by Cassie Hayes
“How’s it going, man?” Spike asked, really wanting to know.
Josh’s smile flickered for a moment, then fell away completely. “Not so great actually. Tiffani and I are getting a divorce.”
“I’m so sorry, Josh,” Zach said with a sympathetic look. “What happened? It’s been a while since I saw you, but you guys seemed so solid.”
Josh shrugged. “Not so much. She dumped me. Turns out she was having an affair for three years, and not with just anybody. No, she had to go and sleep with my boss.”
“No!” Spike and Zach exclaimed at the same time.
“Yup. She told me he was a better man, a better provider, and a better lover. That last one stung a bit.”
“Ouch!” Spike said, cringing. That was not something a guy wanted to hear.
“The worst part is I had to quit. Kinda hard to report to a man who’s been banging your wife for three years, ya know? So now I’m wifeless, jobless, and homeless. Oh, did I mention she got the apartment on the Upper West Side? I came back here temporarily to stay with Mother until I find another job.”
Zach didn’t say a word, just walked over to his desk, opened the bottom drawer, and pulled out a bottle of scotch. He poured two glasses, one a standard finger, the other nearly to the brim. Josh laughed when Zach handed the fuller one to him.
“What about Spike?”
Before Spike could say anything, Zach answered. “Spike doesn’t drink. Something about not poisoning his machine or some such nonsense. To freedom!”
Spike raised a water bottle and clinked their glasses, echoing the toast, but wondering what had gone wrong in his friend’s life. Josh had been voted ‘Most Likely to Take Over the World’ their senior year. Every girl at Silver Springs High had wanted him, and every guy had wanted to be him. Not only was he a good guy, he was smart, good-looking, and wealthy. Every girl’s dream man, or so Hollywood seemed to think.
“I’m really sorry, Josh,” Spike said.
“Don’t be,” he replied with a wave of his hand. “The last few months have made me realize what’s really important in life.”
“Yeah, what’s that?” Zach asked, grimacing at the taste of his own booze.
“Family.”
Spike couldn’t argue with that. As annoying as his sisters were, he loved them and would do just about anything for them. Same went for his cousins, aunts, uncles, and other sundry Roberts scattered about town.
“As I packed up my half of our belongings, I realized exactly how alone I was, even long before Tiffani dropped her bombshell. In fact, that was probably why she started the affair to begin with. I was really only halfway in that marriage from day one.”
“Man, that sucks,” Zach said, shaking his head with sympathy.
“In a way,” Josh agreed, “but it’s also good. Honestly, as damaged as my ego is over how it all went down, I’m happy for Tiff. She deserves to be happy, because God knows she was miserable with me. Plus, the whole situation has given me clarity. I need to do some reconnecting.”
“Your mom’s gonna love that,” Spike snorted. “She brags about you all the time. I’m sure she’ll be thrilled to show you off all around town and hook you up with some lovely ladies befitting your station. How’s she doing, anyway?”
Josh’s face darkened and his jaw tensed at the mention of his mother, despite the healthy snort of scotch he’d consumed. “She’s fine, but I’m not referring to her.”
Zach shot Spike a questioning glance, but Spike had no clue what their old friend was going on about.
“I’m guessing you have someone else in mind, besides us? I can’t imagine why, but…” Zach said.
To Spike’s utter surprise, Josh blushed. The tension in his jaw melted away, and the vibrancy in his eyes returned, just a little.
“Yeah, it’s a girl,” he said, unable to keep his smile hidden. “I started dating her senior year of high school. Even after I went off to Harvard, we hooked up for a couple years when I came home during breaks. Man, I was so in love with her. I want to find out if that connection’s still there.”
Spike racked his brain, trying to recall Josh dating any girl seriously their senior year, and came up empty. That spurred a memory of some of their buddies teasing Josh for not having a girlfriend. Everyone had at least one their senior year.
“I don’t think I ever saw you with the same girl twice that year,” Spike said.
