“Career,” Ty echoed as the reality of his conversation with Eliza closed in around him. Without his input his legs carried him back to the kitchen table and dumped him in a chair. “Right.”
Henry tilted his head at him. “What?”
Of course—Eliza wouldn’t have told him anything, even though he was her husband. “Uh, it looks like I kind of have to move into my dad’s place temporarily for….” He waved his hands. “I don’t know. Insurance reasons I guess.” Though in theory, couldn’t he roll the dice? If the place burned down, oh well?
Maybe… but if someone decided to sue him because they got hurt, he’d be hosed. Ugh.
“Which means you’re looking for a new job,” Henry finished, and Ty could see the wheels in his head turning.
“Just don’t try to make me Eliza’s secretary.” They’d kill each other inside a week. “I’m a danger to myself and others if I have to sit still for too long.”
“I do remember your teenage years, yeah.” Henry tilted his head. “What have you been doing for work?”
Eliza hadn’t told him that either? Ty spared a moment to be a little bit glad about that. His job was the one thing he’d managed to get right, and he wanted to make someone proud of him. Nothing ever would’ve been good enough for his dad, but—“I’m a paramedic. Uh, for four years now. I actually just got a promotion.” Which he’d have to give up unless he could con someone into letting him take an indefinite leave of absence. He’d have to talk to his union rep. He could probably get a couple months unpaid for bereavement, but he would still need to work in the meantime. Not for monetary reasons—Eliza had explained he’d have access to some of his dad’s accounts as executor—but because he would lose his mind if he didn’t have something else to do.
Henry’s eyes widened. “Hey, good for you. That sounds like the perfect job for you.”
Ty warmed at the praise. “I mean, it’s not like I’m a doctor or anything, but it’s important, and I-I’m good at it. Keeping a cool head in a crisis. Which, believe me, I know that’s ironic becausecool headis not something any of my teachers would’ve said about me.”
Henry laughed. “No, I think Mrs. Murphy in particular—”
“I did notblow upthe chemistry lab,” Ty protested automatically with a grin, falling into the old banter.
“You did singe off your eyebrows, though.”
Ty sniffed. “It was the fashion.”
“Uh-huh.” Henry shook his head. “Well, if you’re bored, I could use another set of hands at games and practices. Someone with good first-aid credentials? Even better. I can’t pay you for it, but—”
“That sounds great, actually.” Anything to get him out of the house. “Turns out my schedule is wide open.”
“Well, I’m sure it’ll fill up. You just let me know.”
Fill up with what, Ty wanted to ask. By now all his high school teammates either thought he was a loser or they’d forgotten all about him. He was an only child and now an orphan. His parents didn’t have much family either. Ty was the last. The closest thing he had to friends right now were Henry and Eliza—a whole generation olderthan he was—and the stranger who’d seen him at his worst and taken pity on him to make sure he didn’t show up to his father’s funeral reeking of bourbon.
Maybe he should get Ollie’s number from Eliza, call, and… what? Apologize? It wasn’t Ty’s fault his dad died.
He shook off the thought and refocused on the conversation at hand. “So, baseball. How’s the team looking this year?”
Chapter 3
OLLIE ONLYmeant to take Theo to the playground. It was supposed to be a nice afternoon where Theo could be a normal kid. A slide, some swings, a merry-go-round that made Ollie dizzy with memory just looking at it—and he flew heavy machinery for a living.
Or he used to.
Unfortunately for Ollie, his sister happened to be at the park withherkid, and shehappenedto text his mother a photo, and now instead of a nice Saturday at the park with his kid, he was having a less relaxing Saturday at the park with his kid and his mom.
It wasn’t Cassie’s fault. She hadn’t realized Theo was in the shot.
“Oliver, you know we’d love to have you—”
“Mom.” Ollie tore his eyes away from Theo’s attempt to swing over the top of the swing set and called upon years of military discipline to keep his voice even. Who knew that would have so many real-world applications when it came to his family? “I’m not moving in with you. We need our own space.”
His mother had never met a weakness she wouldn’t exploit to get her way. “Your father and I have plenty of room now that your brothers and sisters are out of the house. And it would give us a chance to get to know your son.” Ollie had had to physically intervene to keep her from going right over to Theo when she arrived.
“That is not what I meant, Mom.” He shook his head. “Besides, Theo isn’t ready for that. He lost his mother a few months ago. He’s only just starting to trust me, and I’ve known him since he was born.” Not that he’d been there for it.It’s complicateddidn’t exactly describe the relationship between Ollie and Theo’s mom. They were friends who’d had an IVF baby. As an asexual woman, she hadn’t wanted a partner; as a former foster kid, she’d wanted a sperm donor who’d be there for her kid if something happened to her.
Neither of them expected something to happen to her.
