Page 83 of Boss of the Year

“I’m fine,” Lea cut me off quickly. “There’s enough to keep me and the kids afloat for another few months at least. And I’ve already started applying for other positions. Something will come up.”

I wanted to argue, but I knew that look on her face. Lea’s pride was a fortress, and pushing would only make her retreat further.

“How are the kids doing now that school has started?” I asked instead.

Lea heaved another exhausted sigh. “Tommy’s already been in two fights. He was suspended two days into the school year. His teacher thinks he’s depressed, but they can’t do anything for him either. I mean, yeah, of course the kid’s depressed. His dad just died.” She rubbed a hand roughly over her face. “He just misses Mike so much, Marie. We all do. And I don’t know how to help him. I don’t know how to help my own son!”

The pain in her voice broke my heart. “Lea…”

“I’ve been thinking more seriously about leaving the city.” Her words coming faster now, like she needed to get them all out.

“You told me that before, but I thought it was going to be Chicago or maybe Pennsylvania. Joni mentioned you applied somewhere in Utah?”

“God, she’s such a gossip. But…yeah, maybe? I saw another thing in Iowa that looked kind of interesting.”

“Iowa? What would you do there?”

“Manage a business, just like I did here. Run a house. People in small towns like families, right? Maybe if I move someplace in the middle of nowhere, the people will be a little more forgiving of a single mom with four kids.”

She sounded bitter. Like it was her last resort.

I wished she would take some money from our wealthier siblings, but I knew it wasn’t even worth my time to suggest it.

“I wish I could be there for you,” was all I could say.

“You are,” Lea replied, managing a wobbly smile. “Like you said, you’re listening. And you’re not judging like everyone else is. Joni said I was just watching too muchYellowstone, the little brat.”

I smirked. “Well, you would make a hell of a Beth.”

She snorted. “Beth couldn’t even have kids. Beth would laugh at someone like me.”

“I think she’d probably kick someone’s ass for you. Just like we all would.”

At that, she had to look away for a few seconds and wipe a tear from her eye. “Some days, I don’t feel very strong. I feel weak. Like all the freaking time, I feel so weak.”

I wanted to jump through the computer and give her a hug. “I get it. I really do. I feel weak all the time too…” I trailed off as I realized that wasn’t true. Not lately. Not anymore. “Maybe going away would be good for you after all. Maybe what you need is to get out of your comfort zone. Jar yourself into something new.”

Lea looked at me again, her expression caught between exhaustion and hope. “Yeah.” She sighed. “Maybe.”

There was a pause. Not awkward—just full. Heavy with the weight of everything we weren’t saying.

“Well,” she added, “right now, you’ll have to run away for both of us.”

I opened my mouth, but she held up a hand.

“No, listen—while you’re out there being brave, do it all. Eat the weirdest food. Get lost and don’t panic. Have an affair with someone too beautiful to trust. Do everything you think you’re not supposed to before it’s too late.”

I let out a soft laugh, but she didn’t smile. Her eyes were serious.

“Don’t just see it for you now, Mimi. See it for me. Do it all for me. Please?”

That did me in.

“I will,” I promised thickly. “I swear.”

After we said our goodbyes, I sat in the quiet, phone warm in my hand, her voice still echoing in my head.

Outside, Japan shimmered like another world waiting to be cracked open. Bright, strange, full of stories I hadn’t lived yet.