Page 12 of Child of Mine

When I aim my best smirk at him, he rubs a hand in the air between us. “Oooh, I take it back. That smile is scary.”

We finish lunch in companionable silence. I will miss this guy. After we toss our trash, we exit the cafeteria together. He pauses in front of my office, where my stuff is in boxes. “Seriously, though. What’s so great about Boston?”

Leaning against the doorjamb, a heady cocktail of nerves and anticipation dances through my veins. “That station makes some of the most interesting shows on TV right now, and they’ve promised that once we getBoomrebooted, I can pitch my own ideas. You know I’ve wanted to make documentaries since I was in junior high.”

Ralph nods slowly. “I’ll never forget that one you did on Reggie Jackson. It was super cool how you used footage of newspapers and that music for the background. I learned something, and it didn’t even hurt.” After treating me to his smile—one that the camera loves—he heads down the hall to his own office. Walking backward, he calls, “Do they know kids are scared of you?”

“Kids aren’t scared of me,” I protest weakly. I don’t mind them, but kids sure hate me.

“Henry. You’re like the anti-Bozo.”

I roll my eyes. “Just because I made that girl cryonetime.”

He grins. “It was a whole gaggle of girls. And at least five times… that I know of.”

“She stole Cowboy Cam’s hat!”

“They’re only four years old, man.”

“I didn’t send her to juvie. I just made sure she understood that you don’t touch station property.”

With a salute, he saunters down the hall. “You’re either going to kill it or you’ll be back in six weeks.”

* * *

The day before I leave,I stop by my twin sister’s house to drop off some boxes she’s storing for me. She greets me at the door with a hug, followed by a punch in the gut. “I still can’t believe you broke up with Christine.”

Whatevermade me think letting my sister run my love life was a good idea?

“I didn’t break up with her. She broke up with me.” Tucking my chin on the top box to keep them all from falling, I ask, “Where do you want these?”

She opens the door to the basement, flicks on the light, and gestures at the stairs. “After you gave her an ultimatum.”

Groaning, I take the steps carefully since I can’t really see where I’m going. “See, this is why it’s probably best we ended it. Either she’s delusional, or she’s lying to you.”

“Why are you being such a jerk?” She points to an empty space in the shelving that lines one wall. After I set my boxes on the shelf, Jill presses a button on her label maker, whips off the sticker, and presses it to the top box. It reads “O’Henry’s Crap.”

My sister has a truckload of nicknames for me, including the candy bar among others less family friendly.

“Jill, you can’t micromanage my life the way you run your house and your husband and the Apex store. I love you, but it’s my life.”

Screwing her face up in a pout, she throws herself onto the overstuffed couch that dominates my brother-in-law’s hangout. “But it was going to be so perfect. We’d all live in the same neighborhood and our kids would grow up together and I’d be president of the PTA and Christine would be the vice-president.”

Shoving my hands in my pockets, I grumble, “I’m sure that can all still happen. Just without me.”

She kicks a beach ball in my direction. “But I’ll miss you, you dummy.”

“You don’t even like me.” After trapping the ball with a toe, I knock it back to her.

She swats it away. “Because you’re a big grump.”

“Which is why I shouldn’t be anybody’s dad.” Flopping down next to her, I let the couch take the weight of my guilt as well as my muscles and bones. “Listen. I told her I was taking this job. I suggested that we could use the time apart to see if we really want to be together. If she heard that as an ultimatum…”

“What’s she supposed to do? You didn’t ask her to go with you, and you made it seem like she’s not enough to keep you here.”

“Well, she’s not.”

She kicks me. “That’s mean.”

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