Chapter 16
Drew
“Hiya, Ben. I’m your chauffeur today,” I said by way of greeting when I arrived at his doorstep.
“Drew, whatchu doing here? Dad,” he hollered over his shoulder, “c’mere fastly.”
Yelling wasn’t necessary because Marc was right behind him. Fortunately for me, Ben was too busy jumping up and down to notice that his dad had been there the entire time.
“Hey, Drew. Thanks for taking this one on.” He glanced down at his son, who was doing some sort of ninja move mixed with a bucking bronco kick in a circle around him, and smiled fondly. “And I guess this answers whether or not Ben’ll be okay with you taking him to school.”
Ben stopped mid-motion and stared up at us.
“I get to go with Drew to school?”
“If that’s okay.”
Rather than answer, Ben returned to his antics, but this time added a few whoops to them.
“Since it’s my first day, we need to get moving so I’m not late.”
Ben didn’t wait to say goodbye to his dad and made a beeline for my new—and borrowed—car.
At some point between when Henry bought it and when I’d left his house with it the night before, a carseat had magically appeared in the back seat.
Rather than be offended, Marc smiled widely at me and handed over Ben’s Bluey backpack.
I hustled over to the car, got Ben situated, and took off.
The drive to the daycare was only about fifteen minutes from Ben’s house, which he filled by singing loudly along to the radio.
Once there and unbuckled, he eagerly grasped my hand and dragged me into the building.
He chattered the entire way about how much fun I was going to have playing with his friends because they frolicked the best. Truthfully, I was a little surprised to hear him use that particular word, but yay for great vocabularies.
“Ben, who are you bringing to school today?” Marcia greeted us at the entrance with an enthusiastic smile. “He looks like he belongs, for sure.”
I’d spent a few hours agonizing over the best first-day outfit and finally settled on sturdy cargo shorts, a graphic tee borrowed from the Halo House community closet, and the shoes Henry gave me as a gift.
“Ben, I’m going to have to steal Mr. Drew for a little bit.”
Ben scampered off to play with his friends while Marcia led me toward her office.
“Thanks for agreeing to allow me to work and drive Ben in.”
“Oh, no worries. I know you have a pre-existing relationship with the family, and I’m just glad we were able to steal you away from whatever other options you had.”
“Stealing is probably a strong word for it, but I’m happy to be here,” I answered.
It was sweet of her to pretend I had other options.
The only references I could get were Henry, Marc, and Phoenix to attest to my trustworthiness.
It’s not like I had any real professional references, and she knew that since she was the one who called around.
But if she wanted to pretend I wasn’t scraping the bottom of the barrel, I wasn’t going to argue with her.
We spent the next hour going through paperwork and filling out payroll forms. The only hiccup came when it asked for my emergency contact. My first instinct was to put my parents down, but that was silly. It’s not like there was anything they could do if something bad happened.
So I took a leap of faith and put Henry’s name down.
My handwriting was a little shaky while I filled it out, but I did it and returned it to Marcia before I could change my mind.
She glanced through the paperwork while I waited for her final approval.
After flipping through it all, she nodded, smiled at me, stood up from behind her chair, put out her hand, and said, “Welcome to the team.”
“I’m happy to be here.”
Before I returned her handshake, I discreetly wiped my palms on my shorts. Sweaty palms were embarrassing regardless of the reason, and my first day on the job in twenty years was definitely a big deal.
And that was the last moment of peace I had for the rest of the day.
As an assistant teacher, I was paired with a more experienced lead teacher, and I was on my feet nonstop. The preschoolers were like bouncing balls rolling downhill. They always scattered in different directions, and herding them back together took a lot of patience and a little cajoling.
They had so many questions, and a lot of them I didn’t have answers to, but I promised I’d do my research and have answers for them in the next couple of days.
By the time nap time came around, I was more exhausted than they were, but while they slept, there was paperwork to fill out about everything they’d done that day.
My favorite part might have been the exploration we did in the grove of trees attached to the school. We overturned rocks, used sticks to poke at the dirt, and examined leaves up close.
Exhausting and exhilarating at the same time.
I’m not sure if it was a joke, but Marcia confirmed that I’d be returning the following day. I promised her there wasn’t any chance of me missing it.
