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I swat at the hand closest to me, signaling Logan to put it down. “I wasn’t insinuating you were asking for anything,” I clarify. “I meant I wish I could make a job magically appear for you. I know you’ve been working hard to find something, and I just hate this for you.”
He drops his hands onto his knees and nervously taps his index finger rhythmically against his jeans. “That’d be great, wouldn’t it? I want to say it again: I’m not sharing this with you for you to fix anything. I’m mortified enough as it is.” He leans his head to the side and the smallest smile slips out of a corner of his mouth. “You’re a good friend, Noah. I needed to talk to someone about this. I’ve been trying to work it out in my head for a few days. That solid interview I had in Cincinnati—I thought it was going to be our breakthrough. But they went in a different direction. When I came to Kentucky, I didn’t factor in the economical differences, I just knew I needed out of California. Those differences, and my employment gap, are killing my job prospects.”
That night I lay in bed, turning Logan’s predicament over and over like a worry stone.
“Hey Chase,” I say, answering his call as I drive into work for a client meeting. I finally smartened up and saved him as a contact in my phone.
“Good morning. Is this a good time for you to talk?”
“Have you heard anything yet about my guardianship?”
“I have,” he replies, his accent drawing out the words.
“And is it good news?” For the love of all things holy, please let it be good news. I could use a win right now.
“It is.”
“OH MY GOD,” I shriek into the phone and Chase’s ear. I hope he has me on speaker phone because I may have just burst his eardrum. “Did I- Did I get guardianship?”
“You did.”
“OH MY GOD,” I squeal.
“Noah, can you give me a heads up the next time you’re going to do that? I’m going to be thirty-two next month and it’d be great if I could hear my kids sing ‘Happy Birthday.’”
“Sorry,” I mutter sheepishly.
“I just got into the office, and there was an email waiting with your official approval.” He continues spelling out all the details of what changes from today until my guardianship ends.
“This is a kinship guardianship—basically, it means you’re Rainey’s family member and also taking over as her guardian. There are several benefits in the state of Kentucky that are only available to kinship guardians under a grant issued a few years back. I’ll email you more information on those, but one of the biggest benefits is you can apply to receive a weekly stipend for childcare or babysitting costs.”
“She calls itkidsitting. Rainey will die if you call it anything else in front of her.”
“I’ll make a note,” he remarks dryly, before continuing.
“I’ll send you everything by email, but you should get an official letter later this week or early next week. Congratulations, again.”
Iam Rainey’s legal guardian. Me. Noah. I’ve spent the last two months jumping through hoops and completing paperwork to arrive at this moment. As of today, no one—including my brother—can take Rainey out of my care without approval from the state.
Every decision I’ve made since bringing Rainey home from the police station has terrified me. I’ve never felt confident that I would become her legal guardian. I worried constantly that I was unqualified and every social worker would see right through me, knowing I was winging everything. All of that theoretically ends today, although I’m self-aware enough to acknowledge my anxiety won’t allow me to ever feel totally secure.
I’m grateful to have been minutes from work when Chase called, because not long after hanging up the phone my tears begin. An undercurrent of peace courses through my heart when it hits me that from today onward, Rainey’s childhood won’t have to be punctuated by temporary homes and stays with random friends of her dad who lock her in dark rooms. She’ll never go to bed hungry or hear weird noises outside of her room.
Sobbing alone in the office parking lot, I feel settled for once. Becoming a parent or my niece’s guardian was definitely not in any future I imagined, but I feel pure relief knowing Rainey’s safe for the foreseeable future. My heart rips open in the middle of downtown Cincinnati, unleashing a silent sob.
Chapter 19
Noah
Notspillingthebeansover the phone to my best friend felt like an impossible task, but Iz’s been my champion throughout the guardianship process—the only person who knows the intimate details of my struggles and wins with Rainey—and she deserves to hear the news in person.
With a light workload today, I skip out of the office early to surprise Izabeth with lunch. I pick up her favorite sandwich from Stewie’s and pop by the cafe to grab us iced coffees. We’re celebrating—if it weren’t lunchtime, I’d have picked up a bottle of Moscato. My nerves hum with anticipation of her reaction as I climb the steps to her apartment and let myself in with my spare key. We don’t knock; one bonus of being roommates for two years straight is she’s seen it all—literally. Knocking and locked doors are for people who don’t know each other inside and out.
“Izabeth!” I holler, kicking off my shoes in her entryway. “I’ve got lunch.”
She peeks her head around the corner of her home office, surprised, and holds her index finger in front of her lips. She’s on a call. Izabeth’s job is the epitome of a dream. After graduation, she landed a position working in PR for a small company that grew quickly and now manages the marketing for several large influencers and other companies. Izabeth’s client load grew alongside the business, and now she often travels on the company’s dime—something I’m insanely jealous of. The last few months have been travel-free for Iz, unplanned, but perfectly timed to help care for Rainey.
Off the phone, she finds me in the living room, takeout containers already spread across her coffee table.
