Me
HE’S ASKING IF I STILL LIKE YOU!
Me
TELL ME WHAT TO SAY!
Me
DO I FAKE A HEART ATTACK??
My phone immediately buzzes with an incoming text from Harper.
Harper
Do NOT fake a heart attack.
Harper
Just…don’t panic.
Harper
I’ll be there as soon as I can.
Too late, babe. Panic is my default setting.
I swallow hard and offer Connor a smile. “Connor, your mom is an amazing person,” I say honestly. “Anyone would be lucky to?—”
“Were you guys like, boyfriend and girlfriend?” He waves a picture in the air. A picture of us sitting in the sand on the east coast, her leaning back on my chest, my arms around her holding her against me. “Cause this picture looks like you guys were boyfriend and girlfriend.”
“Uh…”
There’s a sound at the door and then in strides a man I’ve never seen before, his dark skin contrasting with the light fabric of his Chinos and pink button-down shirt. His entire presence throws an unexpected wrench into my already derailing conversation and now I find myself in protection mode.
“Whoa. Hey man, who the hell are you?”
The dude merely smirks at me like he knows a secret I’m not privy to and then spits out words I don’t understand. “Celui qui est là pour vous sauver, apparemment.”
“Uh, I’m sorry. I think you’re in the wrong place, man. You need to?—”
“Ça va, mon garçon?” the man asks, turning his attention toward Connor.
Okay now this guy’s just pissing me off. “Hey pal, don’t talk to?—”
“Oui, ça va, Antoni.” Connor chuckles as he waves with a photo in his hand and now I’m doing a double-take, glancing between Connor and this nicely dressed stranger.
What the hell?
Did my kid just speak another language?
What’s going on here?
“Hey, Antoni.” Connor steps toward the man and it’s taking everything in me not to hold him back because I still don’t know who the fuck this guy is. “Did you know Mom and Harrison…oh, this is Harrison Meers by the way,” he says, gesturing to me. “You know…of the Anaheim Stars?”
I nod to the guy who nods back silently and then Connor is showing him the photo he has in his hand. “Did you know they were boyfriend and girlfriend once? Like, a long time ago? Look!”
The man glances down at the picture and then raises an eyebrow as he brings a hand to his chest like he’s clutching his damn pearls.
