I woke up earlier than normal but thought nothing of it. It wasn’t until I was ready to leave that I realized how early I was. I didn’t usually show up until right before the doors opened, but I needed the extra hour to get some paperwork in order so it worked out.

The roof was still being worked on, so I had to park around the front. When I pulled in, Hank was unlocking the door. I narrowed my eyes. Who the fuck gave him a key?

I got out and shook my head. That guy was taking over everything. He held the door open for me to walk through first when he realized I was there, but I took the door from him and pushed it shut. “I think we need to have a talk.”

“Out here?” He looked around. “Sure. What’s on your mind?”

“How did you get a key? Staff can have access to the back door only.”

“Oh.” He looked at the key and back to me. “April gave me one for this week. I saw her walking out alone last night and I told her to take my spot in the back. I don’t mind.”

“Maybe I do.”

“You want her to walk out here alone?” He looked around again. “Then put some more lights up or be a fucking gentleman and walk her to her car.”

The fact he swore was enough to make me look at him, but I never thought I’d hear him say “fucking” at all.

It was as if he could read my mind. “I figured I’d get your attention if I spoke your language. She needs to be safe. Your precious key is safer with me than she is out here after dark.” He took the key off his key ring and held it out. “But, if you really care about the key more, I’ll gladly bring her to work every morning and take her home every night.”

Hank was shoving the fact he was dating her in my face. He knew I didn’t want anything to happen to her. He, on the other hand, let him walk out after dark. I didn’t care. I shook my head. “Keep it.” I took a step toward the door but stopped and looked at him. “Be good to her. Treat her the way she needs to be treated.” I walked in and left him standing outside.

She wasn’t mine anymore. I would’ve loved to have been given another chance, but she didn’t need me in her life. She needed someone stable. Someone who remembered to put her needs first. Hank was a good man. Maybe a little too old for her, but he was still good. He’d give her the life and the family she always wanted.

I went straight to my office but heard Hank knock on April’s doorway and greet her. I left my door open a little and stood behind it near the crack to listen.

“Good morning, beautiful. How do you always come in earlier than me, looking radiant? We were not up the same amount of time last night?”

“No, we weren’t. You forget I’m in bed way before you drive home.” She laughed.

I leaned against the wall and tilted my head back. I didn’t want to hear any more. They were sleeping together. I was thankful he wasn’t spending the night, but I never left her bed after I had her. Not even that first night.

The door opened and hit me in the face. It was what I got for standing so close to it and eavesdropping when I shouldn’t have been. “Motherfucker!” I put my hand over my eye.

“Oh my God. I’m so sorry.” April followed me to the chair and moved my hand to look at it when I sat down. “I didn’t know you were there. What the hell were you doing behind the door?”

When she moved my hand away from my eye, I saw Hank smirking in the doorway. He gave me a wink and walked away. That asshole caught me listening. Fuck him. I looked at April. I couldn’t believe she was fucking him. What did she see in him?

“Oh, that’s going to leave a mark. Maybe not a big one, but you’ll have a bruise.” She was bent over, looking at the space above my eye. Once I stopped focusing on the asshole in the doorway, I couldn’t stop looking at her eyes. I felt the moment she looked into mine.

We were both sucked in and neither wanted to look away. I missed her eyes. I missed lying in bed next to her and doing nothing but staring into them. All of my hope was there. My strength, my happiness. All of it was right in front of me. When did I stop looking?

I hadn’t realized she cupped my face until she moved her thumb over my cheek. “I’ll get you some ice.”

I held her hand before she took it away. “I’ll be fine.”

My face would be fine, but I was far from it. A woman like her only comes around once in a lifetime. Some never find one. I had her and threw her away. I wanted to ask if she was happy with Hank. I wanted to ask if there was any chance at all that she’d forgive me, but I couldn’t do that. She was smart to leave me. She was smart to get out and start a different life without me weighing her down. I wished I had listened to her when I had the chance, but I let everyone else’s noise interfere.

She squeezed my hand back when I squeezed hers and it gave me hope. Maybe not to be like we were before, but at least friends. I needed to make it a priority to move her past the hurt I inflicted upon her. I needed to hear her laugh fill the office again. No matter who made her sparkle again.

