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F ox sat at the kitchen table with a half-empty bottle of beer in one hand and his cell phone in the other.

He’d told himself he’d make this call as soon as Amelia was in bed, but she’d been asleep for an hour, and he was still working up the nerve. He’d finished one beer, started another, and was fidgeting with his stupid phone instead of dialing Jude.

“Make the call, Fox. It’s just a phone call. It’s just a friend. Make the stupid fucking call.”

If anyone in the world was going to understand, it would be Jude. They’d met in a support group for single dads who’d lost their spouses years ago, and by the time Jude moved to Texas, they’d learned a lot about each other. A lot of personal things. Hard things. Jude had heard it all.

With all that history between them, he didn’t know why it was so difficult to reach out now. Maybe it was because Jude was remarried and happy, and he was struggling?

But if he couldn’t ask Jude, he couldn’t ask anybody.

He put the phone down on the table and blinked at it another second, then swiped the screen open and tapped Jude’s name.

There .

It was ringing.

It wasn’t until Jude answered that he realized what time it was.

“Hey, Fox. Long time. Everything okay?”

Right. People with kids didn’t call each other after nine o’clock, so of course Jude would think there was something wrong.

And Jude was right, but that wasn’t how he wanted to start this conversation.

“Hey, man. Yeah. Everything is fine. You know how it is, hard to find time to make a phone call these days.”

“Oh, sure. I bet. Busy, busy. Mr. CEO.”

“Yep. Busy.” He was bad liar. He’d left his job over a week ago.

He’d stayed longer than he should have.

“Hang on, the new baby is sleeping.”

“Oh, shit. I’m sorry. We can talk later, not big deal.” He should have known better.

“No, no. It’s okay. I’m out on the porch now, it’s all good. So… how’ve you been?” Jude’s question seemed to be addressing more than his health.

“Good, good.” He rolled his eyes at himself. You better start telling the truth, you idiot. He took a sip of his beer. “Well, mostly. I’ve uh—well, things are—it’s been a tough… couple of weeks.”

A year . It had been a tough fucking year.

“Oh.” Jude’s tone changed and he hated the sound of sympathy, even if he needed a little of it. “Hey, I’m sorry to hear that. Is it Amelia?”

“Oh, no. No, she’s fine. She’s great.” She’s just way too smart for me to pretend I’m okay anymore. “It’s work, mostly, and… just me.”

“Okay, I’m listening. What’s going on? What can I do?”

He shrugged as if Jude could see him. “I don’t know, man. I need, uh—my therapist says I should get some downtime, preferably out of the city, you know? And I was thinking?—”

“You want to visit? Absolutely.” Jude didn’t hesitate, and that felt pretty good.

“Well, I didn’t think about the new baby when I decided to call.” That might be awkward.

“It’s a big place, Fox. We have guest rooms. Did you want to come now? Or?—?”

“No, Amelia has school. Soon though?”

“Right. You should come when school lets out. Bring Amelia and enjoy the air.”

He took a deep breath through his nose and let it out slowly through his mouth as he’d been taught, feeling some of the anxiety loosen up in his chest. “Would that be okay? I really have to get away from here.”

“Fox.” He remembered that tone. “Come visit. Relax. We have acres of land, miles of sky, and enough clean air to set you straight. Amelia will have a great time in the pool and with the horses. I’d love to see you both.”

He nodded, feeling lighter. “Thank you. I’m glad I called.”

“I am too. If you want to talk—really talk? Call any time, okay?”

“Yeah. Yeah, okay. I will. I’m working up to it.” That was the truth. Finally.

“Good. I’m here for you. Let me know when you’ve made your travel plans.”

“I will. Thanks again, Jude. I didn’t know who else to call.”

“You called the right person. Whatever it is, this is a beautiful place to figure shit out.”

“Cool. I’ll call again soon.”

“Take care, buddy, okay? Goodnight.”

“Goodnight.” Fox ended the call and set his beer bottle down. “Okay.” He took another breath. “Fuck. Okay, that’s a plan. We have a plan.”

It wasn’t much of one. Getting out of New York was the first step, but he had no idea what the second one was.