Pretend I'm Your Son
STORY
Just for Today, Be My Son
By Dr. Sarah JenkinsApril 28, 2026Page 1 of 5
Chapter 1: Just for Today
"Would you pretend to be my son?" she asked. "Just for today."
The diner went quiet.
Six bikers sat around the corner booth, broad men in leather vests and road dust. The woman standing beside them looked completely out of place. She was in her late fifties, wearing a pale coat that had once been expensive. One pearl earring was missing. Her hands were shaking, but her voice still held together.
The biker leader looked at her carefully.
His name was Caleb Stone, though most people called him Reaper. He had spent years becoming the kind of man strangers avoided.
"Lady," one biker muttered, "you picked the wrong table."
Caleb lifted one hand, and the man went silent.
The woman swallowed. "Please. I just need you to sit with me, say I am your mother, and leave when he goes. I can pay."
Caleb frowned. "What kind of man makes a woman ask strangers for a son?"
Before she could answer, the diner door slammed open.
A man in a dark suit stepped inside, rain on his shoulders. His eyes searched the room until they found her.
"There you are," he said.
The woman went pale.
"Mrs. Harrow," he said, walking closer, "this has gone far enough."
Caleb placed his coffee cup down and stood.
The suited man stopped.
Caleb stepped between them.
"You looking for my mother?"
The words changed the room.
The woman looked up at Caleb, and for one second, her face showed something too close to recognition.
The man smiled thinly. "Mrs. Harrow is unwell. Her husband sent me to bring her home."
"I am not going back," she whispered.
The man pulled out a document. "Evelyn Harrow has been declared emotionally unstable."
"That's a lie," Evelyn said.
Caleb looked at her. "Why did you pick me?"
Evelyn's hand tightened on his vest.
Outside, black cars rolled into the lot.
She whispered, "Caleb, I am sorry."
May you like
He went still.
She had never asked his name.
