Page 16 of His Surrender

Frieda’s last day—and Aubrey’s move-in day.

The thought leaves an uncomfortable knot in my stomach.

I don’t like change. I never have. Routines exist for a reason, and after one of the most chaotic weeks of my life, I finally started settling into one with Frieda.

She knows Liana’s schedule better than I do. She knows which cry means she’s hungry, which one means she’s overtired, and somehow, she always seems to know exactly what to do before I even realize something’s wrong.

Now that routine is ending.

I know Aubrey is capable. She made a good impression during the interview, and I trust my dad’s judgment.

Still … trusting someone with my daughter feels entirely different from trusting them with anything else.

And somewhere between fifteen and twenty-two, Aubrey became a woman, and my brain is still trying to reconcile her with the teenager who used to trail behind Noah.

A sharp knock sounds against my office door before it swings open.

Sawyer strolls in without waiting for an invitation, a coffee in one hand, with the confidence of someone who’s been barging into my office for over a decade. He drops onto the edge of my desk, one leg dangling over the side.

“You ready to tell me what has you so distracted these days?” he asks bluntly.

I glance at the clock in the corner of my computer screen—4:32.

In twenty-eight minutes, I need to leave the office, get home, say goodbye to Frieda, and help Aubrey move into the penthouse.

The last thing I have time for is Sawyer playing detective.

I pinch the bridge of my nose and let out a slow breath. “Not this again.”

“Yes, this.” He takes a sip of his coffee, unfazed by my annoyance. “You’ve been quiet all week. You’ve been hiding in your office between meetings. You leave at five every day, which might actually be a first in company history.” A grin tugs at the corner of his mouth. “Then you turned down drinks with the guys last night.”

I lean back in my chair. “So, you held an intervention?”

“We talked.”

I snort. “Glad to know I’m the source of your entertainment now.”

His expression softens just enough for me to know he’s genuinely concerned.

“You’ve been my best friend for sixteen years, Dean. When you start acting like someone flipped a switch, I’m going to notice.”

I look past him toward the skyline outside my windows. The truth sits on the tip of my tongue.

Tell him.

For the last two weeks, I’ve managed to keep the biggest change of my life private, convincing myself I just need time to get my footing before answering the inevitable questions.

Maybe … maybe I’ve had enough time.

“I haven’t been avoiding you,” I say quietly.

Sawyer folds his arms across his chest. “Then what have you been doing?”

I meet his eyes. “My life changed a couple of weeks ago.”

His joking expression disappears. “What happened?”

I open my mouth but am cut off when Brady knocks on the door.