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“Thanks. I have a ton to do. So, it’d be great if you could help.” She hopped off the island.
“That’s what I’m here for.”
“Great. Great,” she muttered.
She seemed nervous around me now. It was as if the easygoing girl who had talked to me in my office this morning disappeared, and I didn’t know why.
I brushed off her unease and decided that I wasn’t even going to acknowledge it. I really had shown up early to help her if needed and to hang out. I wasn’t trying to get crafty and make a move on her.
Once I attached the streamer to the light fixture, I jumped off the island and followed her into the living room. Black balloons were everywhere with a few glitter and hot-pink ones scattered throughout for a bit of color. That was definitely Emery through and through.
“Want me to do that?” I asked Heidi as she sat down to blow up more balloons. “I’m guessing you won’t be happy until we cover the room in them.”
She grinned up at me and then caught herself and looked away. “Yeah, I want Emery to try to stab me after seeing how over the top it all is.”
“This will definitely do,” I confirmed, looking around.
Heidi handed me the bag of balloons. “Thanks for your help. I still have a million things to do.”
“No problem.”
She headed out the door as Jensen appeared at the top of the stairs.
“Landon!” Jensen said with a big smile. “You’re early.”
“Yeah, I thought I could help out. I knew Heidi had something big planned.”
“It’s good to see you.”
Jensen pulled me in for a hug. He looked happier than I’d ever seen him. It still weirded me out that my ex-girlfriend was the one who brought him that much joy, but I couldn’t begrudge him it. I wanted to be that happy, and all I’d been was depressed over the last year.
“Good to see you, too, man.”
“How is everything? You’ve been back for a while, and I feel like you’re a stranger.”
“I was in church yesterday,” I corrected him. I’d made sure to do that, considering how I’d left early so many times before.
Jensen grinned. “Yeah, that’s true. Just checking in on you. I’m the oldest. What do you expect from me?”
“Nothing more than this. PT has been great though. I don’t know how much progress I’ve made, but the therapist is a goddess.”
“I got the best.”
“I can tell. She knows her shit.”
“And Miranda?” Jensen asked coolly.
I glanced away. At this point, I hated talking about Miranda. Not that I had ever enjoyed discussing her with my family before, but now, I had to deal with the divorce. It was just messy.
“Still getting texts from her every day, and she says she’s refusing to sign the paperwork.”
Jensen sighed. “I was afraid of that. She’ll come around though.”
“We can only hope.”
“And the new job?”
I inwardly cringed. I didn’t want to bring up the fact that I wanted out of the job. I didn’t want to be Heidi’s boss, but I also didn’t want to be left without a job for a year while I was recovering. My mind couldn’t take it. I’d never slowed down a day in my life. I wasn’t about to start now. But, after everything Jensen had done for me, I couldn’t break it to him.
