Twenty minutes later his boy finally fell asleep. Vic lowered him to the pillow carefully and stretched out next to him. Amazing how he thought he’d already lived through all the grief possible in the past three years...
When Vic opened his eyes next, it was seven in the morning. Jeremy was still asleep. Vic rolled off the bed and hurried into his bedroom to shower and shave. When he’d dressed, he went back to Jeremy’s room to wake him up, but his son wasn’t there. Fear that he might have run away had him dashing through the house until he found him in the kitchen with Claire.
“Hey, Dad? Claire says to come and eat.”
He breathed slowly in the hope of bringing down his heart rate. His gaze met Claire’s. Vic hadn’t heard her come home last night. “Mmm. It smells good.”
“We’re having pancakes and little pig sausages.”
Those were Jeremy’s favorites. The normal way he was behaving right now made it hard to believe he’d had a meltdown last night.
“It’s the last day of school. I thought we ought to celebrate the occasion,” Claire commented and brought coffee and food to the table.
“Claire said she’d drive me to school, Dad.”
“How about we both take you?” Vic could still make his appointment with Dr. Marshall on time.
“No. That’s okay. She’s going to pick me up, too.”
Which meant Claire’s one o’clock interview would have to be over in time to pick him up. After what happened at school yesterday when Vic had stood in the doorway of the classroom, his son clearly did not want his father anywhere around today. Something was going on inside him. Vic knew better than to argue with him. After Claire brought him home from school, Vic would drive him to the appointment at the hospital.
Claire had gone over to the stove. “Do you want another pancake, Jeremy?”
“No. I’m full.”
“Okay. Then brush your teeth and we’ll go.”
He ran out of the kitchen. Vic cleared the table and walked over to Claire, who’d dressed in jeans and a lavender lace blouse that did wonders for her figure. “Will you be back here by ten thirty? I need to fill you in on a few things. We didn’t get a chance to talk after you came home last night.”
Her eyes flicked to his. “I know. When I went to his room, I saw you asleep on the bed next to him. It was very sweet the way he was cuddled up next to you.”
“If you’d come in earlier, you would have heard him sobbing because you’re going to leave us. Do you want to know what he said to me? You could scare her, Dad, and tell her that if she doesn’t stay, I’ll run away.”
Vic watched her eyes film over before she looked down in distress. “I—I’m glad he has an appointment with the therapist today,” she stammered.
“Me, too. I have a plan for tomorrow and I want to know what you think about it. Meet me out at the barn after my appointment.”
She nodded. “I’ve been worrying about this weekend, too.”
Before he could say anything more, Jeremy appeared in the kitchen. “I’m ready, Claire. Let’s go.”
“Okay.” She grabbed her purse and they started for the door leading to the garage.
“How about a hug first?”
Jeremy ran over and gave Vic one before following Claire out the door. Vic walked through the house to the front door and waved to them as they backed out on to the street and drove off.
Once they were out of sight, he locked up the house and left for the hospital. Dr. Marshall expected Vic to be punctual. He arrived with no time to spare, wondering what would be accomplished in this session.
“Good morning, Vic. Come on in.”
“Thank you.” He took a seat in front of the doctor’s desk.
Dr. Marshall cocked his head. “How hard has it been not going to work?”
Vic rubbed the back of his neck. “To be honest, my son is going through such a terrible time, all my thoughts have been on him. He knows Claire is leaving us soon, and he’s not handling it well at all. Last night he cried for so long I got worried. He’s threatened to run away, or else go live with my sister-in-law and her husband. I’m hoping Dr. King can help me deal with him. We have an appointment this afternoon after Jeremy’s school.”
“Good. I believe he’s suffering from the same anger issues you have, but he handles them differently.”