We'll Begin Again Page 11

  "I don't know how to handle this," he said.

  "Handle what?" I asked softly.

  "All of this. This halfway house, the new stuff, the job. You're too nice to me. I don't deserve any of it."

  "William, you’ve had a hard time, and life didn't go your way for a while, but I'm doing all this because I care about you. I don't pity you or feel bad for you. I genuinely want to help you start over and get your life back."

  "Why do you care so much, though?” His voice broke.

  "I feel like we’ve gotten to know each other really well. I genuinely care about you, and I want you in my life. I want to help you any way I can. And please stop saying you don't deserve this. You deserve all the good things life has to offer."

  "Well, please don't buy me anything else. I want to be able to provide for myself going forward."

  “Okay, I’ll back off. But I’m here if you need anything,” I said genuinely. I wished more than anything he’d let me help him. I wanted him to know how much I cared. Even though he hadn’t meant to, he weaseled his way into my heart.

  “Thank you. I do appreciate it, even if I don’t always act like I do.”

  "Everyone needs a helping hard at first. I just happen to have two helping hands to give you.” I hoped he heard the smile in my voice.

  “I’m happy I met you, Amelia,” he said quietly.

  “Me, too.”

  We didn’t talk for a few moments, then I changed the subject. "Big day tomorrow.”

  "Yup."

  "You ready to start work again?” I asked cheerfully.

  "I think so. I’m kinda nervous, though."

  "You're going to do great," I reassured him.

  "That’s what I thought at my last few jobs."

  “May I ask what happened?”

  “Well, a few of them were construction jobs. You know, under the table gigs? The loud noises and fast pace weren’t for me,” he trailed off.

  I thought back to when I woke him up and he pulled out a knife. I could only imagine the dark thoughts clouding his mind. It didn’t take an expert psychologist to understand some jobs simply wouldn’t be a good fit for him. I hoped this maintenance job would be different.

  "I'm making dinner tonight. Would you care to join us?"

  “I think they serve dinner here,” William said slowly.

  “Well, Charlie and I would love to have you over here. I can send a Lyft for you?”

  “Sure. I just need to shower first.”

  William whipped together a delicious helping of spaghetti for Charlie and me, and I have to admit, it was nice having someone cook for me for a change. Even though I said I’d cook, William took over kitchen duties for the evening. He even let Charlie help pour the sauce and stir it all together. William apologized to Charlie for acting distant earlier and promised to make it up to him by playing whichever game he wanted on XBox. As soon as Charlie heard, "XBox" he forgot about the day's turn of events and dove toward his controller.

  Once dinner was ready, though, I reminded Charlie to turn the XBox off, and we all sat together at the kitchen table. It felt wonderful to have a sort-of family dinner again. Cal, Charlie and I had our last meal as a family a very long time ago. I'd forgotten how nice it was to sit at the table, sip wine and have company. Soft jazz crooned from the speakers in the background while snow gently fell from the sky.

  "Mama said you're a soldier," Charlie said as he slurped a noodle.

  "Manners, Charlie."

  "Sorry, Mama."

  "Your Mom wasn't lying, but I'm not in the Army anymore."

  "What happened?” Charlie asked.

  I held my breath and glanced at William, then Charlie and back again.

  "You want to know?” William asked skeptically.

  "Yeah!"

  "I was an infantry soldier," William said.

  "Cool, what kinds of stuff did you do?"

  I watched as William breathed deeply and closed his eyes.

  "Charlie, I think we should talk about something else."

  "Did you kill people?" Charlie asked curiously.

  "Charlie!"

  "It's okay, Amelia," William interjected. "I don't mind."

  "Well, it's not an appropriate conversation at the dinner table."

  "Your mother's right. Sorry, kid. Maybe another time." Tension slid off his shoulders like ice.

  "Aw! Come on, Mom! I just want to know this one thing!"

  "Not today, Charlie," I said with my "mom" voice.

  "You're no fun." He pouted.

  "I know I'm the meanest mom in town, huh? And, since I'm so mean, I guess you don't want me to make brownies for dessert."

  "Brownies?" His eyes lit up.

  "Too bad," I feigned.

  "No, Mom! You're cool! Now please make brownies."

  I giggled and collected the dirty dishes. "Fine, but you gotta help with the dishes."

  "Anything for brownies."

  William and I shook our heads.

  Once the dishes were rinsed and put in the dishwasher with Charlie's help, I started the magical process of making my world-famous brownies. Okay, maybe they weren't "world-famous," but they always sold out at the school bake sales.

  Charlie helped crack the eggs, which may or may not have been a huge mistake. He accidentally dropped three of them on the kitchen floor. William showed him how to crack an egg properly, and Charlie oohed and awwed once he'd done it himself.

  "Mom, baking is fun!"

  William poured the brownie batter into the pan and put it in the oven. There was still a respectable amount of batter in the mixing bowl, though, and William swiped the side with his pinky.

  "This is my favorite part," he said.

  "Hey, give me some of that batter!" I demanded with a smile.

  William took the batter on his pinky and slowly brought it to my lips. I was about to put my mouth on his finger when he quickly moved it and wiped the batter on my nose.

