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Addison forced out a nervous laugh. “Your wife and family must love to hear you say that.”
With a laugh of his own, Steve held up his left hand, wiggling his ring-free fingers. “Never married,” he said. “Probably for the best. People always say I’m married to this place. Wouldn’t want my woman getting jealous.”
She tilted her head slightly to one side. “No kids?”
Some of the mirth drained out of his eyes, though he did his best to hide it. “Sadly, that wasn’t in the cards for me either.”
“Sadly,” she repeated, no inflection in her voice. She’d gone very still. “Sad because you have no one to take over for you when you retire?”
Steve blinked at her for a couple seconds, taken aback by the question, or perhaps by her sudden change in tone. “I’ll admit, it makes me sad to think of this place leaving my family.” He shrugged. “But mostly I’m just sad because I think I would’ve liked being a dad.”
Picking up her drink, Addison moved the straw aside and emptied the glass in three large gulps. “If you’ll excuse me,” she said with a polite nod, then headed toward the ladies’ room.
Mason and Steve watched her go, neither moving or saying a word until the bathroom door closed behind her. “Your girlfriend all right?” Steve asked, clearing away her empty glass.
He considered the best way to answer that question. Dissemble and change the subject? Straight-up lie?
In the end, he said, “I’m not sure. Do you mind if I go check on her?”
“Pretty sure she’s the only one in there,” Steve said. “Go ahead.”
Throwing a couple of twenties on the bar, Mason followed in Addison’s footsteps, weaving his way through small, round tables and scuffed wooden chairs. When he reached the bathroom door, he knocked before entering, pushing it open slowly in case Steve had missed another woman heading in.
The main part of the bathroom stood completely empty, and only the handicap stall door was closed. Mason waited until the door completely shut behind him before speaking. “It’s me,” he said, taking extra care to make his voice soft and gentle. “Are you okay, little one?”
A hiccupping sob drifted out of the one closed stall.
“Oh, Addison.” He moved up to the door. “Let me in.”
After a few seconds, the lock scraped back, and he pushed the door open. Addison leaned against the off-white subway tile along the back wall, arms wrapped tightly around herself, tears pouring down her beautiful face while she tried to remain as silent as possible.
“It’s all right,” Mason said, pulling her into his arms, holding her as close as he possibly could. “You don’t have to hold it back. You’re allowed to cry.”
As if his words opened a dam, she began to sob in earnest, each new wail or gasp like a tiny pinprick to his heart.
“That’s it,” he murmured into her hair. “Let it out.”
He hated this so fucking much. In a scene, he knew exactly how to handle a woman’s tears, but this...
Her pain was like a physical thing, ripping her up from the inside out. He wanted to soothe her, heal her. Take it away. All he could do was stand in her presence, letting her agony slice into him, too. Death by a thousand papercuts.
“I think I’m gonna be sick,” she said, lurching away from him. As she doubled over the porcelain bowl, he gathered her hair as quickly as he could, holding it out of the way as she vomited into the toilet.
Unsure what to say, Mason rubbed gentle circles on her back. He felt so fucking useless.
She stayed hunched over the toilet for almost a minute, unsure she was done. As the seconds ticked by, her sobs turned into silent tears, before finally drying up altogether. When she straightened at last, she wiped the tears from her cheeks with her fingers, then swiped the back of her hand over her mouth.
“I’m sorry,” she said, voice a hoarse whisper. “That was...” She screwed up her lips as she searched for the right word. “More dramatic than I would’ve preferred.”
“You have nothing to be sorry for,” he assured her. “That was a lot to take in. I can only imagine what you’re feeling right now.”
Addison’s lower lip wobbled, but she managed to hold back any additional tears. “He wanted to be a dad.” Her voice was so incredibly small. “He would’ve wanted me.”
Pulling her back to him, Mason held her close, one hand between her shoulder blades, the other on the back of her head. “I’m sorry.”
“My life would’ve been completely different,” she whispered into his shirt. “If my mom hadn’t...if she’d told literally anyone about him, I could’ve...” The sentence trailed off, and she didn’t even try to speak again.
Not sure what else to do, Mason held her close, staying silent as she processed everything she learned tonight. The one thing he knew for sure was that he would move fucking mountains to ensure she never felt this kind of pain.
