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Chapter 16
Thane
“Char, tonight won’t work. We have plans.”
“I’ll come too,” she tells me, trying to push herself onto me and that’s the last thing in the world I’d want.
“No!”
“Why not?”
“Because Jack has a friend coming over and I’m not going to have you ruin his time with him.”
“What’s it gonna take for you to forgive me, Thane?”
“You need help; I’ve been telling you that all along.”
“I got help. Didn’t you hear me the other day when I told you I started counseling?”
“I heard you, Char, but I’ve also heard you say that before. It won’t last, and you and I both know it. Counseling isn’t enough. I need to see evidence that you’ve changed, I need to see you stop blowing money like it grows on trees. Jack needs to come first, not shopping.”
“Okay, I’ll prove it to you then. He’s my life, Thane.”
“Good, because he should be.”
“Since I can’t see him today, can he come over here tomorrow? I promise we won’t do any shopping; I just want to hang out with him.”
I don’t even know what to say to her. Part of me wants to trust her, but the other part, the part that has been lied to and burned by her so many times, the part that almost had to file bankruptcy because of the insane debt she racked up, that part knows she can feed me all the bullshit she wants. But I know the truth and how that need lives deep inside of her. It’ll only take one small thing for her to slip up.
“You can even take my car keys if you don’t believe me.”
“I don’t need to do that. I’ll bring him over in the afternoon, around one.”
“Thank you,” she says, and we both hang up.
“Daddy? Do you copy?” Jack asks me through the new walkie-talkies that he found for him and Braxley.
“Ten-four, little buddy, loud and clear.”
“These are so cool—Braxley is gonna love them.” He walks into the kitchen still talking to me through the radio. I totally forgot a client had given them to me, and Jack found them in my closet today. “Do you think Braxley can take his home with him?”
“Sure, I don’t see why not. They should work for at least twenty miles.”
“Yes!” he exclaims and goes to look out the front window, to see if Faye and Braxley are here yet.
“What do you think about staying at your mom’s tomorrow night?”
“Okay. Do you have to work?”
“No, she just wants to see you.”
“You aren’t gonna see Braxley without me, are you?”
“No way.” I chuckle, so surprised at how close the two of them have gotten so quickly. They are more than friends—they are like brothers.
“YES! He’s here!” he yells, grabbing the other walkie-talkie and running outside with it to greet them. I follow along, my eyes on Faye as she unloads everything from her trunk.
“Let me help you,” I tell her, walking down the driveway, and she takes my breath away the moment she looks at me.
