AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Hey, Luke. How are you?”
“Get on with it. Why the—” I pause, realizing I probably shouldn’t curse in front of kids. “Why on earth are you really here?”
“I’m not going to pretend it was an excuse to see you because it’s not. I don’t care about any of our personal stuff right now. Marianne and I got called out to Rutanezstan yesterday evening — you’re aware of the civil war, right?” I nod. EvenIread the news. “Well, we’ve been asked to go help evacuate refugee children, and we can’t say no.”
I shrug. “Great. Savior of Humanity strikes again. Why is this my problem?”
Jason runs a hand through his hair and takes a deep breath. “Everyone we know either has kids already or is out doing aid work, and our usual babysitter is out of town.”
“So?” I fold my arms. Truthfully, it sounds like he’s just making problems out of nothing.
Jason doesn’t seem to think so, though. As calmly as his Adler temper will allow him, he echoes, “So?Lucas, I’m not being funny. It’s not as easy as you think to get someone to look after three kids for a month.”
“So you thoughtI’dwant to?”
“No, I didn’t think you’dwantto. I just thought maybe youwould.”
Behind him, the three children blink up at me, their tiny hands gripping their tiny suitcases. What is it about kids that makes them an instant guilt trip? It’s like they’re designed to make you feel bad for saying no to them. Maybe if I could harness that power, I could do wonders for our advertising…
“Lucas,” says Jason, and that’s how I know he’s serious. He hardly ever uses my full name. “Please. I can pay if that’s what you want. I can beg. I justreallyneed this help.”
If this whole situation wasn’t weird enough, seeing my brother take the humble approach is enough to floor me. This is a man who’s never been uncertain or lost, and now he’s about to get on his knees in desperation.
I don’t really think it through as I say, “Okay.”
Jason makes a choked sort of noise, a kind of relief and surprise that wants to come out as a laugh but gets trapped in his throat. “Thank yousomuch, Luke,” he says, reaching out to touch me on the arm. Instinctively, I flinch and the twisted apology of a smile on his face twists the knife of guilt even further into me.
When was the last time someone touched me with such genuine affection?
Crouching down, Jason pulls his kids in for a hug. The oldest one wraps her arms around him, her eyes shining with tears as the other two nestle around her. She whispers something into his ear and Jason chuckles, squeezing her tight. “I’ll be back before you know it, blossom.” With a deep breath, he stands up and grins at them. “You all have to be good for Uncle Luke, okay? He’s grumpy but he’s not so bad if you make him laugh.”
The boy tugs on Jason’s sleeve again. “Daddy, when are you coming home?”
“Soon, Sea Boy. I promise.” He hesitates to look at them all again, his smile wavering. “I love you all so much. Be good. I’ll call if I can.”
He reaches down to kiss each of them on the top of the head one more time, then looks me straight in the eye. “Thank you, Lucas. This means a lot.”
I just grunt in response. What am I meant to say to that?
Without another word, Jason turns on his heel and goes, leaving me with three angry, tired children who are staring at me like I’m meant to do something. “Come in,” I say hesitantly, stepping aside.
There’s a horrible moment of awkward stillness, then the three kids walk into my house and run straight for the living room to jump on the sofa, and I start to think that just maybe I’ve bitten off more than I can chew.
CHAPTER 3
SOPHIE
Iglance at the clock and then back down to my phone. Whereishe? I got here at six a.m. just like Lucas asked, but now it’s nearly time for the meeting and he’s not even here himself. If I have to do this entire meeting alone, I swear I’m going to kill him.
I check my notifications again. Still nothing. I can’t decide if I’m more angry or worried. Not that I want to be worried about Lucas Adler, but it’s very unusual for him not to have even messaged ahead to tell me what I need to do without him here.
The investors are sitting in the meeting room where I’ve deposited them. I’ve already given them a brief tour of the facility, a brief overview of what we do, and handed them each a ring-bound document that I spent all night working on and all morning hole-punching. I smile awkwardly at them, wringing my hands together, hoping that Lucas is about to show up any second now.
“Excuse me a second,” I say, and, as slowly as I can so it doesn’t look like I’m panicking, I leave the room. I don’t dare look back as I leave, holding my head up high. I’m in charge. I’m in control.
As soon as the door closes behind me with a gentleswoosh, I pull out my phone and ring Lucas. It goes straight to voicemail. I try again and the same happens. All I get isHello, this is the voicemail of Lucas Adler, leave a message.
Damn him! All week he’s been going on about this stupid meeting like it’s the most important thing in the world, when really this happens at least three times a year and we pretty much always win our contract anyway. Which is mostly because of me. I swear I amsoover this job.
