I really needed this mental break. Sylvia brought a movie over and made me dinner –some honey mustard based chicken casserole dish with mushrooms and cheese. It sounds like a weird combination, but it’s actually pretty good. The two of us sit in front of the television watching an old, cheesy romantic comedy. She can tell I’m distracted. We don’t make it very far into the movie before she pauses it and looks at me with these pleading eyes. “All right, I’ll bite. What’s wrong?”

Geeze, I can’t hide anything from her. I lay my plate of food down on the coffee table and slump down into the couch. I wind up telling her all about going to meet Eddie’s father and what a disappointment it had been. “I guess I just thought he would care more,” I say.

“There is nothing you can do about it,” Sylvia says, “some people are just jackasses like it’s their damn birthright. I’m sure Eddie, if he knew you had gone looking for him, would appreciate the gesture and probably would have understood. I’m sure he knows that guy is a tool.”

“It just doesn’t seem fair,” I say. “Eddie had two fathers, and neither of them gave or give a shit about him. My dad raised him, sure, but that stupid will of his was a jackass move, and it really fucked Eddie up. Then he finds out he has another father out there… he went searching for him, and he winds up with a man like Ricardo Smith. It just isn’t right that Eddie had to put up with all of that bullshit.”

“I know.” Sylvia touches my hand. “Eddie has you, though.”

“Yeah, but I’m not much better,” I say.

She shakes her head. “You have gone to that hospital and sat with him and read to him or talked to him every day since he was hurt. You are making sure his younger brother, Nick, gets help. You’re getting to know his siblings. You went looking for his father for him. It sounds to me like Eddie has a pretty damn good younger brother if you ask me. A little rough around the edges” –She pats the top of my head and stifles a laugh – “but you’re like a diamond in the rut, you know?”

I chuckle slightly under my breath and lean over to kiss her forehead. “There is something else bothering me,” I admit.

“What is it?” she asks and plays with the hair on the back of my neck. It’s weird how calming that is.

“Eddie’s father thinks Éclair is the one behind the sabotage at the company… and he thinks she could have hired someone to hurt Eddie. And I sort of have been thinking that too. I don’t know… she’s my friend… I just am not sure what to think… what do you think?” I look her dead in the eye.

She is quiet for a moment as she contemplates the accusation. She shakes her head. “There is no way. Éclair owns a multi-billion dollar company. It’s successful. Sure, she might would do a few less-than-ethical business transaction, I might not put hat past her –or past you for that matter –but I don’t think she would risk putting her company in jeopardy like that. The way you talk about her, it sounds like she really loves her job. I don’t think she would take such a huge gamble by sabotaging you or by hiring some sort of hitman.”

I breathe a sigh of relief. I’m glad to hear Sylvia say that. I needed someone else to tell me that Éclair wouldn’t do it. “Good,” I say.

“Plus,” Sylvia adds, “It sounds like you two are pretty close friends.”

We wind up putting the movie back on and curling up together on the couch. I’m glad Sylvia thinks Éclair is innocent, but truthfully I am still worried.