Chapter 2 #2
But we also knew it wouldn’t be easy for a doctor and a lawyer to manage childcare for a one-year-old, and everyone in Devon Falls has been helping them out where we can—within the guidelines of the foster system’s childcare requirements, of course.
I don’t mind letting Vera crawl all over me while she tries to eat everything in sight.
She might distract me from how much I’ll be questioning my life choices after I finish this conversation with Gabe.
“So, what’s up?” Gabe asks, as he leans back against the wall behind him. I sit back down at my desk as Vera settles into my lap, gnawing away at the blue pacifier in her mouth.
“Okay,” I say slowly. “You know how we’ve been talking about hiring a social worker for this place? Someone who can be in charge of the youth programs, help you build more wraparound services, and get a program for helping foster kids going?”
Gabe smiles. “You mean the person I was talking about hiring in six or eight months, after we get the center open? Who do you want to hire right this minute, Milo?”
I laugh. “Wow. Okay, yeah, maybe I wasn’t subtle enough there. But who’s got time for subtlety?” I give Vera another bounce as she giggles, and I pass Gabe the tablet sitting on my desk. “Check this out,” I tell him.
Gabe skims the cover letter and resume before he glances up at me, eyes wide. “Uh, Milo. Correct me if I’m wrong here, but isn’t this guy related to the person who’s supposed to be your mother’s biggest opposition in her primary run?”
I knew he’d pick that up fast. Gabe’s a big fan of Ma’s, and he follows her career closely. “Got it in one.”
“And you think we should hire him.”
I nod.
Gabe frowns. “Really, Milo? Are you sure? After everything that happened before you got here, you still want to…?”
I appreciate that Gabe doesn’t finish the sentence.
“Devon Falls was a place for me to run to when I needed an escape. Noah and I met a few months ago, and we’ve been talking since then.
I like him, and I figured out pretty quickly that he needs a place like Devon Falls too.
” I gesture to the walls of my office. “And honestly, I think he’s exactly the kind of person we need working here. ”
Gabe nods steadily, his eyes trained on me.
“I mean, his cover letter and resume are solid. He’s perfect for us, actually.
Experience working with kids, some community organizing in his background, and he’s got counseling experience in his grad work.
” He frowns. “We can see about starting the position earlier. It would be nice to have another pair of hands around this summer, when our timeline for opening day really ramps up. But are you absolutely sure you want to do this, Milo?”
I flash back to that day in Albany, to that scene outside the elevator.
I never have figured out who worked so hard to destroy me in New York—my career, my reputation, everything I built there—and I may never know who it was.
But in my mind’s eye, I picture them looking and acting just like that dick Ezra.
Noah grabbed at every single damn protective instinct I have that day. I saw too much in his eyes, too much of that same shame that’s haunted me all too recently.
He needs a place to hide out, I’m sure of that.
And Devon Falls is the perfect corner of New England to hide in.
Conveniently, it’s also only a few hours away from Albany.
Noah can get away from Ezra without being too far from his uncle.
I do know a little bit about his relationship with his uncle; the press loves a story like Noah’s.
I understand why stepping too far away from the man who raised him isn’t something Noah’s ready for yet.
If Devon Falls can be his middle ground while he takes the next step in his life, I want to offer him that ground. I’ll just have to offer it carefully. I can’t let my guard down again.
“I’m sure,” I finally say. Vera claps and squeals excitedly, and Gabe and I both laugh as some of the tension in the room eases.
“Okay. Tell Noah Hardaway I’d like to schedule a Zoom call with him.” Gabe hands me back the tablet. “Oh.” He fishes around in the pocket of his sweatshirt. “Jack said to give you this.” He passes me a fortune cookie.
I roll my eyes. Back during residency, Jack, Sam, and I basically lived on takeout.
We were all stressed out as hell then, and we started this weird tradition of leaving fortune cookies in each other’s lockers at work, mostly because we had so many of them sitting around our apartment.
The joke was that whoever had the best fortune would have the best day at work.
Things never worked out that way, though, of course.
“We’re doing that again, huh?” I say as I shake my head. Gabe just smiles and waves as he leaves the room. Maybe he already asked Jack about the cookie, or maybe he didn’t. Gabe’s good at letting people keep their own business.
I crack the cookie open. Like most fortunes, this one is as vague as a pissed off social media post from someone you barely know.
You will find the change you seek, it says.
Too bad I’ve got no idea what kind of change I’m looking for right now.
I haven’t since I left New York, and with every day that passes, I’m less and less sure I’ll figure it out by the time I leave Devon Falls after the center opens.
I ball the fortune up in one hand and aim it at the wastebasket while Vera babbles to herself on my lap.
I hold tightly to the paper just before I fire it at the basket.
Nothing but net.