Page 96 of Unexpected

“Yeah, I understand.”

“So, are you going to meet with him?” she asked, and I had no idea what the hell to say. Did I need the closure that meeting with him may provide?

“I don’t know. It’ll have to be a decision I make when, or if, he reaches out.”

“Yeah, that makes sense. Well, if you do meet him, I think you should meet at a public place and take someone with you. It’s only smart.”

“You’re right. I’ll consider that.”

She cleared her throat. “Do you have someone that can go with you?”

The way she asked the question was like she already knew the answer. My first thought was that Luke would be more than happy to go with me and sit beside me while I let Michael try to explain away his actions, which he invariably would try to do. But Luke’s presence would grate on Michael in a way that was sure to cause an incident. Part of me would be excited to see Michael pissed off, but that would be putting Luke in a situation he never asked for.

“Yeah, I have someone, but if we meet in a public place, that wouldn’t be necessary.”

“Who?” Delilah asked without missing a beat. And I didn’t say anything. “Hazel, who would you bring with you?” The expectation was clear in her tone.

“Damn, D. I have friends, okay? I have a friend that can come with me if absolutely necessary.”

She laughed. “What’s his name?”

I groaned and wanted to throw a fit like a child. I didn’t want to go into that with her, at least not at that moment, with the possibility of having to confront Michael hanging over my head. But I couldn’t keep anything from my sister—my best friend.

“Luke,” I sighed.

“I knew it!” she squealed, and I could hear her clapping. “Tell me.”

I knew my sister was trying to be supportive and was genuinely interested in the new person in my life, but I didn’t want to share him with anyone just yet. Especially with Valerie now back in his life, or our lives.

“Luke’s just a friend, D. Please don’t make this a whole thing.”

“Are you dating?”

“I don’t know… no. We’re friends.”

She scoffed. “You’re lying. Seriously, tell me. I need to know what’s going on and you’re too far away for me to just stop by.” Thank goodness for small miracles.

“D, I’ve just got a lot going on right now, and I don’t want to go into it. For now, Luke is just a friend and he’s been helping me a lot with moving and everything.”

“I’m sure he has been helping,” she said facetiously.

“Delilah, I’m serious.”

“Okay, okay,” she finally conceded. “But I want to hear all about him soon. Like really soon.” And then screaming erupted from somewhere in her house as a door slammed, eliciting even more screams.

“Shit. I’ll call you back later, Hazel. Miles and Amber have decided to fight about every damn thing lately. Let me know if Michael reaches out and what you decide to do.”

I opened my mouth to respond, but a screeching interrupted me, and the phone disconnected. Often, that’s how our conversations ended. Delilah only had enough time to talk when she wasn’t at the office, and when she was at home, she liked to relieve Tony of his stay-at-home dad duties. And as great of a mother as my sister was, she was not so great at dealing with her children while also doing anything else. So, our phone calls ended with some sort of catastrophe, and I’d always get a text explanation after the fact.

At least that was one text I was looking forward to.

THIRTY-SIX

Luke

It had been a long day.I chugged a cup of coffee on the way back to Hazel’s apartment from a day of shuttling Josh around and then stopping by the clinic for a few hours of work. I was deliriously tired even after a couple of espressos and then the cup of coffee as I pulled up to Hazel’s apartment.

I took the stairs two at a time, heading to her second-floor apartment, and more eager than I thought I could be to see another person.

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