The door slammed open for the second time and Briggs was breathing hard. “Mr. Michaels, there’s a fight.”

I could see the disappointment I felt looking back at me. She didn’t want to let go, either. She knew I had to. I squeezed her hand again before I got up and followed Briggs.

It’d been a long time since we had a fight and I hoped it wasn’t physical. I heard the yelling and heard Hank trying to defuse the situation. He was the professional, so I’d hang back and let him work through it. If anyone made any effort to rush someone, I was stepping in.

It was as I suspected with a new entry and one who was just about to leave. Gavin had just a few days left, so Hank focused on him. Diego was tending to the new entry, Nathaniel.

“Gavin, you’re so close. Don’t let someone destroy what you’ve worked so hard to earn. It isn’t worth it.” Hank continued to move with him to block his view of Nathaniel. “Take this as a test to the world you’re about to reenter. What are you going to do out there? You’re not going to have us in front of you. You have to remember we’re with you in your head and your heart.” He got Gavin to look at him. “Now, what are you going to do if you come across this when you go back home?”

Gavin moved his head to look at Nathaniel once more before he looked back to Hank and shook his head. “Watch out for that one. He’s going to give you one hell of a hard time.”

Hank wrapped his arm around Gavin as he turned him away from the scene and patted his chest. “I’ve been given a hard time by the best of them. We always come out friends.” He walked Gavin to the door and told him to go find a snack before he turned back to Nathaniel. I may have hated the man for taking April from me, but he did have a way with these guys no one else had.

“Nathaniel, what’s the problem tonight? What can we help you with?”

Diego stood back to let Hank work. They were a great team. Neither was afraid to get into the middle of the fight and the other counselors knew to take care of the rest of the center. They knew how to work together for the sake of the clients. There were no rooms for egos in our line of work. I may not have liked the man, but I was grateful Hank had a way with people. Our incident reports were almost nonexistent.

“I don’t have a problem. He did.” Nathaniel just joined our facility a few days ago after going through detox. His detox was hard. He’d been a long-time user, and sometimes those were the hardest to convince that they deserved the second chance. Hank never shied away from a hard case.

“Okay, what was his problem?” Hank never argued with them. He rarely agreed, but he always got the answers he wanted.

“I don’t know. He just had a lousy attitude.”

Diego stood behind Nathaniel and held up two fingers to his face as if he were on a phone call. Hank walked over to the phone we had available for staff use only. You had to know the code to get an outside line, but it was primarily used for in-house calls or intercom. The receiver was off the hook and dangling down the wall.

He picked it up and put it to his ear. Once he determined no one was on the line, he hung it up. “This phone is worthless for contacting your friends and family.” He turned back to Nathaniel.

“I just wanted to hear my daughter’s voice. I was in that hell hole for almost two weeks and they wouldn’t let her near me.”

Hank nodded as he walked toward him and put his finger on his chin while his other hand went into his pocket. “I can see how that would be upsetting. I would want to hear my daughter’s voice, too.”

Nathaniel stood up a little taller. “You have a daughter, too?”

Hank shook his head. “No. Unfortunately, I haven’t had the pleasure of becoming a father yet. It doesn’t take one to see the bond like you have with your daughter. I know you want what’s best for her. You know what?”

Hank walked up and put his arm around his shoulders as he walked him back to his office. It looked as if Nathaniel was about to cry when he shook his head. “I don’t know anything anymore.”

“Well, you’ve come to the right place then. I know everything, and that includes that your daughter wants the best for her daddy, too. Now, let’s go to my office and you can tell me everything about her.”

“Whoa.” Briggs was behind me. “I thought for sure they were going to kill each other.”

I turned to him. “Did they hit each other?”

“No, but they were in each other’s face. Diego didn’t let it get that far.”

I nodded my thanks to Diego. He was an invaluable member. I wondered what we were paying him. He deserved more if we could afford it. I turned back to Briggs and put my hand on his shoulder. “Thanks for coming to get me. You showed more maturity in dealing with that than they did.”