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She smiled softly. “I don’t know.”
I wanted to push her, but I knew it wasn’t my place. It was none of my business if she worked all day in a spice shop that wasn’t something she enjoyed or even wanted. I shouldn’t care—even if she was my best friend’s sister. She was his responsibility.
Hailey glanced down, seemingly flustered by my question, then grabbed the keys from the top drawer of her desk.
She moved toward me, pausing to look up at me. “I like to write.”
“You like to write.” I repeated her words robotically, not taking them in.
A soft smile curved over her face. “I have all these ideas for stories swimming in my head, and I write them down.”
“Have you written anything?”
“Just papers and some poetry for a class in high school. I won an award for a poem.”
“You never took any creative writing classes?”
She shook her head. “I started working here in high school. I never had any reason to go to college.”
“You could pursue it like a hobby. People take lessons to learn piano or fly fishing. It doesn’t have to be formal college courses.”
She tipped her head to the side like she was considering me. But unlike when I asked about the shop, there was a sparkle of interest in her eyes. She liked the idea. “Yeah, maybe.”
I hummed in response and followed her to the front of the store, watching as she flipped the sign fromOpentoClosed.
“You’ll consider it?”
She pursed her lips. “I’ll think about it.”
On the sidewalk, she paused. “Why do you care what I do?”
Without hesitation, I said, “You’re my best friend’s sister. Nana is like a grandmother to me.”
“Because you’re close to my family?” she asked carefully.
“Of course.” What was she getting at? Everything I said was true, but it wasn’t the real reason I cared if she pursued her dreams.
She nodded before unlocking the apartment door. The music drifting down the steps was louder today, the beat pumping harder. Corey felt more comfortable here with Hailey. That thought eased the tension in my muscles.
He’d finished two more walls today. “You’ve been working hard,” I said to him.
“Yeah, I didn’t expect you to work this quickly. I’m going to have to find more for you to do,” Hailey said.
Corey looked at me, then Hailey, his shoulders rolling back. I vowed to give him more compliments and praise. He seemed starved for them, and he reacted beautifully when I gave them. It was something so simple. Why hadn’t Tiffany done the same? There was no way he’d react like this if she was supporting him in the way she should have been.
The age-old regret that I hadn’t done enough to be there for Corey through his childhood broke through. I had visitation, but maybe I should have pushed for joint custody. I just assumed the best place for him was with his mother.
“Let me help you clean up so you can get out of here.” Hailey reached for the tray, but I grabbed it before she could.
“We’ve got this.”
I washed out the tray and waited for Corey to do the same with the roller.
I wanted to tell him I was proud of him, but I wondered if it would be too much. Would he believe me, or would he think I was trying too hard?
My parents never said they were proud of me. Probably for the simple reason they weren’t. I couldn’t do anything to please them, so I gave up trying.
Before Corey could leave the small room, I clasped his shoulder. “I’m proud of you.”
