Page 120 of When We Were Young

“It’s not pawning him off. It’s giving me an opportunity to spend one-on-one time with him. Maybe even take him fishing on Saturday morning. I’ve been promising him that, and we’re running out of time before it turns too cold.”

“You don’t have kids. It might be too much for you.”

“I want you and Simon for the long term, so it’s a good chance for me to practice taking care of him. Plus, it gives me an opportunity to show you that you can trust me with the person most precious to you.”

She scoots her chair back and stands.

“I need a few minutes to think. I’ll be back. Okay?” I nod, and she’s gone faster than I thought she could move. Everything in me wants to follow her, but I know that’s not what she needs right now.

Still, I’ll watch the time, and if it’s too long, I’ll go and find her to see if she needs me.

In the meantime, I shoot out some text messages.

Thirty-five minutes later, I’m done with most of my communications and sitting on the couch in Lizette’s living room.It’s time to look for her.

I don’t find her in the kitchen or the bakery, so I walk over to the event space. I stop when I see her. She’s there, with her head down on the table and her eyes closed, used tissues lying scattered on the table and floor around her.

Good. She finally let herself cry.

From what I can see, it appears she fell asleep, which is also probably good.

I’m not as quiet as I meant to be, and she startles.

“I wasn’t sleeping.”

A mild, amused chuckle escapes my lips as I pull out a chair and sit next to her. There’s no doubt she was sleeping.

“While you were not sleeping, I took care of some things and got some plans lined up.”

“Holden—”

“Please, hear me out. I promise, this is a solid plan.” I take her silence as agreement to listen. “So, Hayden and I will do the bachelorette party as planned. Georgie will help us set up and Delaney and Tillie will be on deck in case we need any help.”

“While we’re doing that, Ruthie and Lester will be upstairs with Layla, Lena, and Simon, watching them.”

“Then, after that’s all over, I’ll stay at your house. Simon doesn’t have to leave his home and can sleep in his own bed.”

Lizette nibbles at her lower lip and scratches one of her fingernails with another.

“We’ll rise in the morning, and I’ll get the shop ready, then Ruthie and my mom will take turns running it. My mom is going to prepare some bakery items ahead of time and some the morning of.”

I pause but she doesn’t speak yet, so I continue.

“On Saturday morning, Lester and I are going to take Simon fishing. And then you’ll be home that afternoon. Everything’s going to be fine.”

“Holden, I can’t ask you to do that. I can’t ask any of them to do that.”

There’s anxiety in her voice, which I expected.

“You’re not asking me. Any of us.”

I cup her cheeks in my hands. “Give me a chance. Give me a chance to help you with this.”

She ponders it for a minute or two before I get an answer.

“I need to think about it longer. Maybe a couple of hours, and I’ll let you know. That’ll still be time to buy the flights.”

I’m a little disappointed she didn’t agree right away, but I don’t want to push her.