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I think it about it for a second, “Well, when I was your age, I think I wanted to be a cowboy or maybe a firefighter.”
“Why didn’t you do it?”
“You know,” I shake my head, chuckling, “I ask myself that all the time. When I was a few years older than you, I decided I wanted to be in the military, so I pursued that. So, here I am, almost a hundred years later, and sometimes I think I would have made a better cowboy and should have pursued that.” I wink at Chloe and she laughs.
“So, what about a girlfriend?”
“Chloe,”Juliette says with a warning tone.
“What? I’m just asking if he has one.”
“I don’t have a girlfriend. I’m usually pretty busy with work, so I don’t think I’d be around much and that wouldn’t be good.”
She cocks her head. “You should date my mom since you’re always around here.”
“Chloe!” Juliette says just as the oven timer goes off.
“Saved by the bell.” I nudge Chloe. Juliette gives both of us a stern look before turning to pull the pizza out of the oven. “Hey, I got it.” I jog over, taking the oven mitts from her and pulling the door down. “Go sit down, and I’ll cut and plate it.”
Dinner feels normal. We laugh and talk, make jokes, and enjoy pizza and the two episodes ofHe-ManChloe has left. She’s even gotten into the habit of telling me “good night” before she heads off to bed every night.
“You want a cup of decaf?” Juliette asks after Chloe goes to her room.
“Yeah, that would be nice.” We settle into the couch with our coffee. “So, you want to talk about things more?”
“Not really,” she says, staring down into her mug. “Between work and all this, I just feel so burned out.”
“I understand. What are you going to do now that Talia isn’t testifying?”
She lets out an exaggerated sigh. “Honestly, I don’t know. What I want is to get proof that Delmore was behind this whole thing—forcing them to agree to our settlement terms.”
“Is it a possibility that they would? If there was definitive proof?”
“Probably. They wouldn’t want a second lawsuit on their hands. And if the guy agreed to testify against them, even better.”
We both sit in silence, the soft hum of the dishwasher coming from the kitchen.
“Why aren’t you and your brother close anymore?” She turns her head to look at me.
“He’s dead.” I take a long sip of coffee. “Died when I was 13.”
“Oh—”
“It’s okay, don’t apologize,” I say before she can. She doesn’t ask anything else, but for some reason I keep talking. “He was seven years older than me. He was killed by a drunk driver the day after his 20th birthday.”
“Is that why you don’t drink?”
I nod. “Yeah, but I didn’t stop drinking until I was already heading down a bad path. Zane was my world and it completely fucked me up when he died. I didn’t have a dad and my mom was completely overtaken by grief, so I started lashing out.”
“That’s completely understandable. I know what it’s like to not have a parent while the other parent is preoccupied.”
“I don’t blame her for it. I can’t imaging going through what she did, but I took it out on her. I started skipping school and doing dumb shit with my friends. I was drinking heavily, smoking pot, and hanging out with older guys. I ended up getting arrested . . . just misdemeanors, but it was enough that I realized it wasn’t a life I wanted. So when I turned 18, I decided to pursue Zane’s dream of being in the military. I was a big guy even when I was young—a lot of muscle tone—and I took orders well. I got noticed pretty quickly and rose through the ranks. That’s how I ended up in the Special Forces.” I look over at her. “Sorry, you didn’t ask for all that information.”
“No need to apologize. Seems like you needed to get it out.”
I stare at her. I like that she isn’t looking at me with pity. She isn’t rubbing my arm and telling me it wasn’t my fault. I know people always mean well, but I’m tired of it. It feels like she sees me—like for the first time in forever, I don’t feel judged or the need to be ashamed of my past. I reach my hand out and run the backs of my fingers against her jaw.
“Let’s go to bed.”
