Page 59 of His Hot Mess

“Whoa,” Graydon said in greeting. “You okay?”

Was he psychic? Or could he sense the turmoil and self-loathing in my voice?

“Just tired. I… haven’t slept.”

There was a pause, then Graydon said, “were you with Sadie?”

I closed the front door behind me. The photo album was lying on the coffee table. My stomach felt like I’d swallowed a rock. Beyond the living room, I could see into my bedroom, to the rumpled sheets I knew would smell like her. My chest clenched and I had to sit down on the little stool in my entryway.

“Yeah,” I said. “I mean, not last night, but…”

Shit.

I’d just planned on telling him I’d changed my mind about working at Sadie’s shop. That it made more sense for me to take the Sapphire job. But as Graydon sat there waiting on the other end, the closest thing I had to a best friend, I told him everything.

From the time in her shop last week before the job even started to yesterday, to last night, making up the lost time at work.

“I don’t know what’s gotten into me,” I said. “I guess I’m just not used to getting involved with women.”

“Or you’re really into her.”

No. It couldn’t be that.

In the end I told him I thought it would be best to switch over to the Sapphire job.

“I can call Dean,” I said. “I’ve gotten it started, and if we send him and a couple of the other guys over today the whole job could be wrapped up this week.”

“Whatever you want, Chris. This was your project. I will say I’ll be happy to have you back at the Sapphire Lake project. Dean is totally capable, but with all the problems, it makes more sense for my future partner to take it on than the new guy.”

“I’m sorry, what?”

“I said Dean’s the new guy.”

“The other part. Future partner.”

“Oh yeah.” Graydon laughed. “I was talking with Cat Jones at the barbecue last week, about how Lucy and I want to start a family, and how I want to be around for it, you know? I want to be able to help out at night. To see my kids’ first steps.”

“Is Lucy pregnant?!”

“Not yet. But soon. And I want to be there for it all.”

Graydon’s parents had died when he was a teenager. I could tell what he was doing—planning to be there as much as he could for his kids, just in case. The thought made me think, absurdly, of Sadie.

Graydon continued. “Don’t worry about it right now but… just wanted you to know I’m thinking about it, if you’re interested. Anyway, now’s a shit time to talk about it—why don’t you rest up? Take the day off, I’ll send Dean over to Sadie’s. Knowing you, I’m sure you did at least two days’ work there last night on your own.”

It was true, I had. And the relief at the thought of being able to fall into bed was a physical sensation. I leaned back against the wall, lead running through my veins. “But the Sapphire job,” I said.

“You couldn’t have timed it better—the engineers have to come back and Dean said they couldn’t make it until tomorrow anyway. I’ll check in on it later—you get yourself back to standing. And after you get some sleep, you can sort out whatever’s going on with you and Sadie.”

“There’s nothing going on.”

“I’m going to ignore that. Go to sleep.”

“I don’t want the whole day, man. Let me just pass out for a bit and I’ll check in on the Sapphire project later this afternoon. It’s close to my place.”

“It’s really fine.”

“Seriously. I need it.”

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