Josh shrugged and looked strangely abashed. “Mother wouldn’t have liked it, so we kept it secret.”
“Ooh, secret romance,” Zach crooned, nudging Josh. “That’s hot.”
Spike hadn’t realized it was so late until Amy walked through the door. When she stopped mid-stride to stare at the three old friends, his heart did something funny inside his chest. Gone was the sexy dress and heels, replaced by no-less-appealing khakis and a tidy white oxford, covered by a pale blue cardigan. Her long, dark hair was up again, but this time in a practical clip which would keep it out of her face as she cleaned. Seemed there was nothing she could wear that he didn’t find drop-dead gorgeous.
Nothing… Now there’s an idea!
“Hi ,Amy.”
For a moment, Spike wondered if he was hearing double, but then realized someone besides him had greeted her as well. And it wasn’t Zach.
Josh stood at attention, eyes shining like the old days, and smiling brightly at Amy. “It’s been a long time.”
Oh crap.
6
“Josh, what are you doing here?” Amy hissed, making sure the door to the office had closed fully behind them and pulling her cardigan tighter to ward off the chill in the air.
She hadn’t seen Josh Bodin since just before her senior year had started. They’d spent that summer sneaking around, falling even more deeply in love — or so she’d thought — and making plans for their future. Josh had promised her, as soon as he graduated college, he’d take her to New York with him and they’d live happily ever after. It couldn’t happen before that, he’d told her, because his parents were footing the bill for his education. Once he graduated, he’d be free.
And so would she. Life in the Sanderson household had grown intolerable by that point, and she couldn’t wait to leave those bad memories behind her. She’d just need to find a job and hang tough for a couple more years before her real life could begin. Then, two months into her senior year, her life got very real, very fast.
“I needed to see you, Amy,” Josh said. “I’d also like to meet my child.”
Before he’d even finished, Amy was shaking her head. “No, absolutely not. That’s impossible, and you know it.”
“Can you just listen for a second? Please?”
His green eyes pleaded silently, and they reminded her so much of Ethan’s, she couldn’t refuse.
“Fine,” she sighed, crossing her arms in a huff.
Josh was as handsome as ever, maybe even more so. As so often happened with men, time had been kind, and maturity looked good on him. He was the same age as Spike, but he looked like he’d seen enough stress in his life to earn him some early greys and light wrinkles.
“Thank you,” he said, chewing on his lip, no doubt trying to figure out where to start. “Tiffani and I are over for good this time.”
Once upon a time, Amy would have been overjoyed at this news, but now it left her cold. “So?”
“So… I was hoping…” He cleared his throat and chuckled awkwardly. “I wasn’t expecting to see you so soon. I had no idea you worked for Spike and Zach. If I had, I would have prepared.”
“Prepared what?”
“Amy, I know I hurt you. I’ll never forgive myself for that, but don’t you think it’s time to let bygones be bygones? What are bygones anyway?”
She wouldn’t be swayed by the cute sense of humor that had always attracted her to him.
“Can we just skip all this and get to the point? What do you want, Josh?” Her heart thudded in her ears and anger boiled inside of her. She’d thought it had dissipat
ed long ago, but apparently not.
He blinked at her directness. Of course he did. The innocent, trusting, gullible Amy he knew way back when had died the day she walked into Steve Roberts’ law office.
“Okay. Like I said, I’d like to meet my child.”
“As I said before, Josh, impossible.” At his stricken expression, her heart softened…slightly. “Listen, I’m really sorry things didn’t work out with Tiffani, but you can’t just come here… Wait. You keep saying your ‘child.’ You have no idea whether you have a son or a daughter, do you?”
Josh’s face turned deep red, and he hung his head in shame. Amy didn’t know whether to get even more angry he hadn’t bothered to ask around, or to feel sorry for him that his vile mother had such a tight hold over him.
“No,” he whispered, then looked up at her, a deep sadness in the green depths of his eyes. “I’m sorry.”
