Page 115 of Falling Too Late

Seeing Gavin cry broke my heart, but he was more concerned about me.

“Wren, what’s happening?”

“I know, Gav. It's been a lot for me to process. But he’s alive and here and we wanted you guys to know.”

Looking at Alex was like looking at a stranger. I knew him, but I didn’t really know him.

But we were working on that. We had all the time in the world now, right? We could start from scratch.

Once I started hearing people get louder, I called King to me and had him stay behind my desk.

“Oh, my days, is that Wren?” Bonnie smiled, dropping her bag on her table and coming over to me. I stood and we hugged. “What’s the surprise for? Something the matter?”

“You’ll see.” I smiled. Bonnie always came in from the front,and not the back where the field workers were, so she missed the show.

“Hmm.” Bonnie moved to her desk. “But it’s good to see your face in here anyways.”

“How’s Sammy?”

Bonnie gave me the rundown of her seven-year-old starting a fight at school and getting detention for the next week.

“Sounds like his mother.” I grinned into my coffee mug.

Our shared door gave me a perfect view of anyone who walked in. Every time the door opened and closed, I couldn’t help looking that way. I didn’t know if he would come inside or not.

I recognized most of the guys who came in. Danny didn’t go through a lot of workers. Most of them had been hired right around the time Alex had been hired, so I knew them through him.

The office got louder while everyone started to move to the main room.

“You coming out for the meeting?” Bonnie stood, a notebook in her hand.

“I’ll pop my head in, in a bit.” I waved her off.

Outside of my office, Dan started the meeting, the crew gathered around him. “Alright, guys, today we are splitting you up to two different sites. . .”

I listened for a bit as he got through everything he needed to say before directing things to the team leads. I still hadn’t seen Alex or the boys come in and I hated the disappointment I felt. I wanted Alex to come in and see Dan, but understood that this might all be too much for him. Both he and his wife Frannie had been at his funeral. They both loved him as if he were their own son.

I stood and King followed, sitting down next to me as I leaned against my office doorframe, listening. Everyone had their back to my office.

“While we are all here,” Dan called attention back to himself, “please say hello to Wren.” Dan directed everyone to look at me,and I couldn’t help but smirk. Of course I hadn’t gotten in without him noticing. “She is the reason the coffee is already brewed and there are donuts in the breakroom. She is also the person who does payroll. Don’t piss her off.” His tone was sarcastic, and I couldn’t help but laugh and raise my mug to him. He looked around and frowned. “Where the hell are Gavin and Troy?”

Right on cue, the door opened, and Gavin, Troy, and Alex walked in.

“The whole family is here today!” Gavin announced.

The room was quiet, and the three of us turned to see Alex still standing by the door, his hands shoved into his dark wash jeans.

I looked across the room to Dan, whose eyes were wide in shock.

“This can’t be. . .”

“How you been, Dan?”

Dan moved across the room with wonder on his face before he hugged Alex, slapping his back and holding him tight. He looked how I was sure I had. Like a loved one came back from the grave.

I watched the exchange between the two men. Gavin joined me, and I rested my head on Gavin’s shoulder, who then rested his head against mine.

I couldn’t imagine the change Alex saw in his mentor.

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