“We’re trying now,” I offer, knowing it’s not really what she wants to hear. She wants to hear that we made a mistake. That we failed our son. That we could have fixed it.
But I don’t know if that’s the truth. Eventually, I believe she would have left. She would have realized how small her life was. She would have broken my heart if I hadn’t beaten her to it.
“You’re right,” she caves, her voice small.
Silence settles between us like a late winter fog. Thick. Unshakable.
And even though I know I shouldn’t—I know better—I reach for a tendril of curled auburn on her cheek. Slowly, I slip it behind her ear, my knuckles ghosting along her cheekbone.
Her hazelnut eyes grow impossibly large.
She doesn’t pull away.
Her lips part, and for the briefest moment, I swear she leans in.
I open my mouth to tell her how attracted I am to her, to confess that I never stopped wanting her—when my door slams open and I nearly jump out of my skin.
“Jules,” my dad’s voice rumbles through the office. Like a wrecking ball. “What a… surprise.”
I watch the walls immediately go up as she turns to face him, her expression smoothing into something indecipherable.
No. No, don’t shut me out again.
“Hi, Mr. Banks,” she offers.
“To what do we owe this… intrusion?” The old man gives her a snarky smirk.
“Dropping off lunch,” she says before she turns to me. For a second, she hesitates. Just a second.
And then, in another shocking twist, her hand reaches for mine.
Her fingers squeeze mine gently, just for a moment, but it feels like a promise.
Then, she steps around my dad and hurries out the door.
I’m still standing there, my hand tingling, when my dad scoffs.
“Can you believe her?” He shoves a thumb over his shoulder, disgust evident on his face. “That woman is a plague that won’t fucking go away.”
And something inside me snaps.
“That’s the mother of my child you’re talking about,” I warn. My voice is sharp. Unrelenting. “Knock it off.”
He holds up his hands in mock surrender. “What’s crawled up your ass?”
“What do you want now?” I ask him as I head back to my desk to my waiting lunch. Jules made this for me. I refuse to let his bullshit ruin it.
“Susan says you’re not going to the presentation tomorrow with the pharmaceutical company,” he gets straight to the point.
“I have my own meetings and presentations to worry about,” I tell him.
“You’ll go with her,” he instructs. Like I’m some goddamn intern. “And you’ll drive.”
I lean back in my chair, my posture relaxed, my voice anything but. “No.”
His eyes darken. He doesn’t like being told no.
“Do you want me to fire you?” he threatens.
