Zack

As I turn away to walk back behind the island so I can wash the oatmeal pot, I casually say, “So…Sutton texted me this morning and asked if I’d like to meet her for lunch today. I wanted to know if it’s okay if I take Ben with me, or would you rather ask Michelle to watch him?”

Zack doesn’t answer me right away, instead eating a bite of oatmeal.

“Or I don’t have to go if you don’t want either of those options,” I add on quickly, because I’m not quite sure what the boundaries are when it comes to me taking some personal time away from the house. “If it’s a problem, I can just tell her I can’t make it.”

He finally looks at me, the first time I think he’s really looked at me since the incident in his car last week. His eyes are full of skepticism. “Why would Sutton be asking you out to lunch?”

“Why wouldn’t she?” I counter, not liking the doubt in his voice.

He shrugs. “I guess I don’t know what you two have in common. I mean, I know you talked together at the game, but she’s dating one of my teammates. You’re my employee. You don’t stand in the same circles, you know?”

Anger and battered pride cause my shoulders to stiffen. “No, I don’t know what you mean. And I may be just your employee,” I say with derision, “but we happen to have a lot in common.”

“Like what?” he asks as he stares at me pointedly.

“Clearly you didn’t hear much of what Delaney must have told you about me,” I say quietly as I fill the sink up with soapy water.

I can see his eyes searching, trying to remember any facts whatsoever that he may have overlooked. He’s coming up empty, so I help him out. “I’m going into child counseling. Sutton is a counselor. She’s going to give me some career advice.”

Zack immediately looks abashed and turns his gaze back down to his oatmeal. “Got it,” he mutters. “And that’s fine. I can watch Ben while you go. I don’t have anything to do today until I need to leave for the game this afternoon. As long as you’re back by three or so, we’re good.”

“Thank you,” I say quietly, and busy myself with scrubbing the pot.

“And take my SUV…I won’t need it today,” he says as an afterthought. “Ben and I are just going to hang here.”

Still piqued over his complete lack of interest about me as a person and offensive skepticism over why someone like Sutton would want to have lunch with me, I give him a cool rebuff. “No, thanks. The bus is good enough for me.”

“Just take the damn car, Kate,” he growls, which causes my gaze to snap his way. Ben halts a bite of oatmeal halfway to his face and his lips form a solid O of surprise over the mild curse word that just popped out of Zack’s mouth.

Zack is usually very careful and very good about not cussing in front of Ben, so the fact that he let that little puppy out in front of his son tells me that he’s pissed about my refusal.

“Sorry, buddy,” Zack says as he cuts a remorseful look at Ben.

Even though I never hesitate to use Zack’s car when I’m running errands that benefit his family, I’m not about to accept his generosity this morning. I’m still miffed over his cold shoulder, and besides, it’s one thing to use his car when I’m doing something that helps him and Ben, but quite another when I’m out doing something personally.

I don’t respond to him, but continue to quietly do the breakfast dishes. He can bitch at me later for refusing his kindness. I don’t feel like hearing it any more today.

—
“I’m so glad you could make it,” Sutton says as we munch on huge chef salads at a little restaurant just a few blocks away from her office in downtown Raleigh. I had taken the bus to meet her there and she gave me a tour of the Wake County Drug Crisis Center, before bringing me into her office and telling me all about what she does there. It was very interesting, and she let me ask a bazillion questions about how she counsels her clients. She specializes in drug addiction, and that’s not the field I want to pursue, but there are many similarities, so it was a very special opportunity to get a bird’s-eye view of what she does.

Business talk was dropped once we got to the restaurant, and she spent some time getting to know me. I told her all about growing up in eastern North Carolina in a little one-stoplight town about two hours southeast of Raleigh. Sutton is the type of person who just invites open honesty, and I’ve never been ashamed of my background, so I was prattling on about my daddy and how much I loved him despite his drinking, and how Kelly, who was two years older than me, got pregnant at sixteen and then popped out my three adorable nephews in successive years. I told her how I helped to raise them as we all lived together in Daddy’s trailer, and then I told her about my older brother, Thomas, who is currently in jail for drug possession. Sutton told me about her father and his battles with drug addiction, and it was really nice having someone who understood my background.

“You’ve really come a long way,” Sutton says with admiration. “Earning your undergrad degree all on your own. It’s impressive how you took your time and worked to pay your tuition so you wouldn’t owe anything after graduation.”

I nod with a smile. “I watched my daddy struggle with debt his entire life. I wasn’t about to start out my adult life with a bunch of it on my shoulders. It took me an extra year to meet my goal, but it was worth it.”