The Gentry girls.
They’ve been nothing but trouble in my life.
I’m on alert at all times now.
Nervous that Heather will pop up somewhere or that we’ll run into her.
I’ve had nightmares where she tells Noah who she really is.
It’s been two weeks since I’ve talked to Jamie.
She has been regularly hanging out with Georgia and Noah.
I won’t take that away from my son.
No matter how hard she stomped on my heart.
I’m a big boy. I’ll deal with it.
I pull my phone from my pocket when it rings, and I see the number of Noah’s school flash onto the screen.
“Mr. Fox, Noah fell off the monkey bars at recess.”
There’s no freak-out this time.
No animosity.
Awkwardness, some.
Sadness, a little.
Jamie isn’t shocked when she walks into the exam room to find Noah and me. The nurse, the same one who was with us before, must’ve given her a heads-up we were here. We share a quick smile before she moves to Noah, her forehead scrunched in concern.
Even in pain, Noah perks up when he sees her. “Hey, Jamie!”
“Hi, sweetie,” she says. “I heard you had a little fall on the playground.”
“It hurts,” he whines, limply holding up his arm to show her the damage.
While on the monkey bars, he tried to jump from one bar to another. He fell, and while using his hand to break the fall, he ended up hurting his arm.
She carefully inspects his arm, telling him how good he’s doing, before glancing back at me. “It seems like a broken arm, so let’s get an X-ray and see what we’re working with.”
I nod. “He was bound to break something by the time he hit his teens.”
“Young kids and broken bones are definitely not a rarity here.” She lightly pats Noah’s leg. “Someone will come in shortly, take you upstairs, and give you an X-ray of your arm.”
“Will it hurt?” he asks with a trembling lip.
“It won’t hurt. And when you get back, I’ll get you a sucker. How’s that sound?”
“That sounds awesome.”
“I’ll check on him when I can,” Jamie says.
I nod again.
Ten minutes later, the X-ray tech comes in and wheels Noah out of the room in his bed. I sit back in my chair and text everyone an update on Noah’s condition. I place the phone on my lap at the sound of a knock, expecting it to be Noah returning, but Jamie steps in the room with a handful of suckers.
She holds them up. “For when he gets back.”
“Mind if I get one?” I say.
She tosses me a sucker before setting the rest down in the empty chair next to me.
“How have you been, babe?”
We both wince when I say babe.
It fell out naturally. I hadn’t meant for it to.
She shoves her hands into the pockets of her jacket. “Busy. Working.”
“Heather still crashing with you?”
“Unfortunately,” she grumbles. “Which is probably why I’m working like crazy. Avoidance seems like my life at the moment.”
“Avoiding your sister and me.” I pull out my best teasing tone. “I don’t blame you for dodging Heather.”
As much as I’ve tried not to, I fucking miss Jamie.
“If you ever need time away from her, my places are open,” I stupidly offer. “You can hang out with Noah at my place or grab a drink at the bar.”
She sends me a wavering smile. “Thank you. I’ll remember that.”
This conversation seems so forced.
The friendliness such a fraud.
“I don’t want shit to be weird with us, Jamie,” I say, blowing out a long breath. “What we had happened. I don’t regret it, and even though it’s made shit complicated, I would hate myself if I wasn’t up-front with you about my feelings. I respect you, and if you think a relationship with me will hurt your relationship with your family, which, in turn, will hurt you, I understand.”
“Cohen”—her face falls—“it’s not that I don’t want a relationship with you. If there’s anyone I want, it’s you. It was you years ago, and it’s you now.”
“But it’s not me.”
“I’m sorry,” she whispers, her voice choked with emotion. “Please don’t hate me.”
I stand, not wanting her to be upset at work, and wrap her into a tight hug. “I get it,” I say into her hair. “I don’t hate you.”
This is me being a responsible adult.
Being respectful.
Putting my feelings aside for my son.