Page 15

“What can I do for you, boss?” he asked, seemingly out of breath.

“Are you being held hostage in there or something?”

I heard a soft giggle come from the office that definitely wasn’t from him. I raised a brow and kept my stare trained on Lexington. After a beat, he let out a defeated sigh and stepped to the side, opening the door fully.

Each of the offices was decorated by us, for us. Jackie had dark green walls, Oliver had a wall of books and a tub of toys, I had a comfortable couch that I could admit I napped on at least once a week, and it was Lexington’s I had spent the least time in. His walls were a deep, warm grey, with a large desk on the back wall and a series of shelves that were messily cluttered behind him. He had a coat rack in one corner and a small table that held, oddly enough, a record player. He had one playing softly, adding an ambiance to the room. While I hadn’t been in here much, it was all that I expected to see.

What I hadn’t been expecting was the little boy sitting cross-legged on the ground, a stuffed animal wrapped in his arms and a grin reaching cheek to cheek.

“I can totally explain,” Lexington began to defend, and I chose to ignore him altogether.

I stepped by him, moving to River and plopping down on the floor with him. We weren’t on the hardwood floors that filled the office, but a soft cream rug that I had a feeling only existed for this purpose. It did make me wonder just how many times this kid had been in here without me realizing.

River was his dad’s tiny carbon copy. I wasn’t sure what his mom looked like, barely remembering her from our one interaction, but it was obvious her genes were nowhere to be found. His jade-green eyes held an innocence only a four-year-old could, his matching dimple with his dad on display as he gave me a toothy grin.

“I’m Goldie,” I greeted. I wasn’t the best with kids, but I had a general understanding of how to talk to one.

River’s face turned confused. “That’s a color.”

“You’re thinking of gold, or Golden,” I corrected, which was probably useless. I mean… he was four. “What are you doing over here?”

“Goldie—” Lexington tried to begin, but I shot him a glare that shut him up quickly.

“It’s rude to interrupt a conversation, Lexington,” I mocked, and oddly enough, River snickered. While he probably didn’t understand the sarcasm lacing my tone, his dad's shocked expression was enough to nearly draw a laugh from my lips. I turned back to River. “What’s your name, kid?”

I knew his name, but I had never been properly introduced. I often thought about how odd it must be to a kid when the world is happening around you and you’re so rarely clued in. So yes, I knew his name, but I didn’t know him, and he didn’t know me.

He smiled wide, his gaze now solely stuck on mine. “My name is River, like the water. Right, Daddy?”

Lexington huffed a laugh and moved to sit by us, still casting me apprehensive glances. “That it is, little man.” He used his long arms to reach behind River, grabbing a small backpack and pulling out a coloring book and some markers. “How about you draw for a minute while I talk to Goldie?”

“Goldie Girl,” River corrected, seemingly out of the blue, and took the coloring book and markers without complaint.

I turned to Lexington, leaning back on my hands, my legs still crossed in front of me. “I believe you have some explaining to do.”

He sighed deeply, his feet flat on the floor, his knees bent, and his arms resting on top. “It was a rough morning,” he explained in a low tone. “I’m sorry if I broke some sort of rule. I just didn’t know what else to do.”

“You can always bring him here,” I interrupted. “Oliver brings his kids all the time. As long as it doesn’t impede your work too much, I don’t care. Did you really think I would?”

It hurt to know he thought so little of me. I swallowed down my pride. I didn’t have to like him, but I could be kind, and I had been greatly lacking that of late.

Lexington let out a bone-weary sigh. “Not really. I… I just don’t want to make you think I’m bad at this or something.”

“At your job or being a dad?” The words fell from me before I could stop myself. I winced when I realized how personal of a question it was, but I couldn’t bring myself to take them back.

“Both,” he confessed quietly.

“You know, I think about that day River was dropped off here a lot,” I confessed. I remembered that day—the whole week for a plethora of reasons—but River was the only part I was willing to confess right now.

It had been a perfectly normal Thursday in the office when the front bell rang. I wandered out of my office, expecting a delivery or a door-to-door salesman. Hell, one of those Mormon missionaries would have been a guess before what I was actually faced with. What I walked into was a tired woman holding a sleepy baby in her arms. She seemed ecstatic to see me and asked if I could hold her son for a moment while she grabbed a letter she needed to deliver. I agreed, taking him into my arms while the letter was set on the entryway desk, and she all but bolted out of the doors.

“You mean when Miley abandoned…” he paused and motioned with his head to River, “…with nothing but a blanket and a half-assed apology scrawled on a note.”

I nodded. “I also remember you in complete shock.”

He laughed without humor. “Wouldn’t you be if someone dropped off your surprise kid at your workplace without a word and quite literally ran away?”

“Have you seen her since?” I asked warily.