like it was the only thing in the world he needed.
But I was the one who lived for these moments. They made the world stop, made time stand still, made me so deliriously happy. My lips rested against the skin of his exposed chest, thanks to the unfastened button. My arms hooked under his arms, and my palms flattened against his muscular shoulders. “I’m sorry, babe…”
He moved his lips to my forehead and kissed me. “I know you are, baby.” He gave me a final squeeze before he released me.
There was a warm ice pack on his desk, like it’d been on one of his hands earlier because he’d decided to punch something. His broken phone was there, the screen cracked, with chunks of the glass missing. I opened the box to his new phone and got to work. “I brought you lunch…if you’re hungry.”
“Thanks.” Maybe he just did it to be polite, but he opened the bag, took a seat, and started to eat.
I worked on his phone, syncing the device to his old one, so he would have all his emails, photos, and contacts. “Is your hand okay?”
“Yeah,” he answered between bites. “It’s fine.”
I finished getting everything ready before I presented him with the new phone. “Maybe we should put you on the insurance plan.”
He shook his head. “You’re disqualified if you break your phone more than twice in a year, so…”
It was a bit comical, but I didn’t crack a smile. “So…she’s leaving, then?”
He stopped eating and leaned back in his chair, like he’d immediately lost his appetite. “Yes.”
“Well…” I really didn’t know what to say. It was so devastating, to know that Derek’s mother would leave him like that. He wasn’t even my son, and I had been crippled when Deacon ended things…because I’d lost Derek too.
“The worst part is…she’s leaving at the end of the week.”
“What? What about Christmas?”
He shook his head. “And his birthday is in January.”
I never liked Valerie, but this really made me hate her. “Why?”
“She said Jake wants to move now, and she’s moving in with him.”
“What does that matter?”
He sighed loudly and didn’t answer.
“Jesus…”
He leaned back and dragged his hands down his face. “I just… I don’t know what to say to him.”
I didn’t have any advice to give. There was no good way to handle this.
“And I need to find a nanny…fast.” His eyes shifted to the left, staring at nothing in particular. He was deflated, visibly defeated. “I don’t know how I’m going to do this…be a single parent. I’ve always had Valerie there, and now, I realize she did most of the work.”
“You’ll be fine, Deacon.”
“If I didn’t have to work so much, yes. But I’m torn between my work and my son.”
“You can have both. That’s what the nanny is for.”
“But I’m presenting at a conference in Sweden in January…and I don’t see how I can make that work. Can a nanny watch him for a week? Can I even handle the idea of someone watching my kid for a week?” He leaned forward over his desk, his hands coming together.
“I didn’t know about this conference.”
“I just found out a few hours ago. I’m going with a few colleagues.”
I immediately thought of Dr. Hawthorne but didn’t dare ask. It was the worst time to bring that up, and I shouldn’t bring it up at all. “I can take care of Derek.”
“But I know you have your own commitments—”
“I can work it out with the nanny. Really, it’s fine.”
He sighed quietly. “You really don’t mind?”
“Absolutely not. When I said I couldn’t handle Derek, I meant I couldn’t sacrifice my job for him. But when I’m off the clock, I don’t mind at all. I love spending time with him. I love seeing him every day. I’m happy to make dinner for him, make sure he does his homework, get him in bed on time, take him out on Saturday to the zoo or whatever. Please don’t misunderstand what I meant, Deacon.”
“Alright.”
“We’ll figure it out, one day at a time.”
He stared at the desk for a while, lost in thought.
“I’m really sorry about Valerie.”
He nodded slightly. “I am too.”
“But he’s got both of us and your family. That boy will always know how much he’s loved.”
“This whole experience makes me realize how much I took for granted,” he whispered. “Neither one of my parents shared my intellect, but they loved me no matter what. I never doubted their love for me. I never…” He shook his head and