  "Hey!" I called out.

  William burst into laughter, and it was the first time he ever grinned this broadly. His smile warmed my heart and left me wanting to leap into his arms. His happiness echoed around the kitchen, and suddenly, my apartment felt like a home.

  In that moment, a different kind of happiness splashed inside my heart. All the time I spent with William, I knew we made great friends, but could there be something more to our story? Could we ever be something more? Yes, we came from different backgrounds, but were we all that different? We both loved our country; we both lost our fathers far too soon, and we enjoyed spending time together. Would that be enough? Would he ever see me as more than just a friend? There was also the fact I have a child. William only just started sleeping in a bed instead of a bench; he couldn’t be ready to be a stepfather yet.

  He scraped more batter from the bowl, and I grabbed his hand so he couldn't trick me again. With a mischievous grin, I licked his finger clean.

  William's face flushed, and his eyes bulged. My heart thudded against my rib cage and butterflies fluttered inside my belly. Was there something else here? There had to be!

  "Yum!" My tongue darted out to clean off my lips as I shot him a dazzling smile.

  “You’re crazy,” he whispered with a grin.

  “Hopefully the good kind of crazy?” I asked hopefully.

  “That’s debatable.” He winked.

  We spent the rest of the evening cracking jokes, comparing favorite movies and books, and even managed to squeeze in a game of tag with Charlie. As William jumped over the sofa and alluded my desperate son around the living room, my heart filled to the brim with joy. Once Charlie finally caught William and tagged him, William charged after me, and I let him catch me.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Amelia

  "Ready for your big day?" I asked, looking over at William, who was seated next to me.

  "Amelia, you realize I'm just maintenance, not a rocket scientist, right?"

  "Yeah, yeah. But, you should still be excited.
Plus, we get to work together!” I imagined meeting each other for lunch and taking walks together once the weather broke.

  "Well, not together, together. You're an attorney, and I'm not."

  "You're salting my game this morning, William."

  "Mom? What's 'salting my game' mean?" came the voice from the backseat.

  I chuckled from the front seat as we drove Charlie to school. I picked up William on the way to Charlie’s elementary school so we could drive to work together, too. "It means like bumming me out or raining on my parade."

  "So, when you take away my iPad you're like salting my game?"

  "Exactly, buddy." I looked in the rearview mirror and witnessed Charlie smirking in the backseat. Such a little stinker.

  I also couldn't help but steal glances at William out of the corner of my eye. He'd styled his freshly cut hair, and his beard grew in nicely. I wanted to reach across and touch his face. After the brownie batter “incident,” no other instances of touching came about. Maybe I’d imagined the electricity between us?

  However, I couldn't remember ever feeling this attracted to a person, not even Cal. Sure, I was attracted to Cal while we were married, but in the "shrugs my shoulders, he's not that bad" kind of way. With William, it was completely different. Lately, when I saw him, warmth in my belly spread rapidly enough to nudge my heart incessantly and make my brain go fuzzy. I never knew it was possible to experience such a strong pull to another human being, besides my son, of course.

  I found myself thinking of William constantly and counting down the seconds until I could see him again. And, no, it wasn't just because his makeover revealed a bright and shiny penny under the layers of street weariness. I felt a pull toward him even before all that. Maybe we were always destined to meet, like fate or something.

  We dropped Charlie off at school and giggled as he sprinted toward his group of friends like a lost puppy reuniting with the litter.

  "Ready for work?"

  "As I'll ever be."

  William and I walked into the office together and stayed close as we fought the wind every step of the way. Even though February was half over by now, winter didn't seem to show any signs of leaving town.

  William opened the door for me, and I bowed. "Thank you, sir."

  "You're such a nerd," he teased.

  Our Human Resources Coordinator stood at the receptionist's desk, waiting for William to arrive. I'd learned it was customary to have someone from HR greet you on your first day and walk you to training, except for the attorneys who seemed to be thrown into the wolves' den right away.

  "Have a great morning. Meet for lunch around noon in the cafeteria?"

  "Sounds good." William smiled weakly, and I sensed his nerves. I knew he'd be okay, though. I mean the man served in the military after all. I'm sure this job would be a walk in the park compared to war.

  That morning, I had an urgent meeting with Leo Brass regarding his case. After weeks of pouring over the details, we were positive his accountant had been stealing the company's profits and depositing them in offshore accounts. However, even though it seemed like a slam dunk, I had to prep Leo for civil court, where he could be called to testify.

  "Morning, darlin'," Leo said as he bent down to kiss my hand.

  "Nice to see you again, Leo. I have some excellent news!"

  We took our respective seats in the conference room near my office, and I delved into the details of the upcoming civil case.

  "So, the accounting firm we hired to help with the numbers discovered a handful of instances that several thousands of dollars disappeared each month over the course of ten to twelve years."

  "Bastard!" Leo exclaimed. "I knew it was bad, but I didn't know it was this bad. What's the damage?"

  "Well, it looks like he stole about two mil over the course of his time with your company. We believe we may have found the accounts, too. I have a few contacts who will be traveling to the banks on the islands where the financial institutions may be located."

  "Good!" Leo pounded his fist on the conference room table.

