“No, tell me. We can talk about anything.”
He eyes me for a moment before he tells me what he was thinking. “Do youthink you’d ever want kids?”
“Yeah, of course. I want to teach them, but I’d love to have them, too. Is that what you want?”
He nods again. “Yeah, I think I would. With you.”
I smile down at him. “Then we’ll have kids. We’re going to have an amazing life together.”
“I know we will.”
“Now all I need to do is get my job shit sorted. And I have a plan.”
He raises a brow at me. “Oh, what plan?”
“A plan I’m not going to tell you about because it may not work. I’ll tell you about it later.”
“If you say so. But as I said before, we’ll figure this out together. I’m sure things will work out.”
“Thanks, babe. Have I told you I love you?”
Mike’s smile turns crooked. “Only about a million times.”
“Then it’s now a million and one.”
Okay, I wasn’t expecting my heart to be beating this hard and fast. Or for my hands to be this clammy. But I’m sucking it up for Mike and me. We need this to work out.
I’ve already called the other job I had an interview with and told them I was backing out, explaining that I appreciate them taking the time to interview me, but I just can’t drive far after my accident and be away that long.
With a trembling hand, I raise my fist and knock on the door.
“Come in,” Mr. Hutchins calls from inside.
He doesn’t know I’m coming because warning him I was going to grovel would lessen the impact. Or he could deny me altogether.
I open his office door and step inside, feeling like I’m going to be sick. I’m not against a little begging. I want this to work. Ineedthis to work.
His eyes grow wide, and his brows shoot to his hairline. “Dennis?”
I give him an awkward wave. “Hey, Mr. Hutchins.”
“What are you doing here?”
“I’ve, ah, come to beg for my job back.”
“Dennis, I—”
“Please hear me out, Mr. Hutchins,” I interrupt. “Please.”
His shoulders sag, and he nods as he waves his hand over to the chair across from him. “Have a seat.”
“Thank you.” I try not to squirm as I meet him dead in the eye to show my seriousness. “I appreciate you listening. Look, I know I screwed up. But honestly, I wish I’d fought harder for my job when you fired me, which was totally understandable. I regret that, though, because I know I can be an asset. I know my stuff, and I’m a really hard worker. God, when that boy…” I look down at my feet and shake my head, my fingers digging into my thighs. I take a deep breath and continue, grateful he’s not interrupting me. “I was devastated, and I blamed myself. But I did everything I could to find him and keep him safe. And I would do it again. This jobmeanssomething to me. And it’s something I need so I can eventually start my own business for kids in need. I tried to find other work, but it’s…”
“There’s not a lot out there close by.”
I look up at him and nod. “Yeah, exactly. I almost had another job. I think I would’ve gotten it, too, but it was far away, and on my way home from the interview, my car was totaled in an accident because the mountains had fogged up.”
“Jesus, Dennis. Are you okay?”
