Hank had brought pizza in the hopes of getting me to spill what was happening with Tim. Nothing that had happened was worth repeating. I could handle what Tim tried to throw my way. I was used to it.

I didn’t want him to turn and see him parked outside. I wasn’t sure what he was doing out there or how many times he’d done it, but it was confusing. Did he want something and was too afraid to ask? Did he stop himself from coming in because Hank’s car was there? I had no idea what the point was to just sit outside my house and not come in.

“Love, your phone is ringing.” Hank tapped on my leg.

“Oh, sorry.” I picked it up, hoping it wasn’t Tim and sighed with relief that it was my mom. “Hey, Ma, it isn’t a great time. Can I call you tomorrow?”

“It won’t take long, dear. Cynthia is getting married in Hawaii.”

“Oh, well, that’s nice for her.”

“For her, yes, but not the family.” My mother sounded pissed. It was never a good sign when my mother was pissed.

“But, it’s her wedding. She should be able to have it wherever she wants.”

“Yes, I’ve heard all about it from her.”

“If you want to go, I can help with the money to get you there.”

“No, no. She doesn’t want family there. Have you ever heard of such a thing? They are eloping, but it’s planned. I told her eloping doesn’t work like that.”

“Okay, so what I’m hearing is she can’t afford the wedding and a honeymoon. What she wants is the honeymoon.”

“Oh, I didn’t think of that. I’m sure she is strapped for cash since she hasn’t been out of college all that long. I wonder if—”

“No, Ma, don’t wonder. It’s her day. Let her spend it how she wants to. Throw her a party at home.”

“That’s what I’m calling about.”

I looked at Hank and mouthed, “I’m sorry.”

He waved me off and picked up another piece of pizza. “You tell your mom hi.”

I nodded but didn’t know if I’d get the opportunity. “Ma, can we talk about this tomorrow?”

“No. I mean, yes, of course we can talk about it tomorrow. I’m just calling to let you know we’re having a send-off for them. It’ll be the closest thing to a wedding we’re going to get and you and Tim need to be here.”

I froze. Tim and I couldn’t come because Tim and I were no longer. I felt the panic rising at the thought of coming clean. I didn’t want to upset my mom during a pretend wedding reception for my cousin.

Hank took the phone from me. “Hi, Marcella, it’s Hank. How are you?”

I couldn’t hear what my mom was saying, but I was grateful Hank recognized the fear I was feeling and took over.

“Oh, she had to go to the bathroom. We’ve had a little too much soda with our pizza tonight. In all fairness, she did try to tell you she needed to go. You just didn’t know how bad.”

I could hear them both laughing at his joke and relaxed a little. She always did like Hank. She liked Tim, too, but he never picked up the phone like that.

“Okay, yeah, sure. I’ll tell her. Yes, I’m writing it down right now. Oh, they’ll be there.” He looked at me and I looked down. He knew my secret. “You, too, Marcella.”

He hit the button on the phone to disconnect the call before he handed it back. “So, she still thinks you and Tim are an item. Care to explain that?”

I shook my head.

“Okay, how about you explain why he’s sitting outside your house?”

I looked at him. “How did you know?”

“I haven’t taken a hundred years of schooling to not read people well. When you kept looking out the window, I used my selfie cam on my phone to look behind me.” He pointed at me. “Now start talking.”

I picked up the pillow behind me and hugged it. “There’s nothing to say. I don’t know why he’s out there. I kept looking because I didn’t know what he was doing. He didn’t look like he was coming in. He saw his sister today. Maybe he wanted to talk.”

“Why haven’t you told your mom yet?”

“I just couldn’t. I thought we’d get back together. I told you what they did to my brother Matty’s last girlfriend when they broke up and got back together.”

“Yeah, but they knew she wasn’t right for him. I don’t blame them for keeping their distance and their guards up. She was a bitch.”

“She was, but I couldn’t risk that with Tim.”

“Are you still holding out hope that you’ll be together again?”

“No, I know he doesn’t love me. I know I need to move on, but…” I put my head back on the sofa and blinked.

“You still love him.”

“With everything.”

“You know you have to tell her, right?”

