“Haley Cooper,” Brandon said.
Jesus fucking Christ.
It was obvious now. He looked so much like Chase. I could see it in his eyes… his nose… his mouth. I felt as though the wind had been knocked out of me. It was on the tip of my tongue to say something about his mother, or her death. Chase had taken the news of Haley’s overdose particularly hard. My parents tried to reach out to Haley’s mother to offer assistance with the boy—who would have been around college age at that time—but she claimed the boy had run away after he graduated high school.
God, he looks just like Chase.
Remain professional.
Wrap it up with them.
Get them on the schedule.
Then figure it out.
As soon as they left, I went over to Andrew.
“Hey, how did it go?” he asked.
“Just fine.” I tried to sound as calm and as close to normal as possible. “You mentioned they’re very close to you. How long have you known Brandon?”
“Just a few years.”
“Same with James? Were they together before you met him?”
“James knew him maybe a few days before I met him. Why?”
Don’t say anything yet. Just make sure he’s okay.
“I was just curious.”Just make sure he’s okay.“It seems like James is good to Brandon.”
“He really is. James is the reason why Brandon is doing as well as he is.”
Fuck! What happened to him? It was on the tip of my tongue to ask Andrew, but without me blurting out that I was one hundred percent certain he was my nephew, I couldn’t expect Andrew to divulge anything to me. I wouldn’t want anyone to put me in that position, and I couldn’t ask that of Andrew. But, fuck, Brandon was my family.
“Oh, hey, your next appointment is here,” Andrew said and then waved to the next couple.
Keep it together for a few more hours.
I was able to make it through the next several long hours of meeting with members. For the most part, I stayed focused and made the necessary notes for each client. As soon as the last client left, and before I even had the door to my SUV closed, I fired off a text to Hollis.
Are you available for a call tonight?
Yeah, what’s up? Is everything okay?
That was debatable. I stared at all of the rush-hour traffic on Sunset Boulevard. I couldn’t get on the phone with Hollis about this while I was driving. I couldn’t do it at home, and I couldn’t do it here in the parking lot.
I’m just leaving the club. Give me about fifteen minutes to get somewhere so I can call you.
Whoa, is everything okay?
Morgan!
Yes. I’m pulling out into traffic and will call you as soon as I get to a restaurant.
You better. Don’t make me come find you.
I rolled my eyes and made my way to the damn pizza place again. The entire way, I tried to decide how to even begin telling Hollis about this. I went inside and ordered a medium pizza with pepperoni, sausage, and bacon to go. When they told me it’d be a half hour, I told them that was fine and went back to my SUV to call Hollis. The phone barely rang once before he answered.
