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I shook my head. "Not bad like that, he's just a self-proclaimed bachelor, never plans on getting married or having kids. Now, poof—he's got a six-year-old boy, and he doesn't even know it yet."
Cheri looked at me sympathetically. "This is the part of our job that I really hate," she said.
"No shit," I said. "When is his flight getting in?"
"I forwarded the email from the DHS worker, the boy's flight should be here in the morning shortly before the reading of the will," she explained.
Shit, that didn't give us a lot of time. I waffled back and forth with whether I should just drop everything I was doing at the moment and go tell Adam, but I knew he would be working. I didn't imagine dropping that bombshell on somebody would go over well in the middle of his very important job. So, I decided to wait till after hours, but I had a hard time focusing on the rest of my cases for the rest of the day. I just kept thinking about everything that little boy had lost and the shock that Adam was in for.
I had put myself on a "no thinking of Adam" diet over the last few months. Any time I started slipping and thinking softly towards him, I remembered about all of the arguments we would get into when I was still with Brian and cling to those memories. I was largely unsuccessful because. inevitably, it would just lead me to another memory of our time together. I had spent one too many nights thinking of him and touching myself. I blamed myself for my own weakness—that's what good sex could do to me, making me churn up a whole scenario that wasn't even possible.
I had just told Cheri that he was a lifelong bachelor, he was not the kind to get into relationships, and I needed to remember that. I also needed to remember my professionalism. What I had to tell him was going to be difficult, but what was going on with this little boy was more important. The child would be here before the reading of the will, but I didn't really think he needed to sit through all that. So, Cheri and I worked out a plan to have him hang out in my office while the reading was going on, which meant I needed to find something to entertain a six-year-old little boy. I knew I was out of my element. A little girl? I had that figured out, but a boy? Not so much.
As I left the office and hailed a taxi, I dialed up Amy.
Amy had been one of my best friends since college. She was also now technically my stepmother. That made for a couple of awkward family holidays. I had been furious when I discovered Amy and my father sneaking around behind my back not too long before college graduation. I even told them that I wouldn't have anything to do with either one of them if they pursued the relationship, but it became clear over time how much they truly loved one another. It was a hard pill to swallow, seeing one of my best friends with my dad. But when it got down to it, she was one of the best people I knew, and so was he, so it actually kind of made sense for them to be together. It took some getting used to, sure. But Layla had gone a long way to make it more normal for everybody.
I decided Amy would have a better idea of what entertained a little boy. Not only was she a mom, but she was also an elementary school music teacher. "Amy? Hey, girl, I need your help. What do six-year-old little boys like?"
***
Later that evening, I found myself on Adam's doorstep. I wasn’t sure how long I stood there, but I knew it was longer than what was considered polite. I just knew as soon as I knocked on the door, everything was going to change for him. His whole life was going to be turned upside down, and I hated the fact that I was the one who had to give him the news. Not to mention that it was going to be supremely awkward, considering that the last time I was in his place, he was wringing orgasm after orgasm out of me.
I sucked in a deep breath. "Here goes nothing," I told myself as I nervously knocked on the door.
The nerves in my stomach made sense, I was coming here as the bearer of bad news. But when that door opened and he looked at me with those deep brown eyes, the butterflies that started flowering in my chest definitely did not make sense to me.
You're here to do a job, a voice reminded me.
"Reagan?" he asked, tilting his head and looking at me strangely. "This is a surprise. What are you doing here?"
"Um, I'm sorry to drop by unannounced. Um, can I come in?" I asked nervously. I could see the concern on his face as he stepped aside to let me through, and I didn't blame him. We knew each other well enough to know that I was rarely nervous about anything.
"Reagan, you're really starting to scare me. This whole twitchy thing isn't like you, so what's going on? Oh, my God, is it Brian? Is he okay? Did something happen, and they called you first?" He was baffled.
I shook my head vehemently. "No, no. At least, I think so. I haven't talked to Brian in forever. I am assuming he's okay."
He looked at me slightly embarrassed, then moved swiftly into the living room, averting his gaze. "Yeah, um, sorry about that, I'm just a little on edge. I got some bad news recently, and I guess I am worried about it happening to everybody now," he admitted quietly as he sat down on his couch carefully, almost as if he was made of glass.
I hated what I was about to say. I swallowed hard. "About that. First of all, let me say that I am very sorry for your loss," I told him, knowing that the words were hollow and useless but feeling the need to say them, anyway.
His head jerked up. "You know about that? You said you hadn't talked to Brian lately, how do you—"
"I am handling the Townsends’ probate case," I explained.
"Oh, I didn't realize you were their lawyer," he said, still slightly out of it.
"Yeah, well, apparently when you referred Brian to her, he talked to her and saw that she was more in need of my kind of lawyering, so he referred her to me. However, at the time, I did not realize all the particulars of the will. Usually, my assistant takes care of that, the client and I just go over the basics, so I didn't realize that…" I trailed off, my throat closing up. How the hell was I going to tell him this? And why was this so much harder than any of the other clients I had this conversation with?
Because you felt something for this guy, at least once upon a time.
Shut up, no, I didn't.
I shook my head. Now was not the time for my internal voices to duke it out with one another. "I wasn't sure if you got my email about the reading of the will being tomorrow, but it's very important that you're there."
He shook his head. "I don't see what the point is. I mean, I loved Ronnie, but I'm assuming she left everything to her son," he said, looking up at me.
I licked my lips, trying to get my throat muscles to work.
