Chapter 39
“Daddy…” Jonas tugged at my sleeve gently, his eyes full of hope.
“Jonas, can I join you on the trip?” Lorraine asked Jonas. Her way with children made me wonder if she had studied child psychology.
Jonas looked up at me nervously, biting his lip before nodding. I could tell he was afraid I would be upset, and his uncertainty broke my heart.
I ruffled his hair gently. “Well, let’s all go together.”
As a father, I couldn’t give him a complete family or his birth mother, so I tried to make up for it in other ways.
“But the tickets…” I had only planned for two people as I hadn’t expected Lorraine’s sudden proposal.
“I already bought mine!” Lorraine giggled sweetly, looking slightly embarrassed as she poured Jonas a glass of orange juice. “If you hadn’t invited me, I was planning to go anyway.‘
“We wouldn’t leave you behind, Ms. Sommerton Jonas said, holding her hand and swaying it gently, making Lorraine beam with joy.
“No, we wouldn’t,” I agreed, scratching my head awkwardly and smiling at Lorraine. For a moment, I felt like a teenager in love again–nervous but full of hope.
On the day of our trip, Lorraine showed up at the house to help us pack.
“I’ll handle that,” I said quickly, embarrassed despite being a divorced dad who should’ve been past such awkwardness.
“I said I’d help…” she trailed off, her face turning a deep shade of red as she held a newly opened pack of underwear.
“You’ve helped plenty. Why don’t you check on Jonas instead?” I offered her an escape route.
Grateful for the excuse, Lorraine nodded quickly, her face as red as a tomato. “I’ll go right now!”
I let out a relieved breath once she left. Thankfully, she had left space in the suitcase for underwear, or I would not have known how to pack it.
I had not told anyone about Lorraine yet, thinking we were just friends. But as we boarded the plane, we ran into Yvonne with her own suitcase,
She blurted out, “Cole, you’re also on this flight?
I was puzzled by her words. It sounded like she knew that we were going to travel.
1 looked at Jonas, who appeared guilty. “I’m sorry, Daddy,” he whispered, not meeting my eyes. “Xavier asked me, and I accidentally told him.”
“What’s wrong? Don’t act like you own the beach” Xavier said arrogantly.
“I
“You can go wherever you want,” I replied. Though Xavier was my son and I wanted to be
close to him, his attitude always ignited something in me that burned away my patience and parental affection.
“Whatever, you can’t tell me what to do anyway!” Xavier snapped.
Yvonne’s gaze shifted uncomfortably between Xavier and Jonas. The contrast was stark- Jonas had grown increasingly polite and thoughtful under my care. Meanwhile, Xavier remained arrogant and disrespectful, reflecting poorly on his mother’s parenting. “Cole, I actually hadn’t planned on going to the beach. I…” Yvonne began.
Chapter 10
Chapter 40
