heard a door slam on the other end of the line as she said, “Not enough.”
“That’s what I thought. Don’t try to talk me out of it. I’m already on my way. I’ll be there in fifteen.”
The call ended, and Joy felt her heart swell a little. What had she done to deserve such a good friend? She glanced at her phone, checking for a message from the production assistant who texted her every day with any changes to the filming schedule. Sure enough, they’d rearranged filming to give Carly a few days off, and that meant Joy didn’t need to be there until the afternoon. She let out a relieved sigh that she wouldn’t be working a long day.
After brushing her teeth and running a brush through her hair, Joy made her way into her large kitchen and went straight for the coffee pot. There was no way she was getting through the day without copious amounts of caffeine. Once she had the pot going, she went to Kyle’s room and knocked softly. When there was no response, she cracked the door open and peeked inside. When she noted that Kyle was missing from the bed, she opened the door wider and called, “Kyle?”
There was no answer. Of course there wasn’t. His bedroom didn’t have an en suite bathroom. Where exactly did Joy expect him to be? Hiding in the closet?
She walked through the four-bedroom house where she’d spent the last thirty years raising her family, checking each room for her youngest child. Now that her marriage was over and each of her children had moved out, the place was far too big for just her, but she hadn’t considered moving. The beach was just a few blocks away, and she’d turned her backyard into a haven with a lush garden, outdoor firepit, and a porch swing where she’d spent many hours reading.
And the backyard was exactly where she found her son.
Her lanky, blond-haired kid was sitting wrapped in a quilt on her swing, holding a paper coffee cup from the Pointe of View Café. He was slumped down with his left leg propped up on one of the other deck chairs. “Hey,” she said softly, taking a seat on the other side of him.
He’d quickly moved the excess blanket covering the bench seat, and when she was settled, he offered it to her.
“Thanks, sonny boy.” Joy draped the blanket over her thighs and smiled at him, trying not to wince at the purple bruises all up and down his face. She nodded at the cup. “Did the coffee fairy drop that off for you?”
He snorted. “You could say that. Jackson gave it to Lex to bring by when she stopped in this morning.”
“Lex has already been here?” she asked.
He nodded. “She had an interview for the assistant manager position at Point of View this morning. She thinks it went well.”
“Really? That’s good.” Lex was a recent college graduate in hospitality management. But finding a job in her field had been challenging, and she’d spent the last six months working at her girlfriend’s family deli.
“I hope she gets it. She’d be great.” He took another sip of his coffee as he stared straight ahead. But she was certain he wasn’t seeing her late-blooming sunflowers. He was lost in his own thoughts.
“How’s your leg today? Were you able to get much sleep?” she asked, gently placing her hand on his right knee.
Kyle shook his head. “Not really. I drifted in and out, but even with the pain medication, the dull ache and awkwardness of the cast kept me from really sleeping.”
“I’m sorry, honey. I know everything is awful right now. But it will get better.” She hated that her reassurances sounded so dismissive. “I’m sure it sucks to be back at home with your mom taking care of you.”
He lifted his gaze to hers and in a quiet voice said, “I don’t mind. It’s kind of nice to be home, actually.”
She blinked at him and then chuckled. “Really? I’m sure in a few days you’ll be dying to get out of here.”
He just shrugged and went back to staring at her garden.
Joy swallowed a sigh because she could tell there was something more than just his injuries bothering him. She hadn’t seen that look on his face since his girlfriend broke up with him the day before his seventeenth birthday. He was heartbroken, but she had no idea over who. “Kyle?”