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I could picture him nodding.
“We could pretend that you’re my friend and get Lucas to join us outdoors.”
Show up at places where Sean and his son are in attendance?
“Like parks and ice cream shops?” I asked, and he agreed after a beat.
I considered that. It did help that my evenings were free and Bruce-less, but I also had a younger brother who needed me. In the distance, a classmate caught up to Henry and stopped to have a quick conversation, and he turned his head a few times to make sure I had noticed. I did, and I gave him a thumbs-up from afar to let him know it was okay.
“So, what do you think?” Sean asked, his voice a distant echo.
Help him get along with his son? I wasn’t sure how I’d even do that, my recent experience with Lucas notwithstanding.
“Why me?” I asked after a moment.
He grunted in confusion. “What do you mean?”
“Is one incident enough to convince you that I’m the person for the job? I mean, there are a lot of behavioral counselors out there who can help. Professionals.”
“I trust you,” he said simply, as though that was all there was to it.
I wanted to ask why, and then I realized why. “Is it because it’s easier to trust someone whose life you’ve seen fall apart in front of you?”
He sighed. “You’re being dramatic. And having a fiancé stand you up on your wedding day isn’tlife falling apartmaterial.”
“I’d argue it is, but let’s move on,” I said in response.
Most mornings, I’d begin my day by admitting to myself that I was broken, and knowing that my expectations for myself were so low, I found it easier to go through my day. We never expected anything from broken people. Sean didn’t know the whole picture; if he did, he would realize just how much my life was fraying at the seams.
Henry’s classmate finally left, and he was coming over. I would get another minute with Sean before I had to hang up.
“But you’re right. I did see you being vulnerable. And here you are, working with me, even after all the crap I gave you at work. I trust you now, Chloe.”
I guessed I should thank him, but it felt like he was painting me as an easy woman. Something I didn’t fancy myself being.
“I was vulnerable that day at the café because everything I’d thought was important in my life left me the moment Bruce bailed on me. Just like how Lucas feels abandoned by the mom he’s probably lived with forever. Even if she’s gone for just a month. So, I’ll think about it because I want to help you—or rather, I want to help Lucas.”
His voice was wry. “Lucas wins over me, eh?”
I grinned. “Are you jealous, Mr. Tassater?”
“I am conscious of feeling a little let down at the moment.”
I laughed. I could picture him in his office, standing by the large, expensive oak table.
“Are you still at work?” I asked.
He had been when I left at five earlier that evening.
“Yes.”
He was probably still wearing his suit, his jacket unbuttoned, looking out the windows at the sky. It was dark out, and we were both looking at the same sky.
“Are you looking at the sky?”
“Yes, always the sky.”
“What about the skyline?” I asked.