“Get your backpack on,” I tell Braxley as we get out of the car at his school. Glancing around, I find myself lately looking for Thane, and for the past few days, I haven’t seen him. But I guess that should come as a relief to me, not a bother.

“Remember to ask Mrs. Leeper if you’ll have your spelling test this week.”

“I will, Mommy.”

As we begin to walk up to school, I hear someone call Braxley’s name from across the parking lot; it’s Jack and Thane. The boys run to each other as Thane, and I slowly make our way together. He’s got a tiny grin on his face as I study him and my thoughts are cut short when Braxley asks Jack, “Whoa, what happened to your arm?” I could say the same thing, glancing down at him. His hand is bandaged.

“Oh my God, Thane, is he okay?”

“Yeah, it really looks worse than it is.”

“What happened to him?”

“He was with Char and apparently he was trying to make himself a sandwich for dinner with a paring knife and sliced right down to the tendon.” My hand flies over my mouth visualizing poor Jack hurt like that. He must’ve been so terrified. I can’t imagine what they’ve been through or how scared Jack and Thane must have been. It has to be the worst feeling in the entire world.

Wanting to do something to help, I can’t stop myself from wrapping my arms around Thane’s neck and hugging him. “I’m so sorry; you should’ve called me.”

He holds my body close to his and says into my ear, “I wanted to, but I feel like an ass for the other day.”

The bell rings, and the boys both look at us in shock. “Oh no, we’re late.” They dart off as their class has already entered the building, and we both wave, saying, “Bye,” in sync, but they don’t hear us.

“Please don’t feel bad, I shouldn’t have reacted the way I did.”

“No, you should’ve. I crossed a line, and I’m sorry.”

“Remember what you told me?” He looks at me a tad confused. “You told me to not be sorry for anything. You should do the same.”

“Well, thanks.”

“How about I get you that cup of coffee I owe you?” He agrees with a grin, and we head towards our cars. It feels really good to be around him again.

“I’ll meet you there,” I holler and he winks. I pull out of the parking lot first, but Thane is close behind me, and what lately has been a huge battle in my mind, going back and forth about the feelings I’m having towards him, for some reason right now feels right.

After I park my car at the Starbucks, I wait for Thane to park. Then he gets out and chuckles at me as I try and open the door to the cafe, stopping me, so I have to release the door and enter first. There is no one in line, and we both order our usual. But as I go to swipe my card, he hands the barista cash. “Are you serious?” I scold him.

“What? You didn’t think I would really let you pay, did you?”

He hands me my coffee, which I take out of his hand and very dryly respond, “Thank you,” with a smirk on my face.

“You should do that more often.”

“What?”

“Smirk like that.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

“Chai Tea Latte, for Thane,” the barista calls out.

He takes his drink, and we find a table by the fireplace. His phone buzzes, and he pulls it from his pocket glaring at the screen. He ignores the call, but his face tells me that he’s bothered by whoever it is. “Everything okay?” I ask him.

“Yeah, it was my lawyer. I want to petition the court for full custody, and he told me to think on it before I jump that far. I already have primary custody, and since she let Jack get hurt, the judge will likely rule in my favor. Regardless, I can’t trust her with him, Faye. My gut is telling me to do it.”

“I’m not defending her, Thane. But she is his mom and the only mom he’ll ever have.”

“I know, and she also has a really bad shopping addiction that rules her life. To me, it’s no different than if she was an alcoholic. It’s caused us a lot of problems, and pretty much ruined our marriage. She needs help for it.”

“Does she not want help?”

“Now she does. But up until he hurt himself, she’s fought me on it, acted like nothing was wrong with her. But when she has Jack, her mind is preoccupied, and she just carts him around from store to store and isn’t a good mom. They had been out all day when he got hurt. The poor kid was fucking starving and trying to make himself a sandwich for dinner when he cut his hand.”

“I think you gotta put Jack first, Thane.”

“I do…I always do.”

“Then if she is agreeing to get help, start there and see it through. But don’t jump to conclusions and take away all of her rights. Look at Braxley, he’ll never see his dad again, and one day that’s gonna really affect him, but I don’t have a choice in the matter. You…you have a choice.”

He looks at me and slowly nods, his eyes are as clear as day. His stare flips and turns my stomach, and I find us drawing closer and closer together. Then his phone buzzes again interrupting our moment and I back away. Frustrated, he rubs the back of his neck. “So, you really think I should give her a chance, even after he got hurt?”

“If she will get the help she needs…then I’d say yes. Children are always a parent’s number one priority, but when someone like Char has a problem, their priorities can get clouded. Show her that so she can get the help she needs to fix it. I really think you’ll thank yourself down the line.”

“Jesus, you make a lot of sense, Faye.”

“I’ve been through a lot in life.”

“Unfortunately, you have. How’s Braxley doing with things? I’ve never really asked.”

“He’s okay. I think he’s at that age where he doesn’t really understand that Ben is really gone. You know?” Thane nods and places his hand over mine. I swallow, looking down at the gesture.

“Do you and Jack want to come over and have dinner tonight?” I ask.

“Yeah. I’d like that.”

“Great.”

He looks at me, his eyes are so consuming, and hidden deep within them is a resemblance of Ben, a resemblance I guess I’d overlooked until now. Maybe that’s why I feel so drawn to Thane in the first place because he does remind me so much of Ben. Staring back at him, I get lost, and as I close my eyes…I can feel Ben here with me.

* * *

“I hope you’re not bailing on dinner, ‘cause I just left the store,” I tell Thane as I answer his incoming phone call.

“No way. But I kinda need a favor.”

“Who ‘kinda’ needs a favor?” I tease him. “You either do, or you don’t.”

“Fine, I do. This might sound a little crazy, but I just got a call to take a client to LA today, and with things the way they are between Char and I, I don’t want to call her. So, do you think you could pick Jack up from school if I’m late getting back?”

“Of course I can, I don’t mind at all.”

“Thank you, I’ll probably be back before he’s out, but just in case.”

“It’s not a big deal. We are already having dinner together, so the boys will love it.”

“Thanks. I’ll email Mrs. Leeper and let her know. Also, I meant to ask you earlier, did you ever get your garage door fixed?”

“No, I’ve just been parking in the driveway.”

“Okay. I’ll look at it again today. Sorry I dropped the ball.”

“Thane, would you stop apologizing? My garage door is not your responsibility. I shouldn’t have asked you in the first place.”

“I’ll stop apologizing, but I’m gonna look at it tonight.”

“Fine.”

“I’m gonna head to the airport. I’ll text you and let you know how things are going later on.”

We hang up, and I love how easy it is to talk to him. We have our banter back and forth, and it’s all in good fun. He’s such a good guy, and I’m really looking forward to dinner. ‘Cause when I’m around him, the pain is less, which is a huge relief, and even though it’s only been a week, I’ve missed him.