She squinted a little. “How old is Rey?”
Ah, right. I hadn’t mentioned that. “He’s seventeen.”
Dr. Alonzo hummed. “And you are?”
“Thirty-six.”
“How does that make you feel?”
With fits and starts, I explained her some of what I’d told Rhiannon, and then ended up doing that until the New Year’s either once or twice a week.
By the end of it, Dr. Alonzo had taught me some different ways I could look at things, and to always remember to take my time.
“I think it’s a good idea to wait until he’s eighteen, both because of the legal side of things and because how it will make you feel to have waited.” Instead of before, which would make me feel like shit. “I agree that Rey is young and that your age gap isn’t insignificant, but what I feel is the key here is that neither of you is trying to ignore that gap. Instead, you’re thinking about what it means and how it might affect your relationship going forward.”
I smiled slightly. “I guess I didn’t look at it that way.”
“No, not many people do when they’re overthinking everything,” she said, grinning. “You’ll be fine. Just…take your time.”
“I will.”
* * * *
By January third, I was standing in Glenn’s kitchen in Big Bear.
He’d just gone through a horrible break-up from his latest partner, and just wanted to be alone. Except, he hated being alone. That meant he retreated to the mini-mansion chalet thing with his PA and his security guy, and he asked me to come along to be in charge of the kitchen.
His PA, Caryn, would do the cleaning, because there’d be plenty of time for that in her schedule. Meanwhile, Parker would keep everyone safe. Not that we expected anything to happen, but Glennwasthe son of a billionaire who headed his own multi-million company.
Glenn was, after Elise, my favorite client. He was easygoing and for a very rich person, he was as about down to earth as Theo, which was interesting.
We’d become friendly during the jobs I’d done for him over the years, but we weren’t close enough to stay in touch when I wasn’t working for him.
There was clearly something going on between Caryn and Parker, and it soon became a game for Glenn and me to report to each other whatever we’d seen.
Sure, it was Big Bear, but we still got bored because we didn’t really go anywhere. Watching those two do their weird little push and pull mating dance was amusing enough to keep us entertained while neither of us was working.
Glenn worked in renewable energy, having invented a part that had something to do with solar and wind power batteries. He was in his mid-twenties and made more money than I could imagine having, not that I wanted that much anyway.
Ever since he moved out from his family home six years ago, I’d watched him grow into this self-assured man who did his best to be more than his father’s son. I admired that about him, and now that he wasn’t impressed by my Army stories anymore, we could talk about anything pretty openly.
So that was why one evening I made us some snacks and hot cocoa, and went to sit with Glenn by the fireplace.
Caryn had gone into town to meet a friend of hers and Parker was in the security room, probably reading like he normally would when there was nothing urgent to do. I sighed as I sat down in the armchair opposite the couch Glenn sprawled on.
“You wanna talk about it?” I asked, knowing he’d been upset about the break-up for months now.
He shrugged, then grimaced. “Not really.” He sat up so he could pick up his mug and sipped at it in silence for a moment. “I thought we were going to get engaged soon.”
I hummed. “What did he think?”
“It was a they, this time.” He grinned at me briefly. “They decided that they didn’t want to be with someone who gets paparazzi following them every night out in certain cities.”
“I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay. One day I’ll find my person. It just wasn’t them.” He drank some more and then sighed. “But I was in love with them, so it’s harder than any other break-up so far.” I must’ve made a face because he asked, “What?”
I told him about Rey, then. Told him about the therapy and what Dr. Alonzo had said.
