of my life with care and tact. She never brought up the shit that the rest of the world brought up and did her best to make my life easier. I wished I could do something to make her life easier too. Because I was sure when she did grieve, she crumbled on her own.
“How are you doing, Kelly? You know, with everything. How are you?”
“I’m fine.”
“Liar.”
She laughed. “Maybe.” She brushed her hand against the back of her neck and gave me a smile that was soaked in sadness. “I’m still breathing, though, and I’ll call that a win.”
That seemed so simple, but oddly enough I’d found breathing to be one of the hardest things as of late.
“All right. Keep breathing. Did you eat breakfast today?” I asked.
She shifted a little in her seat, which was enough of an answer for me. “I have time before I have to handle this. Let’s get breakfast.”
“Oliver, I’m fine,” she said warily. I wondered how many times a day humans lied to one another about being okay.
“Yeah, I know you are. Now come on. Let’s go get breakfast.”
10
EMERY
When morning came, I awakened to my doorbell ringing. My body ached from exhaustion, and my eyes were probably still swollen from the amount of crying I’d taken part in, but still, I was able to get out of bed. Silver lining.
I headed toward the front door and was shocked to see Oliver standing there when I opened it. He gave me a slight smile that looked more like a frown, and in his hands was a giant houseplant, along with a card.
“Hi,” he breathed out, making me confused as ever. His eyes were heavy, as if he hadn’t slept much the night prior, either.
“Hi?” I rubbed my hand up and down my arm, nerves rocking throughout my entire system. “What are you—”
“I owed you a houseplant,” he said, cutting in. He held the beauty in my direction, along with the card. “Figured I’d toss in a card too.”
“You didn’t have to do that, but she’s beautiful,” I said, smiling down at the new plant.
“She?”
I nodded. “Plants are alive, just like humans.”
“Do you name them, too?”
“No, I leave that up to Reese. That one on my coffee table is Bobby Flay. The spiky one in the bathroom is Guy Fieri.”
He gave me a half grin and nodded but didn’t say anything else. His brows pulled in as he rubbed his hand against his cheek.
“Is there . . . something else?” I asked, not sure what was keeping him standing in my doorway.
“No. I mean, yes. I actually heard the news that you lost your job.”
My mouth fell open as I winced. “Oh. Yeah.”
“I can’t stop thinking that it’s because of me. So . . .” He scratched at his neck and cleared his throat before raising an eyebrow. “I want to hire you?”
He said it like a question, as if he wasn’t completely sure of his statement.
I laughed because clearly, Oliver had lost his mind. The more I laughed, the more bewildered he appeared. “I’m sorry,” I chuckled, shaking my head. “Why are you really here?”
“I mean it, Emery. I want to hire you.”
“Hire me for what?”
His brows lowered and he pushed his thumb against his nose. “Well, what do you do?”
“What do I do?”
“Yes. Other than bartend.”
“I don’t know what you’re getting at.”
“You were fired because of me.”
“Not directly because of you—”
“I made a scene. You were let go because of me.”
“It’s okay,” I lied.
“It’s not.” His guilt didn’t fade away as he looked up toward me and locked his eyes with mine. “I want to fix this mistake. Therefore, I want to hire you for . . . whatever it is you do. Or like to do. Or want to do.”
I laughed. “Oliver, that really isn’t necessary. You don’t have to—”
“Please,” he begged, his voice cracking. “Let me help.”
“Why is this so important to you?”
His eyes flashed back to mine, and every ounce of hurting that lived within that man was staring back my way. I didn’t know why it was so important for him to hire me, but I could tell it was deeper than anything he was going to tell me.
He stood as if he was trying to get his thoughts out. As if his mind was running faster than he could handle. His hands were stuffed into his jeans pockets, making his toned arms flex slightly. His eyes blinked a few times as he took in a deep breath, yet still,