Page 3 of If You Stayed

She stood and dragged her feet. “If I make it that long,” she muttered.

“You have to make it that long. Rumor has it that Kehlani is coming out with a new song next week.”

She perked up slightly. “She is?”

“Yup. Just saw a post online. Plus, that new movie with Zendaya is around the corner. You haven’t missed one of her movies yet, and it would be a shame if you started now.”

Her thick brown brows knit, and she pushed out her bottom lip. She scratched the back of her neck. “Well, it wouldn’t be very girls’ girl of me if I checked out before supporting both of them.”

“That’s very true. And we are all about being a girls’ girl,”I said as I slightly nudged her. “Three things before you go, other than Kehlani and Zendaya.”

“Ugh. Can’t they count?”

“Nope. Three things that made you smile this week.” At the end of every session, I have patients tell me three things that make them smile. It can be big things or small things. Just to help them see that there isn’t only darkness around them. That there is still something good to seek in life.

She grumbled and pushed her fingers against her brows. “Fine,” she said. “Well, my garden is all dug up. My neighbor helped me and he picked up some seeds for me to plant.”

I raised my eyebrows. “Peter?”

“Yeah, Peter.” Her cheeks slightly blushed. “It’s just a nice gesture. Don’t read into it.”

I tossed my hands up. “Not reading into anything.” Except that I was completely reading into it. Claire had told me she had a crush on her neighbor Peter for the past two years, but never had the courage to speak to him. This was a much bigger step than she realized. We’d revisit that next week.

“Oh! And I got a raise at work. Only a dollar more an hour, but that was good,” she added with a small curve to her lips.

“Claire! That’s remarkable and a big achievement. I know you were nervous to ask for the raise, but it worked out.”

“Yeah. I guess people do need to speak up for themselves sometimes… Oh! I know my third thing.” She was almost full-blown smiling as the memory came back to her. “My niece said her first word and it was ‘Claire.’”

There was a flutter in my stomach at the mention of the little girl. “Oh my goodness. That’s something worthy of making top three. She must love you so much.”

“She does,” Claire agreed. “She’s a good kid.”

“Wholovesyou,” I added. “There are so many people who love you, Claire. And each of their worlds is better with you in it.”

She grew slightly bashful and shrugged. “You’re not that shitty at your job.”

I laughed. “I guess that’s why you keep coming back.”

“Yes, I suppose so. But your free candy helps,” she half-joked as she grabbed a piece from my desk. As she did, she paused and studied the photograph of my daughter, Ava. Her smile faded. “Is that your daughter?”

“She is.”

“Is she one of your good things?”

I nodded. “She’s the best thing.”

“She doesn’t really look like you,” she observed as she tilted her head. “Does she look like her dad?”

I didn’t reply, even though the answer was yes. My daughter looked more like her father than she’d ever look like me. Having Claire mention that fact made me sadder than I thought it would.

I smiled, not wanting to dive deeper into my private life. Ava was my daughter through my marriage to Henry. I’d known her since she was five years old. She’d just turned fourteen and was hands down the greatest thing that had ever happened to me. Still, I didn’t want to overshare with Claire.It was important to keep things professional. The more my clients knew about me, the worse off it could be.

Claire frowned. That wasn’t uncommon for her, and I hated that it was that way. She had a remarkable smile whenever it appeared. “I always wanted kids.”

“That’s still an option.”

“I don’t know. I just don’t see it sometimes for me.” She shifted and nodded toward the photograph. “Is her dad like you?” she asked, her voice cracking slightly.

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