Reclaim My Heart by Donna Fasano Page B

half a dozen kids his age, and he held his head a tiny bit higher when he’d told them how Jasper had complimented him on his sense of rhythm. Apparently, her son was adept at playing the water drum. Gourds, dried in the sun until their seeds rattled, were also used as musical instruments. Tyne had been surprised—shocked, actually—to hear that Zach had been enticed to also try learning a dance step or two.
    Even this morning, as they sat around the kitchen table, Tyne and Lucas sipping coffee, Zach continued to recount his experiences between bites of crunchy breakfast cereal.
    “I’m glad you had a good time,” Lucas told him.
    Zach nodded. “I can’t wait until next week. Alice Johnson is going to teach us to make fry bread.”
    Tyne placed her palm under her cup, the ceramic warm against her skin. “I didn’t know you were interested in cooking.”
    Her son swallowed a bite of cereal and scooped up another spoonful. A fat drop of milk hung on his bottom lip and he swiped it away with the back of his hand. “It’s not the cooking I’m, like, interested in really. It’s finding out, like, what kind of food my people like to eat.” His gaze darted to Lucas. “It’s okay to call them ‘my people,’ right?”
    A smile flitted across Lucas’s mouth. “Of course. You’re part of the Lenape family.”
    “Some of the kids talked about getting together this weekend,” Zach continued easily. “Maybe play some ball or something.”
    “You’re making new friends.” Tyne set her coffee on the table. “That’s great, Zach.” She went to the refrigerator and pulled out a carton of orange juice. “Listen, how about we spend the day together?”
    Her son looked at Lucas. “Sure. What are we going to do?”
    “No, not all of us, son,” Tyne gently clarified. “Just us. You and me. Lucas said we can borrow his car.”
    Gray clouds seemed to roll in as Zach stopped, frowned, and stared down into his bowl of milky flakes. “I dunno.”
    Before he could outright refuse, she smiled brightly. “I’ll take you anywhere you want to go. There’s a mall in Lancaster. I’ll buy you a new t-shirt. Or I’ll take you to a movie. Maybe we could find a comic book shop. Music store. You name it.”
    He toyed with his spoon the whole time she talked, glancing up at her through hooded eyes, then just as quickly looking down again. “My shirts are fine. Don’t really need anything.”
    “Oh, come on, Zach.” The pleading she heard in her tone annoyed her. She’d never thought she’d have to beg her kid to spend some time with her. “We’ll have fun.”
    Zach’s gaze narrowed on her. “We can go anywhere? You mean it?”
    She nodded emphatically. “Like I said, you name the place.”
    The last thing she wanted to do was have her nerves frayed to ribbons by two hours spent sitting through a loud, space-age movie that would surely bring on a headache, but if it meant she could have some alone time with Zach before and afterward, she’d just have to take two aspirin and suck it up.
    “I want to see the high school where you guys, like, met. Where did you say it was? Broken Mills or something?”
    “Oak Mills,” Lucas supplied.
    Tyne couldn’t have been more stunned had Zach tossed his bowl into the air and splashed milk onto the ceiling.
    Zach focused his attention on Lucas. “Didn’t you say that’s where Mom grew up?”
    Lucas nodded slowly.
    Zach nodded too, looking up at Tyne. “That’s where I“Thˀs whered like to go.”
    Feeling as if all the blood had drained from her face, Tyne struggled to find words to express the thoughts zipping through her head. She took a moment, turning and setting the carton she held onto the Formica countertop. Then she opened a cabinet and took down a glass with deliberation. Orange juice gushed from the container into the glass, making a small mess, which she ignored. She picked up the glass and turned back to her son.
    “Are you really sure that’s what you want