Think Outside the Boss - Olivia Hayle Page 0,53

back. “Really?”

“Absolutely.” Well, within reason. But he knows better than me what they’d like, not to mention this Christmas shopping expedition should be fun. Another notch in my grand scheme of creating more holiday memories.

Jenny and I used to bake gingerbread cookies with Mom the night before Christmas. We’d race down the steps the next morning to the Christmas tree, one side of it decorated with our ornaments and the other side with Mom’s collectibles.

A pang of familiar guilt hits me. Joshua looks just as he always does, walking next to me with a bounce in his step. But he’s never known what it’s like to have a sibling or two parents. All he’ll remember of his childhood is me, and I’m not Jenny and Michael.

“Look!” Joshua says. “It’s the elephant lady!”

I’m so focused on him that I don’t notice who’s walking towards us until he points her out. Freddie’s coat is bundled tight around her body, a hat pulled low over her dark hair. Her feet are in giant boots, unlike anything I’ve seen her wear in the office. Gone are the sleek skirts and heels.

It’s a Saturday, and we live in the same neighborhood.

Her gaze drifts from mine to Joshua’s, and then a smile spreads on her face. “Hi there!”

“Hi,” he says back. “We’re out doing our Christmas shopping.”

Freddie makes a show of looking between the two of us. “But where are the bags?”

“We just left home,” I reply. Freddie’s eyes dance, not quite meeting mine. Redness starts to tinge her olive-toned cheeks. “How’re you doing?”

“Good. Great, I mean. I’ve spent the morning doing laundry.” Her gaze flicks from me to Joshua. “I was at the same conference as your dad this week.”

“In Boston?”

“Yes,” she says. “He spoke in front of several hundred people.”

Joshua turns to look up at me. “Really, Dad?”

“Yeah, I suppose.”

“That’s pretty cool,” he says, with the air of someone who can make such judgements. “Did you do it too?”

Freddie shakes her head. “No, I don’t think I’d dare.”

“You would,” I interject. “I have no doubt you would.”

Her eyes return to mine, and there’s a question in them I can’t decipher. Not when she’d been the one to rush out of my hotel room in Boston as if we’d committed a sin. We haven’t spoken in the days since.

“We’re going to Tahiti for Christmas break,” Joshua tells her. “Dad’s taking me to swim with whales.”

“Really? That’s so exciting!”

“Yes, we’ve done a lot of research,” I say.

Joshua nods. “There should be humpback whales there this time of year, migrating from Antarctica. They stop in French…”

“Polynesia,” I fill in.

“Right, they stop there to have their calves. And there are whale sharks. And dolphins.”

Freddie’s eyes widens. “And you’ll swim with them? That sounds a bit scary.”

“No, it just seems really, really cool,” Joshua says.

I can’t help but smile at the bluster. We’ve had long discussions about this very topic, because even if he won’t admit it, he thinks it sounds a bit scary too. I’ve told him it’s fine to stay on the boat, but he’s committed to getting into the water.

“It sounds out-of-this-world cool,” Freddie confirms. “How awesome of your dad to take you there.”

“Yeah, and my grandma is coming too,” Joshua adds.

I clear my throat. “Where are you going for the holidays, Freddie?”

“Probably back home to Philadelphia. My extended family celebrates together every year, with all of my aunts and uncles and cousins.” She shrugs, a wry smile on her face, as if she’s described something dull and ordinary. “It’s not swimming with whales in French Polynesia, but it’ll do.”

“It sounds lovely,” I say. I mean it, too. Her gaze warms, her hands falling still where they’d fiddled with the sleeve of her coat. Looking at her, I realize just how much of a fool I’ve been for being hurt she rushed out of my hotel room in Boston like that.

Perhaps she’s regretting what she did. Thinking about her job, the possible consequences if someone finds out… If she’s having doubts, I’m not helping.

Joshua’s voice cuts through the silence. “Do you have a lot of aunts and uncles?”

Freddie refocuses on my son. The winter sunlight glints off her raven hair. “I have a few, yes. Let’s see... three uncles and two aunts. Do you have any?”

Oh, no.

“Yes,” Joshua replies. “Dad is actually my uncle and my dad. I think that’s pretty cool.”

I close my eyes. He doesn’t understand how that sounds to people, and I’ve never wanted to enlighten him about it. But that leaves us