She appreciated that.
Well, so much for time off for good, or bad, behavior. She was back on duty, and this case had to be handled by the weekend. They had Ethan’s wedding to Gene on the schedule.
Time was of the essence for her.
Heading out, her husband was beside her. He kept his voice low.
“This weekend…”
She stopped him.
“I’ll have it handled, or I’ll pass the case off. I know how important this weekend is. Don’t worry, Ethan. We’re going to be there. I promised to help you pull this off, and I will.”
He slipped her hand into his, and squeezed it.
That wasn’t what he was going to ask, but he appreciated her already being on top of it.
“I love you. Never forget that. You’ve been my biggest supporter, and I owe you the world.”
She squeezed back.
“No one owes anyone in this relationship. We don’t keep score. We love because we are the core, and if me helping you is what you need to heal, I’ll do it.”
He was honest.
Now, he needed to vent, and while he’d talked it out with the dead, it was the living who really mattered.
“I was a dick to Wyler. He left angry.”
She said nothing.
Why?
Oh, she wasn’t falling into that trap. Instead, she just let Ethan vent and get it off his chest. She wasn’t quite sure where it would be going, but she was grateful that Ivan had given her a heads-up on it.
Why start a fight when there was no need? Personally, she wished Ethan would cut the man a break. He was fighting for his life.
“I was wrong, and later, I’ll apologize. I want to do the walk with him, and I didn’t get away unscathed. I got my lecture from Timothy.”
She figured he would interject.
Timothy was like a yenta.
Up in people’s business.
Even dead, the man had little ability to stay out of shit. He was always ringing windchimes and playing granddad on the other side—just like he had in the breakroom.
“He’s trying,” she said, as they got to her office. “Wyler is a lot of things, EJ, but he’s genuinely trying to make amends for what time we have left with him.”
Yeah, he saw that now.
This could only go two ways. They rebuilt the bridge, or at some point, there would be regrets.
He didn’t want to carry the latter.
So, Ethan was honest.
“My mother said I’m getting another child. I’m going to assume it’s with you since you collect them.”
