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“Terrible. Luke is making the job more difficult than it needs to be.”
“Well, you’ve handled difficult people before. I know you can handle him.”
“I can. It’s just exhausting that I have to.”
“Maybe he’s making you work for his attention.”
“Oh, it’s definitely not that. Trust me. Luke Crawford hates me as much as I hate him.”
Omar and Richard stayed a bit longer, listening to my mom tell stories about how I was a stubborn child. They all laughed until Omar whispered something in Richard’s ear.
“It’s been a pleasure, Evelyn,” said Richard.
“Yes, thank you both for having us over,” Omar said.
My mother beamed. “The pleasure was ours. It’s been too long since we’ve shared a meal with friends.”
“We should definitely do it again sometime,” I agreed.
While Richard grabbed their jackets, he smiled and held Omar’s hand a little longer than necessary. I smiled, too, happy for them both.
My mother reached over and laced her fingers with mine.
“I wish you had someone in your life like Omar or Richard,” she sighed.
I shook my head. “It’s fine, Mom. I don’t need anybody.”
She squeezed my hand. “We all need somebody, baby.”
I gulped, unprepared for the emotion that rolled over me. It wasn’t sadness… it was more like regret. Or longing, perhaps? I didn’t know. But it didn’t matter. I couldn’t change my situation, so there was no point in dwelling on it.
“I have somebody. I have you, Mom.”
“Grace, baby, you’ll find someone who’ll make you happy one day.”
Despite my father having walked out on us when I was a baby, my mother always believed I’d find someone better. I didn’t have as much faith as her. Perhaps that was why I preferred working over dating. I would depend on myself, just like my mother did.
5
Luke
While the days were warmer in late May in Syracuse, New York, the nights were still cool. I raised the collar of my black jacket to ward off the chill and stuffed my hands in my pockets as I walked out of Crawford Corporation and into the busy downtown core.
Eric, our family’s driver, pulled up to the front of the building. I opened the passenger door and stuck my head in. “Thanks, Eric,” I said. “But I’m going to walk home tonight. Say hi to Susan and the kids for me.”
“Will do, Mr. Crawford,” he said and I closed the car door.
Inhaling a deep breath as I walked down the street, I tried to still the thoughts racing through my head. Colton’s face popped up with his tight lips and narrow eyes—his usual look of disappointment. My other brother, Ryan, wasn’t in the office today, and I wasn’t sure whom to thank for that. Then a heart-shaped face framed with smooth chestnut hair and dark brown eyes drifted into my mind.
I hadn’t seen her face in nearly ten years, but it haunted me still. One look from her and I was thirteen again. I didn’t want to go back to that time, but I couldn’t stop the memories from flooding in.
*
Fifteen years earlier…
My shoulder burned from the weight of my bag, which held my baseball bat, balls, glove, and helmet. My dad used to carry it for me, before he, well, before he and mom died in a car accident years ago. Since my uncle became our guardian, I held it. My father coached my little league team, but my uncle hadn’t attended a game yet. My best friend Sean’s dad would pick me up and drive us to practice and the games. Sean and his dad were away today and I begged my uncle to drive me. He said he would if I’d finally leave him alone. I did. But it was a half-hour past the time we were supposed to leave for my game. The front door opened, and Colton and Ryan walked in.
“What are you still doing here, kid?” asked Colton, looking around the house. Ryan was right behind him. At seventeen, Colton had been driving Ryan to their after-school jobs.
