“Then I need to go there. Please.” I add the last word meaningfully, silently apologizing to my driver forsomething I did to my wife. Apparently, my wife has been adopted by every single person in my life, so I have to go through them to get to her.
Another silent nod as he starts the car.
But as we drive, I notice that we’re not headed toward home—we’re going the opposite direction. After a quick glance in the rearview mirror, I decide to refrain from questioning because George looks very determined. I don’t know where my wife would go since she doesn’t have anyone else in the city. Well, besides Jeff. Maybe we’re headed his way. Curiosity about him is second in a queue of things eating me alive.
I lean back and wait, thinking of what I’ll say to her. How I’ll look at her. How I can make sure she understands how sincere I am in what I have to say.
When we stop next to a bus station with a few people leaning on its walls and a homeless guy sitting on the bench, I send George a quizzical look through the mirror. Maeve is nowhere to be seen—so what are we doing here?
He turns around, nodding at the stop.
“I want you to meet Jeff. The man partially responsible for ensuring you have your building back.”
I swallow, glancing between him and the station.
“The homeless man?”
George nods. “He’ll tell you the whole story. But, Ezra,” this is the first time George uses my first name and this tone from his previous job, “I saw her storming in the city building and taking no prisoners when she went after the permit. She was there for you even though she was terrified. I could tell.” A slight shake of his head. “She wanted to give you a surprise and keep your name out of it. She even introduced herself to that Lebovski bastard as Wrong.” This time his eyes find mine and hold them. “You know what I did in my old life, and I’ve seen people do real bad things. Maeve isnot one of them. She’s good to her core.” He smacks his fist to his chest. “But she turned to the bad side, so you didn’t have to.”
With that, he looks away, dismissing me.
She turned to the ‘bad’ side, so I didn’t have to. He couldn’t have said anything else that would gut me deeper. I don’t want Maeve to be introduced to anything bad. I don’t want her around anything dark and illegal, anything that can taint her beautiful soul and mind. I want her to be the way she is.
And how did I return the favor? Accused her of something she’s not even capable of. Even though deep down I’ve known it the whole time. But it was getting too real. Too raw. Too fast. I’m not sure what I expected when I offered her a marriage deal, but falling in love with her was not it.
I didn’t know how to deal with that deep, heavy feeling in my chest, so I pushed her away the only way I knew how. By clinging to the first flaw like a coward.
I’ve got a lot of work to do.
Pushing the door open, I head to the bus stop. The bench next to Jeff is free—people are actively avoiding him. Seeming to be in his early sixties, he has a lot of graying facial hair, a brown beanie, and black jacket. A cart filled with different stuff is parked next to him.
I stride directly to him and plant my ass on the empty spot next to him, making people around stare at me with wide eyes. Jeff slowly turns to me with a raised brow.
“Jeff, I presume?” I ask off the bat.
He nods.
“Ezra King,” I introduce myself and offer him my hand for a shake.
He looks down at my hand and then back at my face. I keep my hand in the air, and he eventually takes it. Lookingat his eyes while shaking it, I get déjà vu. I’ve seen this man somewhere.
“Jeff Bernard.”
The handshaking pauses because I’m gobsmacked. “TheJeff Bernard?”
“I don’t know about ‘the,’ but yes, that’s my name.”
My eyes run over his figure before returning to his face. “How—” I clear my throat. “What happened?”
He narrows his eyes, clearly contemplating if he should say something or not. “Your father happened,” he sighs.
“My father?”
“Yes. He blacklisted me from the paying playing jobs.”
I lean back on the wall behind the bench, confused. This is not what I expected to find here. When George drove me here, I thought he was delivering me directly to Maeve’s door. Instead, I’m with a man I’ve been wondering about for years. My theory about my father going after him turned out to be the truth, unfortunately.
“Was it after that dinner?”
