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“I know. I’m not trying to say it is, but we can try, right? To put in a word for him?” I searched Ezra’s expression. “I mean, you saved the mayor’s daughter, so he might be willing to reduce his sentence. Or at least have his daughter speak up for him.”
Ezra still looked doubtful, but he shook his head. “I don’t know. I’ll have to see what I can do. But the immediate problem right now is Lance’s attempts at suicide.”
I nodded. No matter what, there was no easy solution to that.
“That…I don’t know what to do about that,” I said with a sigh. “For what it’s worth, I don’t think the boy really hates his father. I think he wants to, and he definitely thinks he should, but deep down, he’s still waiting for his dad to show up for him. If nothing else, then now more than ever, when everyone else has given up on him. I think you should try one more time to alleviate his sentence. Maybe talk to Lance about it.”
A wry smile tickled the corner of Ezra’s lip, “So basically convincing two people who have given up on life to try again.”
“Yeah, why not?” I smirked at him. “You did it with me.”
He was quiet for a few more seconds before he drew me into his arms. His lips were gentle on mine, and it made my heart sing for the few minutes the kiss lasted.
“Come with me,” he said after.
“Huh?”
“To DC. To fix all this. I want you to come with me.”
I blinked at him. “I can’t.”
“Why not?”
“Because I have work. And responsibilities. I can’t just fly out. Anyway, I’m not even sure I have a passport.”
“You only need a driver’s license,” he said, looking amused. “And I think you’ll be a great help there.”
I thought about it. I’d never been anywhere else in my life, never flown anywhere. This was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, so why not? Plus, if Ezra really needed my help, then I couldn’t say no to him after everything he’d done for me.
“Sure,” I finally relented. “Why not?”
TWENTY-EIGHT
EZRA
Realizing I was in love with Tillie introduced my first-ever mid-life crisis.
Because, at this point, I thought I was too old for things like love. I didn’t think I could feel that emotion for anyone, much less a girl who was younger than me by so many years. She was just starting her life, whereas I’d already lived through most of mine. Just what could I offer her?
I would fulfill my promise and take care of her for as long as I lived, but I knew deep down that I wasn’t the man for her. Once she was all good and healed from the trauma holding her back, she would glow like a phoenix in the daytime. Then, some lucky bastard who was around her age, who could offer her more emotional support and companionship, and who wasn’t carrying as much baggage as I was, would come around and sweep her off her feet. Then soon enough, they would get married and ride off into the sunset together.
God, just the thought of it made me want to find that motherfucker and grind him into the ground.
I took a deep breath and tried to wipe the murderous urge out.
“Penny for your thoughts?” I turned to see her sitting next to me on the plane, excitement glowing in her eyes. She’d been staring out the window for the past few minutes during take-off and then had shyly ordered some lobster from the first-class menu.
Typically, I would fly economy, but I’d booked first-class tickets for both of us since it was her first-ever flight, and I wanted her to have a good time. I think I succeeded because she had a wide smile on her face, though she’d had the smile since we got to the airport. Practically ever since we started packing.
“I’ve never been anywhere,” she’d told me excitedly, trying to decide what to bring with her. “I’ve only seen DC in movies and pictures, and now I get to see it in real life. How exciting.”
I brushed her hair back, tenderness settling in my chest. I loved seeing her like this—so light and excited. Left to me, she would always smile just like that.
“You can fly anywhere you want,” I told her. “As long as I’m around. You just let me know the place, and you’ll be there.”
Her smile dimmed slightly. “As long as you’re around, huh?” But then she immediately increased the wattage of her smile as if not wanting me to see her sadness. At the same time, she shook her head and continued to beam at me, clapping her hands together and chattering along as she packed.
She cocked her eyebrow now, still waiting for an answer.
