Like a Boss - Annabelle Costa Page 0,89

help but notice he’s got handicapped plates on the car, although he obviously decided to park in the next town over rather than use them.

Noah lifts one eyebrow. “Where’s your booster seat for Lily?”

“Oh.” Somehow it didn’t occur to me we’d be riding around in a car much. Considering I live in the city and don’t have a car of my own, car seats aren’t something on my radar. After all, you don’t need one on the bus or the subway. Theo had a car seat up until Lily was three, when he said she was “too big” and that it was a “pain in the ass.” Oh, and also “Lily agrees,” as if we’re taking the opinion of a six-year-old into consideration on major safety issues. It’s something Theo and I have argued about multiple times, although it’s hard to refute his argument that neither of us were in booster seats when we were six. “I don’t have one.”

“Aren’t kids supposed to be in a booster seat?” Noah presses me.

I glare at him. “I said don’t have one. So what am I supposed to do?”

He mumbles under his breath, something that sounds like, “Way to be a responsible parent.” But who is he to judge me? I’m a freaking single mother. He doesn’t even have kids.

Dad is too quick for me and jumps into the back seat next to Lily before I can claim it. So now I’m stuck sitting next Noah. Who smells nice. It must be his aftershave. Theo was all about being a grungy musician, so I’ve forgotten what it’s like to be near a man who smells so…

Good. He smells good. Let’s leave it with that adjective.

I watch Noah start up the car. It seems like a completely normal Toyota—it’s got what appears to be automatic transmission, and when I lean over, I think I can see pedals for the gas and brake.

“Excuse me?” Noah says as I’m practically leaning over him to check out the pedals.

“I just…” I swallow and attempt a smile. “I noticed it’s a normal car.”

He rolls his eyes. “Yeah. How about that? I can drive a normal car.”

I need to shut up. Permanently.

Noah pulls out onto the road and it looks like he’s right—he can drive a normal car. That’s not to say I’m not worried about the whole thing though. I’m really beginning to wish Lily had that booster seat.

“You don’t have to cling to the dashboard,” Noah says to me. “I’m a safe driver.”

“I’m not clinging to the dashboard,” I lie. Truthfully, he’s driving very carefully, staying around the speed limit and not tailgating the way Theo always does. Still, I’m hoping this isn’t a long drive.

Noah’s blue eyes stay pinned on the road, and he doesn’t even attempt to make conversation with me. He turns on the radio and generic pop music fills the silence of the car. Usually I can count on Lily to chatter through any break in conversation, but she must be worn out from the train ride, because she’s completely silent.

The car glides past a hospital. I watch an ambulance pulling into the entrance, its lights flashing. My head floats back to a conversation fourteen years ago.

“So, Noah, you’re pre-med, huh?”

“Yeah. I’m planning to become a surgeon.”

“Seriously? That sounds hard.”

“I know, but it’s my dream. I’ve wanted to be a surgeon as long as I can remember.”

“Are you a surgeon?” I blurt out.

Noah slows to a stop at a red light before answering: “I’m an ER physician.”

“An ER physician,” I murmur. “That sounds… really fulfilling.”

“You don’t have to patronize me, Bailey,” he says. “I’m a doctor.”

My cheeks grow warm just as Lily blurts out, “Mommy is a social worker!”

Noah bursts out laughing. I’d forgotten what the sound of his laughter sounded like, and even though I know he’s laughing at me, it still fills me with an almost painful sense of nostalgia. I missed Noah’s laugh.

“You’re a social worker?” he says incredulously.

I sniff. “What’s so wrong with that?”

“Nothing. I mean, it’s admirable.” He smiles crookedly. “I just never saw you as someone who was interested in helping people.”

Well, that’s insulting.

“Bailey did an amazing thing for this woman who was a hoarder,” Dad speaks up. “She got the whole neighborhood and all the woman’s friends together and they all pitched in to clean out her two-story house. The house was going to be condemned, but they got it spick and span by the end.”

I smile at the memory. That was one of my successes. I’ve had plenty of failures, but the success stories make it worth it.

“Is that so?” Noah pulls onto a road that leads out of the city. “Didn’t you always want to be an artist or something like that?”

“Mommy’s a really good artist!” Lily pitches in. “She draws all the time.”

I look away from Noah, out the window. I did hope to have a career in art at one time. The reason I’m a social worker is because of Noah. It’s part of my penance.

“I need the bathroom!” Lily abruptly calls out. She used the bathroom no less than one-thousand times on the train. It was tiny and smelled like urine. I don’t know what’s wrong with this child—it’s like her bladder is the size of a pea.

“Sweetie, you just went on the train,” I remind her. “You’ve been going every five minutes.”

“I have to go again!” she whines.

“Maybe she has a urinary tract infection?” Noah suggests.

“She does not have a urinary tract infection,” I snap at him. “This is a behavior issue, thank you very much.”

Noah shrugs. “Well, if she can’t wait, I’ll find a gas station.”

“How long till we get there?”

“Fifteen minutes maybe.”

Lily agrees to hold it in for another fifteen minutes. If she soils Noah’s car, I’ll have to quit social work and become a nun.

“My mom is really excited to meet you, Lily,” Noah calls to her.

I vaguely remember Gwen Walsh. She was a sweet woman with a chubby but beautiful face and blue eyes that reminded me of Noah’s. The last time I saw her, she greeted me with a warm hug that felt like it would never end. The thought of seeing her now makes me physically ill.

“Does your mother… remember me?” I ask him.

“You sound like you hope she doesn’t,” he observes.

I squeeze my palms together. “Well…”

“Why?” He raises his eyebrows. “Do you think you did something extremely despicable to her son that you’d hope she wouldn’t remember?”

Okay, Noah’s being a jerk right now. I think my best bet is to avoid speaking for the rest of the weekend.

Starting now.

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