I quietly stood up from my chair and headed across the room to slip out of my office, shutting the door behind me. I headed to the bathroom and did my best to wash up in the sink. I used a washcloth to wipe the important areas then dressed. With an ample amount of dry shampoo, I was able to get my hair to look somewhat presentable.
I applied some makeup with the hopes that it would distract from my ill-fitting clothes. When I was done, I stepped back and surveyed my work. I looked…homely.
Especially when I compared it to what Cole wore.
I shook my head as I cleaned up my things from the bathroom, and hurried over to my office to wake up Jasper and get him some breakfast. I’d learned my lesson yesterday morning. It was better to get up early instead of trying to scramble to hide all the evidence that we’d slept here the night before.
Cole nearly found us out yesterday. He would have, had I not insisted that he take out the garbage as soon as he walked in the door. That had given me just enough time to shove all of our belongings under the couch so that I could put them away during my lunch hour.
I wasn’t going to make that same mistake again.
My phone chimed before I walked into my office. I stopped right outside of the door and pulled my phone from my pocket. My heart sank when I saw it wasn’t a text from Doug.
Zoey:Am I picking Jasper up from school and dropping him off at the diner again?
I nodded, grateful that this girl was so helpful.
Me:Yes, ma’am. If that works with your schedule.
Zoey:Absolutely! Happy to help!
Jasper was slow getting up. He groaned and flipped to his other side when I tried to shake him awake. I let him rest for a minute before I attempted to wake him again.
“Jasper,” I whispered into his ear.
He groaned again.
“You gotta get up, buddy,” I said as I moved to sit next to him on the couch. I pushed his hair away from his forehead.
He yawned and peeked through one eye. And then he slowly opened the other one. “Mommy?” he asked as he finished his yawn.
“Yeah, love bug. Time to get up.”
He shifted his weight before he used both hands to push himself up. Once I was certain that he wasn’t going to fall back asleep, I left him to finish waking up while I started boiling some water for oatmeal. I’d picked up a pot from the thrift store and a few staple foods while I was out last night. I didn’t want Cole to find out that we were living here or have any reason to suspect that we were stealing food.
I knew where the boundaries were, and there was no way in hell I was going to cross them—even if Cole wasn’t in the picture.
Once the water was at a rolling boil, I dumped the oatmeal in and set it to simmer. Jasper was in my office, playing with a few plastic dinosaurs. He put up a fight, but eventually I won and he reluctantly followed me into the bathroom, where I washed his face, combed his hair, and got him dressed.
The oatmeal was cooked but way too hot to eat when we walked out of the bathroom. I pulled it off the stove to cool before I headed into my office to pick up our things. It was six thirty by the time I’d served up the oatmeal and set both bowls on my desk.
If Jasper picked up on my nervous energy, he didn’t show it. Instead, he was watching his show on his tablet while spooning the oatmeal into his mouth.
I, on the other hand, was a nervous wreck as I waited for Cole to arrive for the morning.
My heart started pounding when I heard the back door open. I held my breath as I waited for Cole to appear, but my nerves crashed down to earth when I saw that it was just Brody. I must have startled him, because when he passed by my office, he came to an abrupt halt, his eyes wide as he swept his gaze over me and Jasper.
“You’re here early,” he said as he moved to stand in my doorway.
“Yeah, thought I’d get this kid up and moving this morning.” I reached out and tousled Jasper’s hair. He shifted to the left to get away from me, all the while keeping his gaze on his device.
“Everything okay?” Brody asked as he folded his arms and leaned against the doorframe.
I glanced up at him. “Yeah, why?”
He shook his head. “You’ve just never been here this early.”
I forced a relaxed smile. “I’m great. Just being the early bird.”