  "We're going to ask the judge to force him to pay back the money he stole, but also to pay your legal fees as we wouldn't be in this mess if it weren't for him to begin with."

  "You're a rock star; you know that, Amelia?"

  "Oh, stop!” Heat resinated my cheeks.

  "So, what do I have to say on the stand if they call me up?"

  "Nothing crazy. Just confirm how long Roy's been working for you and when you suspected he might be involved with the missing money situation."

  "You know, I heard rumors he's going to say I coerced him or blackmailed him into stealing the money for myself." Leo shifted uncomfortably in the noir leather chair.

  "That would require solid proof. A judge wouldn’t just take his word for it. It's not true, right?" I asked, trailing off.

  "Of course not!" he insisted.

  "Sorry, Leo. I had to ask." I reached out and patted his hand with mine.

  "No worries at all, my dear."

  We concluded the meeting, then Leo kissed me sweetly on the cheek goodbye. I sincerely hoped he was telling the truth about the accounts, because there was nothing more embarrassing than being caught with your pants down in a courtroom. Well, err, in my case, it'd be a skirt.

  I glanced at my watch around five to noon, and my heart fluttered with excitement. I couldn't wait to hear about William's day thus far and eat lunch together. Now I'd have a real friend at work. Of course, I had Karen, but she was more like a mother figure to me. William was different.

  I scurried to the elevator and rapidly pressed the button for the ground floor where our cafeteria was located. My breathing quickened, and my pulse raced as I saw the back of William across the room. I wanted to run to him until I saw another woman, whom I’d never met, hug him tightly. My heart sank faster than the Titanic.

  The woman, blonde, busty and tiny threw her arms around William and screeched like a little girl.

  Did they know each other? She looked familiar. I knew she was an attorney, but we hadn’t crossed paths yet.

  I saw her face light up as they sat and talked at a table with only two chairs.

  Now what?

  Do I go over and interrupt them? Or, do I leave them alone? William caught my eye and waved me over. Well, now I didn’t have a choice.

  “Hi, William,” I said.

  “Amelia, this is Lucy. Lucy, this is Amelia. Lucy and I went to high school together.”

  I extended my hand toward her, and she returned the gesture airily. “It’s nice to meet you,” I offered. “I don’t think we’ve met yet. I’m in the corporate practice.”

  “I’m in environmental.” She yawned.

  “I bet that’s exciting. I’ve heard many good things about that practice.”

  Lucy nodded and dug into her sushi platter. She didn’t seem very interested in conversing, and I took that as my cue to leave.

  “Well, I’ll let you two finish catching up.”

  “Wait, why don’t you join us for lunch? We did have plans,” William offered sweetly.

  As much as I wanted to catch up and hear all about William’s day, a nagging voice in my head reminded me I had a few more cases to continue preparing for.

  “That’s okay. I think I’ll have a working lunch today. Very busy.”

  “I’ll call you later, okay?” William asked.

  “Sure, sounds fine.”

  I stood in line and ordered the special for the day: chicken souvlaki salad. I waved goodbye to William and returned to my office to eat and research. I spent most lunch breaks poring over documents and cases.

  “You really should take a real break one of these days,” Karen said, poking her head into my office.

  “I know,” I groaned. “But I have so much to do.”

  “It will be here after your lunch hour, dear!”

  “Always looking out for me, Karen.”

  “You bet I am!”

  I took a bit
e of my salad and wondered how William faired downstairs. I sensed a hint of chemistry between him and his friend, Lucy. Maybe they dated in high school? I tried to push the twinge of jealousy from my mind and worked well into the evening, as usual.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Amelia

  At four o'clock the next day, Karen stepped into my office with a pleading look on her face.

  "Hey, Karen. What's up?"

  "I wanted to ask you a favor," she replied hesitantly.

  "Anything."

  "There's a work happy hour tonight, and I was wondering if you'd come with me."

  "Huh? I didn't know there was a work happy hour." I furrowed my brow.

  "I sent you the invite on Outlook last week," Karen said.

  I scrolled through my messages and lo and behold, there was the invite. I'd skipped over it in a mad rush to respond to all my messages the previous Wednesday.

  "I don’t think I can make it. I have to prep for Leo’s case."

  "You already have everything worked out. I looked at the files! Plus, you could use a little fun."

  “How do you know?” I teased.

  “Because I sit right out there and rarely see you get up from your desk, missy!”

  “I don’t know,” I said carefully.

  “You really should come. It’s an attorney event, and it will give you the chance to meet the others in different practice areas.”

  She had a point; I hadn't met everyone yet. Being introduced to Lucy the day before was a prime example of me needing to expand my network.

  "I'll be ready about five fifteen as long as I can get a sitter."

  When I moved here, I found a few sweet college-aged girls in the neighborhood who said they'd watch Charlie anytime I needed them. I wasn't sure if I could trust them, being so young and at the age when partying can be a top priority, but both girls proved to be diamonds in the rough. Sometimes, trials ran longer than I expected, and it was a relief to know I'd found reliable help. Plus, it didn't hurt that Charlie had a crush on both girls even though he was adamant they had "cooties."