I nodded as best as I could with my head on the back of the sofa. It wasn’t a full nod, but it fit because I wasn’t sure I could do it.

“This will be okay. You can wait until after the party and talk to her privately.” He reached out and put his hand on my knee. “I’m always here to listen. I want to help you.”

I put my hand on his and looked at him. “You’ve helped me so much. I don’t know what I would’ve done without you.”

I looked out the window, but Tim was gone.

* * *

I was relieved to see Dallas walk in shortly after me. I thought for sure Tim would’ve scared her off, but she came back. It was a good sign.

“Good morning, Dallas.”

“Good morning, Ms. D’Angelo.”

“Please, I told you yesterday to call me April. We’re not formal here.”

“Okay.”

Tim walked in and looked at the two of us before he snarled and walked to his office. I expected the door to slam, but it didn’t. I took it as progress. I was just about to excuse myself to pop my head in to have a word with Tim, but Briggs walked in shortly after Tim.

“April.” He stopped and looked at Dallas. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know you were busy.”

“I’m glad you’re here. You two will be working together.”

Briggs glanced at Dallas. “She’s going to be working out there with me?”

“No, she’s taking over most of my duties in here. I need you to give order requests to her and help her with the inventory and deliveries. Can you handle training her?”

“Sure.” He smiled. It was good to give him responsibility and trust to take that on. “Whatever you’d like me to do, let me know.”

“Okay, but don’t take her to the client side. She’s to remain off that floor. Understood?”

He nodded. “Yeah, I understand.”

Briggs knew what went on there. Most days were normal, but occasionally, someone would have a bad day. It would range from crying to screaming to destroying things. Dallas didn’t need that kind of experience.

“Could you take her and show her the supplies? Let her know what we do when they are delivered.”

“Sure.” He turned and opened the door for Dallas. “Ladies first.”

I turned and looked at Tim’s door. It was time I found out what he wanted the night before. I knocked, but I didn’t wait for an answer. I opened the door to see him pour himself a cup of coffee.

He held up the pot. “Thanks for replacing that.”

“You’re welcome.” I received a thank you and he didn’t slam the door when he came in. I was scared for what was to come.

“Did you need something, or are you just going to stand there and look at me all day?”

“I asked Briggs to show Dallas the ropes for the supplies. I thought the responsibility would do him some good.”

He took a couple of sips of his hot coffee and nodded when he set it down. “I’m sure it will. I think you need to put condoms on the order list.”

“Condoms? We don’t allow clients to have sex.”

“I meant for the teenagers.”

“You don’t think . . .” I turned to the door.

“Ap, stop.”

I did stop. He hadn’t called me Ap in so long. My heart sped up, but I ignored it. I didn’t want him to know I heard it. “What?”

“I don’t think they’re down there doing it right now. They are both too shy, but watch them. Don’t leave them alone too much.”

I wanted to ask him why he was outside my house. I wanted to know what he wanted, but I hadn’t had a civil conversation with him in far too long to start something and ruin it. I wanted to walk out of the office as if we were just two people who worked together instead of two people who used to love each other. I didn’t care why he was outside my home. I only cared that Tim had shown up for once. It’d been a long time since I dealt with anyone other than the asshole he’d become. I missed it.

I kept the conversation about work. I kept it neutral. I would try to hold on to that feeling for as long as I could. “The guys will be here to fix the roof next week. We will need to move some parking around so they can put the dumpster out back.”

“Sure. I’ll start parking in the front to free up one space. It’s going to be a tight fit with the dumpster we already share with the business across the way.”

“I can start parking out there, too.”

He looked at me. “Don’t walk out the front alone in the dark. It isn’t as well lit as the back.”

The business we shared the dumpster with had put in floodlights to make sure they could see our door. They were afraid the addicts would rob them. I understood their concern, but they took it over the top. Tim wasn’t upset at all. It helped with security and it didn’t cost him a dime. The only time he did bitch was when one of the lights burned out and they were slow to replace it. They were slow because they knew we had our shit together. I never could make him understand that.

“What are you smiling about?”

I shook my head. “Just the floodlights you love so much.”