Page 32 of If You Stayed

“Do what?”

“Lie about being good.”

I bit the corner of my lip. “I don’t know what you mean.”

“I doubt you were really crying over a cinnamon muffin, Kierra. Listen, I get it. I’m nothing more than a stranger to you, but you don’t have to lie about being good if you’re not good. I won’t tell anyone the truth. Our little secret.”

I let out a nervous laugh. “Are you the therapist, or am I?”

He held his hands up in surrender. “I’m just a guy asking how you are. But forget it. Cheers,” he offered. He lifted his muffin into the air. “To the blueprint changes being approved by Henry tonight.”

“Cheers,” I said, bumping his muffin with my own before taking a bite of it. And just like that, life didn’t seem as bad as before. All thanks to cinnamon muffins and Gabriel Sinclair. The rest of the interaction went to Gabriel pulling out the blueprints and showed them to me. He talked in architect talk that I didn’t understand, and it was a lot of me just nodding and agreeing with his plans.

“I’m sure you’ve already seen all of this, but it helps to pick your brain,” Gabriel mentioned as he rolled up the plans and placed them back into his briefcase.

“Actually, I haven’t. Henry likes to keep all this stuff to himself, since it’s more of his dream than my own.”

“You haven’t had involvement in the planning? I was under the impression that Henry was coming to me on behalf of you both.”

“Yes, and he was. That’s why my meditation room is included. I told him that’s all I really cared about. I wantedthat and a sewing room, but he said he’d only go with one. Everything else was his choice. Between you and me, I don’t really care about a big mansion or things like that. I just want comfort and my family under a warm roof.”

Gabriel’s mouth parted as if he was going to make a comment, but instead he pressed out a grin. It didn’t seem genuine, so it made me wonder what thoughts were in his head.

“Well, talking to you helped me realize a few changes I’d like to make. So, I appreciate your time.”

“I’m glad. I’m sure Henry will love all of this. Our daughter, Ava, will love it, too. She dreams of being an architect someday.”

“No way,” Gabriel replied with a raised brow. “It’s not every day you hear about someone wanting to go into architecture.”

“Well, she’s been of that mindset ever since we bought her first Lego set when she was a kid.”

“How old is she now?”

“Fourteen going on forty,” I joked.

“No way… You have a fourteen-year-old?” he questioned, amazed.

“Yes. Henry’s about nine years older than me. When I met him, he had a five-year-old. I instantly fell in love with Ava, and well, she’s my daughter. Maybe not by blood but—”

“By heart,” he finished. “That’s the kind of love that matters most. I love that you have her, and that she has you.”

“Me too. She’s special.”

“Well.” He tossed his last piece of muffin into his mouth. “If she’s ever interested, I’m more than willing to have hershadow me at the office this summer if she wants to take on an internship of sorts.”

“Are you serious? She would lose her mind over that opportunity.”

“Yeah, for sure. We can even set up a payroll to pay her to get the experience and she can help around the office.”

“Wow, Gabriel. That’s…more than kind. Thank you.”

He pulled out his wallet and handed me one of his business cards. “You can call me to set it up. Then you have a direct line to me, outside of Henry.”

“Thank you. I’ll reach out later this week to set something up.”

“Wonderful.” He glanced down at his watch and nodded. “I guess our time is up, and I should get to work.” He stood. “But I actually really enjoyed this, Kierra.”

“Me too,” I confessed. Guilt hit me from the realization that I’d enjoyed his company. Guilt attached to enjoying another man’s company when I was a married woman, and guilt for going against Amma’s request. A wave of discomfort washed over me as I rose from the table.

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