Ryder who remained close behind.
It wasn’t until I slowed to make a right onto my mother’s street a couple blocks up that he finally gunned it and wound around me, the engine roaring as the streak of metal flew down the street.
I reminded myself it was none of my concern where he was going, or more importantly, who he was running to.
Ryder was my friend. And I could rest satisfied in that, even though that friendship was always going to be bittersweet.
“Mommy, I see you!”
My heart nearly exploded as I hurried up the walkway toward my mother’s porch, my spirit as eager as my feet as I climbed the two steps to where Kayden was at the screen door.
His little face was smooshed into the mesh, a distorted smile grinning back at me.
“I see you,” I sang in return, and I reached down to caress his cheek through the screen.
My mother’s soft laughter filtered through, and she appeared behind him and reached over to flick the lock. “He’s been standing here waiting for you for the last thirty minutes.”
Affection swelled. So intense as she opened the screen door and Kayden came rushing out, his arms thrown in the air. I picked him up, and he squealed and kicked as I lifted him high, before I brought him down to smother his adorable face in a thousand kisses.
I made sure to add in a bunch of smooching noises for extra effect.
Little hands gripped me by the cheeks, the child giggling like mad.
This.
This was my meaning.
Where I’d found the greatest joy, as unexpected as it’d been.
“Hey, Mom. Sorry I’m late,” I told her.
“No need to apologize,” she said as she widened the door for me to enter. “You’re just in time. Dinner is almost ready.”
“How was he today?” I asked as I tucked my squirming toddler onto my hip and followed her into the house.
“Tasmanian Devil, that one,” she tossed over her shoulder as she walked through the living room that was a complete disaster, thanks to my little bit of mayhem, and into the kitchen.
I set him down in the middle of the mess he’d made. “It sounds like you have some cleaning up to do.” My voice was gentle as I knelt in front of him and dragged the basket for his toys over.
“I hungee.” He grabbed his belly in both hands.
A soft chuckle got free, and I brushed back the same rebellious lock of brown hair that always fell over his eyes. “You have to clean up before you eat.”
“Do I has to, Gammy?” he hollered like his grandma was going to come to his rescue.
She moved to lean against the jamb of the wide kitchen entryway, crossing her arms over her chest with a tease dancing on her face. “Um, yes, you has to. You destroyed Gammy’s house. Blew it down like you are the Big Bad Wolf. Now you have to put it back together again.”
He howled with laughter, and he started running in place and puffing out his cheeks, spluttering as he blew between his adorable full lips. “I bwow it down! I bwow it down!”
I glanced at my mother.
Tenderness was knitted into her expression, woven with the lines that were just beginning to show on her face. Her eyes a warm brown that always met you with a sweep of soft encouragement.
Love squeezed me in the deepest place.
“You’d better get at it so I can help your gammy finish dinner. It looks like you’ve worn her out,” I told my son, glancing at my mother again.
Her curly brown hair was frizzy, her white tee dappled with stains. But she still always managed to have a smile on her face.
“Okay, Gammy, I hurry and help you.” Kayden shot into action, grabbing his toys and tossing them into the basket, only he was doing it so fast, half of them tumbled out on the other side. I picked those up and put them inside while my mother hovered at the entryway.
“How was your trip into Poplar?” she asked.
I blew out a sigh. “Fine until I ran over a nail or something on my way back. Got a flat about twenty miles out.”
Worry pulled through her features. “Why didn’t you call?”
It seemed everyone was asking me that.
“I had it handled. Besides, Ryder happened to be out for a ride, so he stopped and finished the job.”
She tsked a sound of surprised disbelief. “That boy always seems to know when you’re in trouble, doesn’t he?”
I couldn’t keep from rolling my eyes. “He didn’t know I was in trouble. We just happened to be in the same place at the same time.”
It wasn’t like he had some sort of sixth sense about me.