“How much does she charge you?”
“Twenty an hour,” she replies.
“I’ll be sure to tell accounts to pay you for her cost.” I step into my office as I hear her yell out, “You don’t have to do that.”
I don’t reply.
She’s a single mother, and every penny counts.
Plus, she seems to be good at her job.
Even if I’m not that fond of her.
“Sir.” I look up to see Jacinta at my door, a sandwich in her hand and a soft smile on her face. “I got your lunch. But to let you know … Adam’s here.”
“Show him in.” She turns to leave. “And Jacinta … please stay.” She nods and walks out and returns a moment later, with Adam standing next to her.
“I didn’t think I would see you so soon.” I stand and shake Adam’s hand.
“I figured I should come here personally to sign the papers, and I was also hoping to see Miss Leigh again.”
I turn to look at Jacinta and see her smiling at Adam.
“It was a pleasure meeting you,” Jacinta says very smoothly.
Adam smiles and I can tell he likes what he sees.
Before anyone can say another word, my office opens, and Rylee walks in, two children with her holding one with each hand. Winter runs straight for me, and a boy not much older than Winter runs to Jacinta and wraps his arms around her legs.
“Oh, sorry, I didn’t realize you had a meeting,” Rylee says and goes to call Winter back, who I have picked up and is wrapped around me like a monkey. I love this kid so fucking much.
“No, no meeting. Just thought I would come and meet more of the staff,” Adam says, and Rylee’s eyes narrow.
“Hi, Adam. I’m Rylee. Beckham’s sister. So nice to meet you.” Rylee offers her hand, and Adam shakes it before she turns back to me.
“Your niece?” I nod, and he smiles. “It’s what I’m after, a family business.” He turns back to Rylee, then looks to Jacinta, who’s kneeling down whispering to who I guess is her son. “If you send me the papers, I will sign them immediately. Looking forward to working with you all.” Adam strides out, and Jacinta doesn’t even lookup.
Rylee steps over. “A kid pushed Winter over at school. Oliver saw it and pushed the kid back. He got into trouble for it,” Rylee says.
I peer at Winter to see her grinning at me. “You okay?” She nods as if nothing happened and snuggles into me. When I lift my head, Jacinta is wiping tears away from her son’s face as she stands and pulls him into her side.
“Do you mind if I leave early?” she asks, holding her son close to her.
“I can take him. We can go get ice cream,” Rylee says with a gentle expression.
“I know you mean well, Rylee, but no,” Jacinta states and then looks back at me. “Can I please take the rest of the afternoon off, sir?”
I nod, and she turns and walks straight out the door, not even looking back.
When she’s gone and the door is shut, Rylee turns on me. “What did you do?” She crosses her arms over her chest.
“Oh, you in trouble now,” Winter says. I put her down, but she stays right next to me.
“I did nothing. She is an employee, Rylee. Stop considering her feelings when she’s at work. She doesn’t come here to make friends. The woman comes here to do her job. A job I pay her well for.”
“She has no one. And the one person she did have I took away,” Rylee says, guilt seems to be eating away at her.
“You can’t take something away that was already yours,” I reply. We all know it. She even knows it. She and August, despite all the obstacles they faced, were always meant to be together. It just took them a while to realize that fact.
“Just—” Rylee starts, but I shake my head, interrupting her, “I’ll go around later to make sure she’s okay. Will that make you happy?”
Rylee nods and calls for Winter.
I watch as they walk out hand in hand.
“Very happy,” Rylee sings as she leaves.
I scan the area. My car looks out of place parked here. It’s probably worth more than every car in the entire street combined. I’m out front of a small brick home, and when I say small, I mean it. The whole structure could probably fit into the living room of my apartment. It has a tidy lawn compared to the other houses in the area. Hardly worth the maintenance if you ask me.
It took me over thirty minutes to get here. If this is how long she has to travel every day to get to work and back, I do not envy her because if she got caught in traffic, it would take twice as long.
I step up to the red door and knock. I hear the sound of a television but no voices.
No one answers, so I knock again.
The door opens, and standing in front of me is Jacinta, a pair of tanned legs topped with tiny shorts and a midriff-baring shirt encasing pert breasts. Who knew a body like that was hiding under all those clothes? I mean, I saw it when she wore that dress the other night, but it was mostly covered.
She is my employee.
And that is not something I want to mess with.
“Mr. Harley.” Her voice sounds surprised. She should be. I don’t make house calls often.
“Rylee was concerned,” are the first words that leave my mouth, and she doesn’t respond, so I continue, “How is your son?”
She wipes a hand over her face and shakes her head. “I don’t understand why you’re here. You don’t even like me. So what’s going on?” Her mouth thins to a straight line.
Sass.
Well, well, well!
Who knew she had it in her?
“Your son stuck up for my niece, so I’m here to make sure he’s okay.”
Jacinta’s arms cross over her chest, which pushes up those pert breasts, and she breathes heavily. “Oliver is fine. He was upset, but I was able to calm him down.”
“I had a friend who lived on this street,” I tell her, looking away.
At the end of the street is a green house, and inside that green house is where Glenn lives. The only person who more than likely feels the same pain I do every night—my dead girlfriend’s father.
I sometimes think my love for her was made up, maybe in my imagination. But when she comes to me at night, I know it was real. That I did love her.
“I didn’t see you as a man who would venture over this side of town, considering you live so far away.” Her mouth quirks up at her response.
“I did, very often in fact,” I say, looking down the street in the direction of Glenn’s home. I have good memories of that house. It was the place I used to escape the pressures of everyday life.
“Do you want to come in?” She steps back.
I look inside—it’s clean, bare, but still nice.
“Did you put in the form to get your money reimbursed?” I ask, trying to keep thoughts of Paige from entering my mind.
She nods and steps back in the doorway. “I did. Thank you for that.”
“I’ll see you at work tomorrow.” Stepping away, I go straight to my car. On the way out of the neighborhood, I drive past Glenn’s house, pausing on the street out front. The lights are on, and it still looks the same. As if after all these years, time stood still right here in front of me. Unable to move forward. Incapable of advancing. Impossible to progress.