Amy rolled her eyes and sighed. “You have a son. His name is Ethan, and he’s amazing. You’ve really missed out, Josh. I honestly feel sorry for you.”
Funny that a dirt-poor cleaning woman could feel pity for a wealthy golden boy, but it was the truth. Her life had grown better every day, every moment since Ethan’s birth. Back-breaking work was a joy, as long as she could look forward to butterfly kisses from her best guy. She’d bet every penny she had, and then some, Josh had never felt that kind of happiness in his entire life.
“Whatever,” she continued, trying to protect the walls she’d built around her heart. “You can’t just come back here demanding to see him. Not after everything that’s happened.”
Josh met her furious gaze without hesitation. “I’m not demanding, Amy, I’m asking. Don’t forget, he’s my son too.”
“Not legally!” Amy couldn’t believe her ears. Did he not understand what was at stake?
Josh took a deep breath and scrubbed his face with his hands. “I don’t want to disrupt your life, Amy. I really don’t.”
Amy couldn’t stop a bitter laugh. “Right. You don’t want to disrupt my life. You don’t think leaving me here to rot with no emotional support wasn’t disruptive? You think it was so easy being a knocked-up teenage drop-out in a town so small everyone knows your business? If you truly didn’t want to disrupt my life, Josh, you would have done right by Ethan and me, instead of ghosting on me after I told you the news.”
His head dropped again. “You’re right. I know you’re right. I’m so sorry, Amy.” He looked up at her and she saw real pain in his eyes. “You know how forceful my mother is.”
The mere mention of Beatrice Bodin set Amy’s teeth on edge. She’d spent the last six years avoiding the hateful, status-conscious grandmother of her son and had managed to spend most days without thinking of her. Now that Josh was back in town, Amy expected to hear from her — or her lawyer — at any moment.
“I know all too well what she’s like. But there’s something you should know, Josh…what she did made me strong and forceful too. So just get it out of your head that you’re ever going to see Ethan. It’s not going to happen. Got it?”
“Okay,” he said with a dejected sigh. “Can I ask one thing? Does he ever ask about his dad?”
The walls around her heart crumbled to dust. Tears pricked at the back of her eyes, and it took all her strength to keep them in check. This sucked.
“He does. All the time.”
So many times, Ethan had come home from a play date, or after going to the park with either her or Gamma, and asked about his own father. The first few times had been at bedtime, when Amy was tucking him in. Then, during play time or dinner or when they were grocery shopping. It seemed to be happening more and more frequently, and no matter how many times she explained his father lived far, far away, he persisted.
She couldn’t count how many times she’d wished for a positive male influence in his life. Mitch Sanderson had never seen his grandson, and he never would. Her only brother, Butch, wasn’t due to be released from prison for another two years, not that she’d let him near Ethan either. The most ‘guy time’ her son ever had was when she’d take him to Mo’s as a special treat. Mo was a bit of a yeller, but he was a good man who had a soft spot for kids.
Amy looked into Josh’s hopeful gaze. She had always hoped to find a solid father figure for Ethan…
“I don’t know, Josh. I might be inclined to let you meet him, but if anyone puts it together that you’re his dad, and word gets around…”
She let the implied danger linger between them, but he immediately pounced on the opening.
“It won’t! I swear to you, no one will find out. I’ll just be an old friend visiting. No one will suspect a thing. It’ll be our little secret.”
“Well, I guess I should be used to that by now,” she sniffed, unable to stop herself from delivering the low blow.
Amy honestly didn’t know the best way to proceed. What she’d been doing had worked so far, but there would come a point when Ethan would insist on knowing more. What would she tell him then? But allowing Josh into their lives would leave them open to some very big dangers which could ruin her. She looked into the adult version of her son’s eyes and knew what her answer would be.
“There will be ground rules,” she said, ignoring the grin that broke out on Josh’s face. “The most important being that Ethan doesn’t know you’re his dad until I say it’s okay. Agreed?”
Josh nodded eagerly. “Yes, absolutely. We’ll take it slow.”
