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“I know.”
I went out to my car to drive to my apartment, but Katie followed me outside, barefoot and wrapped in a quilt. “You’re going to catch a cold like that!”
“I’m not leaving you alone until you call Wesley Taves.”
I stared at her. “I don’t know, Katie. I need to sleep on it.”
“Bullshit.”
“You heard Mom and Dad. Maybe they’re right. I’ve worked with really privileged people before, they can be —”
“Forget all that crap Mom and Dad were talking about. This is a huge deal, Cara.” Katie reached into my coat pocket and pushed the phone into my face.“Call him.”
“Katie, it’s like, 10 pm, he wouldn’t —”
“Just leave a message. Come on. What do you have to lose?”
I took the phone and pulled the business card out again. My heart fluttered at the idea of seeing Wesley Taves. Just the two of us this time. This could be the beginning of the rest of my life.
Or it could be my fucking downfall.
Chapter4
Wesley
“Lucy! Where’s your other shoe?!” I had one of her snow boots in my hand but the other one had disappeared into the mess of shoes in the front hall.
“Daddy, did you know that if a lion fought a tiger, the tiger would win?”
I huffed.I don’t fucking care who would win. “No, I didn’t know that.” I got up from the floor, abandoning my search. “Lucy, would you please stop reading and come put your coat on? We have to get to school!”
I walked into the living room where Lucy was fully dressed but curled up reading a book she had checked out from the school library. On one of her feet, she wore the missing snow boot.Bingo. “Luce. What are you doing with one boot on and one boot off?”
She grinned at me from behind her book. “I got distracted.”
“Looks that way. Come on, I don’t want you to be late. It’s the first day back after winter break!”
“But I’m almost done with my —”
I snatched the book out of her hand. “You can read it in the car. Look alive, kiddo.”
Mornings were always like this. Lucy was a curious chatterbox. She was a very talented reader for her age, and consequently, was always eager to share things with me that she’d read in books. However, it was easy for her to get engrossed in a book to the point of tuning out the entire rest of the world.
Being late to school meant that I would be late to the office. And being late to the office was one of my least favorite things. From the time the clock struck nine, I would be inundated with an avalanche of emails. I had to be ready at my desk to put out fires as quickly as possible.
I got Lucy’s coat and held it out for her. She slipped her arms in and smiled up at me. “How’s the loose tooth?”
She pushed her front tooth with her tongue.
“Oof. Really loose.”
“Pull it out! Pull it out!”
“Noooo, definitely not for me. Come on, get that boot on and let’s head to school.”
I shepherded Lucy out of the house and into the car. While the morning routine could be stressful, I adored drop-off for the most part. Getting to watch Lucy walk down the hall of her school and greet her friends and teachers was extremely gratifying. She was becoming her own person. A little person, but still. A person, nonetheless.
“’Kay, Luce. We’re here.”
