Page 8 of Anything But Lonely

I lift a brow. “Then what is it?”

“Well, I ran into my old boss, and when we were catching up, she was telling me how she was thinking about retiring,” she explains. “And she asked if I was in the market for a new job. So, I told her that I had been thinking about going back to work since Crew will be in school full-time next year, and she asked if I’d be interested in taking her place.”

My lips part, and I can’t hide my shock. “She wants you to run the agency?”

Talia nods, her teeth sinking into her bottom lip like she’s trying to hide her smile.

“Holy shit, Tal. That’s amazing!” I wrap my arms around her, pulling her into a hug.

Talia always had dreams of running her own photography agency, and I think she gave up the idea when she kept having to put her career on the back burner for me and then for our son. I know she wanted to, and I know my ex-wife well enough to know that she doesn't do anything she doesn’t want to do, and this is huge—everything she’s always wanted.

“Thanks, Matty,” she says, sitting back in her chair, her smile finally on full display, but it softens slightly as she looks at me.

“And don’t worry. We can figure out Crew’s schedule and make it work with yours. I’m sure Mia can help too since she comes and visits Eddie with the twins.”

“But Matty—” she starts, but I continue, wanting her to know she has my full support.

“And tour is over in June, so it’s only about eight more months, and then I’m home for good.” The words come out of my mouth with a lightness that quickly turns heavy, like a weight dropping into my gut.

Home for good.

Because I had my years doing what I loved. Singing on stage, traveling the world with my best friends, getting to show my son my dream coming true.

It’s all going to be over soon.

The thought is sobering in a way I’ve been avoiding.

“Mateo,” she says, and that gets my attention. She rarely uses anything but her nickname for me. “There’s one more thing.”

I let out a dry chuckle. “You say that like it’s not a good thing.” I take the first sip of my beer just to do something with my hands as I wait for her to continue.

“The agency moved to Paris.”

CHAPTER 5

EMERSON

“What are you doing here?” Rumi’s eyes are wide as I walk into the back office of Hey Honey’s, closing the door to place my sweater and purse on the hook.

Her hair is in a braid that sits over her shoulder, her body frozen where she sits at Ava’s desk, having come back to Hey Honey’s to step in as manager while Ava is on maternity leave.

I lift a brow at her. “Working,” I answer, like it’s obvious. “What else would I be doing here?” A huff of laughter escapes my lips, but it’s too dry. It sounds more like I forgot how to inhale air properly.

“No, you’re not,” Rumi responds, standing up behind Ava’s immaculately clean desk. Even in her absence, we’ve been careful not to mess up the way she keeps things back here.

“Yes, I am,” I retort. “Why are you being weird?”

“I’m being weird?” Rumi puts her hands on her hips, her brows furrowing.

“Whoa there, babe. I didn’t mean to strike a nerve.” I tighten the bandana tied around my head, shaking my bangs out of my eyes. “I’m just confused as to how my normal Saturday morning shift is causing this much confusion.” The typical playfulness in my direct demeanor doesn’t seem to land the way it usually does, and I watch Rumi’s cheeks redden in frustration.

“Emerson Roxanne Hasting. Are you being serious right now?”

I very rarely see my best friend and future-sister-in-law upset, and it has definitely never been directed at me. When I met Rumi, she had just moved from Minnesota with her daughter, having fled her abusive baby daddy to start a new life. At the time, she and my brother were trying to convince all of us that they were just friends, and not disgustingly in love with each other. It wasn’t until both of them confronted their own issues and trauma that they finally admitted it.

Since then, Rumi has gone from the shy, quiet girl to the confident, sure as hell of herself woman who is standing in front of me.

And in any other moment, I would fucking love seeing it.