“This is non-negotiable, Josh,” she warned, giving him her ‘I’m a bad-ass mama bear’ look. “One whisper of this reaches him, I’ll pull the plug with no hesitation, and be well within my rights.”
He stood at attention and saluted. “Ma’am, yes, ma’am!”
She couldn’t help smiling at his silliness. Same ol’ Josh. He really wasn’t a bad guy. Not a great guy, but she’d seen what bad guys look like, and Josh didn’t even come close. Maybe he’d matured enough to stand up to his mother, maybe not. Time would tell. Regardless of how this all turned out, she’d continue teaching Ethan to be a strong man who could think for himself and wouldn’t hesitate to do the right thing.
“Okay, let’s meet at Dunphy Park tomorrow morning at ten.”
The words were barely out of her mouth before Josh pulled her into a hug and began spinning her around. She laughed and slapped his shoulder, demanding he put her down. It was just like the old days, which only confused her even more.
When he finally set her on her feet, she glanced through the window into the office. Spike stood perfectly still, watching them with the saddest look she’d ever seen.
“Dude,” Zach hissed. “You’re staring.”
Spike couldn’t move. Until Amy released him from her hypnotic gaze, he was frozen. At least, he wasn’t until she received another hug from Josh — Josh! — And that broke the spell. He let out the lungful of breath he’d unknowingly been holding in and moved over to Zach’s desk so he couldn’t torture himself by watching the happy couple’s reunion.
“You don’t suppose Amy’s the girl Josh was talking about, do you?” Zach asked, pouring another finger of scotch.
“Yeah, I think that’s a safe bet,” Spike replied, trying to keep his tone even. By Zach’s cringe, he must have missed the mark. “Sorry.”
“Don’t even,” his partner said, handing him the glass of booze. “It’s just these sort of occasions that God created alcohol. Take it.”
Spike wasn’t much of a drinker — it slowed him down too much — but he accepted this drink with gratitude. One quick swallow and warmth spread throughout his body. Too bad it couldn’t touch the icy region where his heart used to reside.
“Didn’t he say he dated his mystery chick for three years, starting his senior year in high school?” Zach asked, immediately picking up on the timeline discrepancy Spike had been working through as he watched Josh and Amy talk outside.
“Yup.”
“But I thought he started dating Tiffani his freshman year at Harvard.
”
Spike nodded. “He did.”
“I guess a senator’s daughter trumped a poor dropout from the bad side of town,” Zach said with a shake of his head. “So much for love.”
Silence stretched between them as the reality and implications of this newfound knowledge sank in.
“How old is Amy’s kid?” Zach asked softly.
Spike’s gut cramped. That was exactly what he’d been thinking. He didn’t answer.; he didn’t need to. They both knew Ethan was Josh’s son. The son he’d never seen. The son he’d never wanted to see.
Apparently, that had changed.
Spike slammed his glass down on Zach’s desk and paced in front of it, grabbing fistfuls of his hair. As he’d watched them talk, all sorts of emotions he didn’t even know he had bubbled up to the surface, and he wasn’t sure what to make of it all.
“I knew something was weird about all this.” He turned to Zach. “She remembered me, but I had to rack my brain to recall her, did you know that?”
Zach shook his head at Spike’s ranting and remained silent.
“I know seniors are hot stuff to sophomores, but really? That was a decade ago. Why would she remember me?”
He paused his diatribe to lean over for another peek at the reunited couple. Now they were smiling as they chatted. It’d been bad enough when Josh scooped her up in a romantic twirl, but this was worse. Spike couldn’t have explained why, it just was.
“Because she associated me with him, that’s why. We were best buds senior year.”
The irony of that statement caught him off guard. He barked out a bitter laugh.
“Right! Best buds. He dated Amy for three years.” He whirled on Zach, slamming his hands on the desk and leaning into the other man’s bemused face. “Three years! Who doesn’t tell their best friend that they’re in love? Who does that? Tell me, man, cuz I really want to know.”