My job with Marc was only to take Ben to school, so I waved him off when his dad came to get him. Then I collapsed into the front seat of Henry’s new car.
I was exhausted, but I felt so damn proud of myself on the drive home.
My only sadness was that I was going to Halo House and not back to Henry’s.
He had left that morning on a business trip to New York City for a few days.
Six months ago, I couldn’t have imagined that I’d be working at a daycare and bummed that my Daddy wasn’t there to greet me after my first day of work.
How was this my life?
“Drew, there’s a package waiting for you in the library.”
My first day on the job had been messy, dirty, exhausting, and the very best day of my life.
Getting the kids organized was like herding cats in the rain, but when it worked, it was exhilarating.
Was this what Henry felt when he successfully closed a deal?
Because if it was, how amazing. But I was barely able to drag myself out of Henry’s—not my—car.
“Thanks,” I said with a wave and hurried as fast as I could on my aching feet down the hall.
Behind the heavy doors, I expected to find a box or envelope or something. Nothing. The only thing on the table was a gorgeous spray of flowers in a riot of colors. They didn’t look like the kind growing around the grounds, so they must have been delivered.
Oh.
Like a package.
Congratulations on your first day. I’m so proud of you.
Daddy
Against my will, tears sprang into my eyes. It wasn’t the world’s most glamorous job, but Daddy treated it like it was a big deal, and I wasn’t sure how I felt about that.
No, that was a lie.
I knew exactly how I felt about it.
I loved it with every part of myself.
How could one man make me feel like I’d conquered the world when all I’d done was get up and leave the house? Beats me, but he did, and I loved it. Maybe I loved him too, but I wasn’t ready to think about it. Or say it. Or admit it.
But I was willing to dream about it.
And that’s exactly what I did every single night I slept alone in my own bed.
What had been a sanctuary when I first arrived had become lonely since Daddy had come into my life.
He always invited me to stay over, and most days, I did, but I wasn’t ready to hang out there when he was away.
It was too…I don’t know…too much like a relationship.
The car might have given me qualms, but I’d happily take the flowers to my room.
It took a little maneuvering, but I managed to get them upstairs without spilling any water, which felt like a major accomplishment given the distance between the conservatory and my room.
Once there, I set them on my desk so I could admire them from bed and headed down the hall to wash the dirt of the day off me.
Under the spray, I washed every inch of myself—a few places twice. I couldn’t believe all the places I found tiny grains of dirt. The water sluiced over my body, and I felt like a new man by the time I was done. I was still exhausted, but it felt survivable.
Once out of the shower, my phone vibrated on the wooden bench I’d set it on to keep it dry. For reasons I wasn’t ready to think about, I hurried to check the messages.
Daddy
Figured you’d be exhausted, so I ordered you some dinner. It should be there in about ten minutes.
Call me later if you’re up for talking a little bit and not too tired.
Rather than responding in the moment, I gave a thumbs-up and hurried back to finish rinsing, get dried, dressed, and slather on the moisturizer I desperately needed.
On my way back to my room, I passed a few other residents. I wasn’t any more sociable, but I was making an effort to be friendlier. It still felt awkward being so much older than most of them, but it wasn’t front and center in my mind like it had been.
Daddy couldn’t have timed it better because the delivery driver was pulling up as I opened the front door to wait for my food. After thanking him, I went back to my room and settled on my bed.
In usual Henry fashion, it was too much and incredibly considerate. Hot-and-sour soup, fried rice, Mongolian beef, General Tso’s chicken, and extra fortune cookies. It was delicious, and I was so grateful to be able to eat in the quiet of my room.
It was beyond me how one man could be so considerate and ask for so little in return.
I wasn’t sure how I could make him understand how much I appreciated his care, but nothing felt like enough.
Even when I stayed over, he fussed over me and rebuffed any attempt to stop him.
In fairness, I didn’t try very hard because I loved how it made me feel.
Dammit.
There was that word again.
I couldn’t keep it out of my mind when I thought about Henry. I’d thought I was in love before, but I’d never felt like this. There had always been a twinge of fear that I wasn’t enough, so I needed to reinvent myself to become enough.
Henry only wanted me.
And that scared the hell out of me.
“Is this an okay time?”