“Me too. I can lie as good as anyone,” Woody said and clapped Solo on the shoulder.
“Obviously.” RB shrugged. “Though I’m probably not the most credible witness given my general life choices.”
“You run a successful business, and you’re loyal to your people.” Solo kicked RB’s shin lightly. “That counts for something.”
“When’s the hearing?” Gabe asked.
“I’m not sure yet.” Solo glanced at her phone, hoping that might prompt David to call with exactly that information. “Early October maybe.”
“And how’s Janie handling it?” Shay asked.
Solo thought about Saturday night, about Janie breaking down in her arms during the hours of talking and reconnecting between the sex. “She’s scared. We both are.”
Gabe’s expression softened. “I’m proud of you for fighting for your family and being vulnerable enough to let Janie back in. You’re doing the work, and that’s amazing.”
Gabe never said shit she didn’t mean, and Solo’s throat tightened. “Thanks. That means a lot.”
“We’ve got your back,” RB said. “Whatever you need. Testimony, someone to intimidate Janie’s mother in a parking lot?—”
“Not that last one,” Shay said, shaking her head.
“Fine.” RB threw up her hands and rolled her eyes. “But theoffer stands if things take a turn.”
Woody leaned back in her chair. “So are we going to talk about the fact that you and Janie are back together? Like, for real?”
“We’re working on it,” Solo said, not wanting to jinx it. “We’re taking it slow. She stayed over on Saturday night, but we haven’t talked about her moving back in permanently yet.”
Shay arched her eyebrow. “But you want her to.”
“Of course I do. But I also want to do it right. We have to do the work Rae gives us and build a foundation that’s going to last. We can’t rush back in and end up falling into the same patterns that broke us the first time.”
“Smart.” Gabe gave Solo the thumbs up. “Hard, but smart.”
Solo could’ve talked more, but the demands of the workday pulled them apart. She headed to her current project of a custom paint job on a restored Mustang and lost herself in the familiar rhythm of the work. But all day, her mind kept drifting back to Janie and the past two days, and to the tentative, fragile hope that they really were on a solid path to reconciliation.
Her phone buzzed with a text.Thinking about you.Can’t wait to see you tonight.
Solo grinned and typed back:Me too. I love you.
I love you too. See you at seven?
Six would be betterBut I’ll take whatever I can get.
She pocketed her phone and returned to her work, but she couldn’t stop smiling. They had the custody hearing looming, and now maybe her dad was leaving. They had the daily challenges of parenting triplets, running the business, and managing Janie’s depression, and all the other complications of life. But they had hope, and while a little of that could be a dangerous thing, maybe a truckload of it would be enough to outweigh the suffocating fear.
CHAPTER 22
The same abstractart on the walls, the same white-noise machine humming by the door, the same slightly-too-soft couch that made it hard to sit up straight. Of course none of it would have changed. But Janie could, and she had, or at least, shewaschanging. And other things had changed since their last session. Like her relationship with her wife.
It’d been five days since everything had shifted between them. Sunday had been a beautiful day with the triplets, giving Janie the chance to re-establish her connection with the girls too. Monday and Tuesday had been crazy at work as even more authors added their names and works to the class-action suit. She’d worked so late that she’d stayed at her apartment both nights, but she and Hannah had texted constantly through the days and talked on the phone for a couple of hours before bed. Work had been a convenient excuse to give Janie a little distance after the emotional maelstrom of the weekend. She wanted to be sure she really was ready to go home.
Janie glanced at Hannah sitting beside her, flicking through a gallery of car restoration photos, and touched her leg.
Hannah looked up at her immediately. “Sorry. Woody wanted me to send some of my pics for the garage website.” She dropped her phone in her lap. “Are you okay?”
Janie nodded. “I was thinking about how things have changed in the last week.”
Hannah took Janie’s hand and traced circles on the back of it with her thumb. “Good changes?” she asked, not meeting Janie’s eyes.
