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“I’m good, buddy,” Boone says with a grin. “Another time though.”
I shake my head, a smile on my face that Boone can’t see as I lead him into my office. He has the uncanniest way of making people feel good about themselves. I have no clue if that was the best Reuben he ever had, but he wanted Charles to feel good about it and that is a quality I adore. I like nice people.
In my office, I scramble to clear off the only chair for Boone to sit in. It’s covered with a stack of invoices and mail. I motion to it as I walk around to my rolling chair. “What’s going on?” I ask.
“I was just at the hospital visiting Aiden and thought I’d come by to check on you.”
“I was there not too long ago,” I exclaim, a bit sad our paths didn’t cross. But here he sits now.
“I know. Aiden told me. We were talking about you.”
Frowning, I tip my head. “What about?”
“We’re both concerned about you burning yourself out,” he says, and I see him brace like that might make me mad.
It doesn’t. Anyone who has concern for me is undeniably sweet, but I go to my automatic denial. “There’s no need to be worried. I’m absolutely fine.”
“Figured you’d say that.” Boone laughs.
I cock an eyebrow at him. “Oh, you know me that well?”
“You wear your heart on your sleeve, Lilly. I think I have you figured out.”
Sitting up straighter in my chair, I clasp my hands on my desk and lift my chin. “All right… tell me what you have figured out and why you and Aiden are worried.”
“I will,” he says, leaning back and propping a booted foot on a jean-clad knee. And wow… those are nice boots. Dark brown suede, they look so good with the dark denim and cream-colored Henley that fits his muscular chest a little too well.
My eyes drag upward and I find Boone staring at me, patiently waiting as I check him out. I clear my throat. “You may proceed.”
“Okay,” he says, holding his palms facing me. “Hear me out first before you say anything.”
I nod.
Placing his hands on his thighs, he launches into a monologue. “When your dad was around, you two were able to tag-team time with Aiden so he basically had round-the-clock family with him. Steven took days, you took evenings. Now that Steven is in rehab, you’re trying to cover both. Aiden said you came for a bit this morning and you’re going back tonight to watch over him as he sleeps. It’s not lost on me that it’s a half-hour drive in the best traffic for you to get there—not to mention the drive back—just as it’s not lost on me that you’re up at the butt crack of dawn to work and you slink out of the hospital in the wee hours. I know you can’t be getting quality sleep up there and now that you’re running back and forth, you’re going to burn out quickly.”
He pauses for a breath, but I hold up a hand and his mouth shuts. “I hear what you’re saying and I don’t necessarily disagree, but it’s not an option to leave Aiden alone. As it stands, I can only be there for a little while during the day and it kills me to leave. Asking me not to go for that precious slice of time is a big fat no from me.”
“Not going to ask you to stop going during the day. In fact, I’m going to ask you to go and stay for the full day and then come home at night to get a good sleep.”
“I’m not leaving him alone at night.”
“Aiden doesn’t want you there at night while he sleeps. He says it’s a waste of your time.”
My jaw drops open. “He said that?”
“Yup.”
I shake my head, again raising a hand to stop the conversation. “It doesn’t matter. I can’t swing full days and keep the deli running. I can only do what I can do, so it’s going to have to be a mishmash of hours.”
“But what if you could go during the day?”
“I can’t—”
“But what if you could?” he presses.
“Then that would be a dream and I could even concede that he doesn’t need me there at night if that’s the way he feels about it. But I—”
Boone cuts me off. “Why do you have to be here at the deli to run it?”
