Page 117 of Stay for Me
A few seconds go by, and I clench and unclench my fist a few times, taking deep breaths. As time moves, the nerves grow.
Sebastian answers the door. “Jacob!”
“Hey, Sebastian.”
“Come on in,” he says before turning and yelling, “Jacob is here!”
I’m not really sure what the protocol is for breaking a kid’s heart. Do I tell his mother first or do we talk man to man?
Before I have to make that choice, Brenna is there, her smile wide as she walks over to me. I kiss her briefly, and she steps back. “I didn’t know you were coming over.”
“It wasn’t part of the plan. None of this was, but I have to talk to you, and I don’t have a lot of time.”
“Okay,” she says, studying me. “What’s wrong?”
There isn’t a gentle way of saying this, and I decide to talk to Sebastian first. I can’t endure seeing her upset, but he’s who I promised to do this for. He’s who I owe an explanation to.
I crouch and do my damnedest to look him in the eyes. “I have to tell you something, and I want you to know that, before I say anything else, I am so sorry. The last thing in the world I want is this, and I promise that I’m going to do everything I can to make it right, okay?”
Sebastian looks up to Brenna before returning his gaze to me. Her hands rest on his shoulders. “Okay.”
Here it goes. “I got a call from my boss about thirty minutes ago. There was a big issue withFlight Plan.”
“Oh no. Are you going to be okay? Is the movie happening? Will you still be Navigator?”
Even as I’m about to disappoint him, he’s worried for me. “I’ll be fine, but Noah is forcing the cast to come back to reshoot a scene.”
He shrugs. “That’s not so bad.”
I shake my head. “I have to leave tonight. We have to shoot the scene tomorrow.”
And then it dawns on him, and I want to fucking break something when I see the sadness in his eyes. “Tomorrow?”
“They are forcing us all back, but I told them about the play, and I told them I have to leave by a certain time, no matter what. I might miss just a little in the beginning, but I swear that I’ll do everything I can to make it back in time.”
Sebastian’s head drops, and I hear him sniff. “Don’t worry about it, Jacob. Work always comes first.”
I don’t know that I’ve ever felt this low. “That’s not the case for me. I care about this play, and I am so proud of you. I will be on that plane as early as I can so that I’m here.”
Brenna clears her throat, and Sebastian looks up at her. “Why don’t you go to your room and let me and Jacob talk,” Brenna suggests.
My heart is breaking, and I hate myself for hurting him. The kid has been through so much, and now I’m letting him down.
I get back up, running my hand over my face and pacing. “Brenna—”
She shakes her head, hand going up to silence me. “Not here.” Then she turns and heads outside. I do the only thing I can, which is to follow her.
Well, this is going to be even worse. The anger in her eyes is clear, and the tension in her body is palpable.
As soon as we step onto the porch, she closes the door and releases a breath through her nose. “I can’t believe you didn’t talk to me before telling him.”
“I owed him an explanation.”
She shakes her head. “He’s eleven, Jacob. He doesn’t get told before I do. I’m his mother. I should’ve at least been aware so that he didn’t see my own disappointment. I stood there, reeling from the news the same way he was. How did you think that was okay?”
“I told you I’m new at this.”
Brenna’s face twists a little, and she runs her fingers through her hair. “I get that, but you have nieces and nephews. Would you have just gone in there and told them? Did you think about how hurt Sebastian would be? HowIwould feel learning this?”
