“How long ago did you lose him?”
“Graham and I lost him four years ago. A strangely coincidental thing about my little boy and Zac’s is that I also named my son Malcolm. It’s a strong, Scottish first name and that’s why I chose it.”
“That’s why Zac chose it for his son, too.”
8
#boundaries
Stevie
“I WANTED TOgive you a quick call to let you know I’m about to get on the road and head your way!” my dad said.
“Sounds great! Be very careful and I’ll see you around seven.”
“Okay. I love you.”
“Love you too.”
My wonderful dad, Steven Sinclair, was driving up from Austin today to see me and he was going to spend the night. It was Friday afternoon and my second full week at my new job was coming to a close in less than an hour.
The court case that I was supposed to go up against Zac on had been rescheduled due to Zac’s client having some kind of health issue that landed him in the hospital the day before court. Conveniently. I’d witnessed other defendants pulling stunts like that to get out of having to face the karma of their illegal actions. Zac’s client had bought himself some time, but it wasn’t going to change one thing about the case. The asshole was still going to have to face the music for the abuse that he did to his little boy. I was determined to make it happen.
Earlier today, Brooke invited me to join her and my teammates at Mystic Bar after work again. Because of myplans with my dad, I had to turn down her invitation, which she completely understood. I would’ve gone, though, if I didn’t already have plans. I very much enjoyed the new group of people around me, which included Zac and his friend Bash. If I had to guess, both of them were going to be at the bar this evening—Zac sipping on another Hendricks and tonic and possibly enjoying another Mystic burger and curly fries while Bash sucked down the frozen margaritas and munched on a plate of beef fajita nachos.
Zac and Bash were funny together and appeared to have been best friends for a long time. While Zac was clearly over six feet tall, with a slender yet muscular build and lighter features, Bash was maybe five feet ten, stocky, and had wavy brown hair, plus brown puppy dog eyes. He was so cute and Zac was—well, attractive was an understatement. I hadn’t seen either man since I’d met them last Friday. I’d thought I might run into at least one of them while taking care of my other cases at the courthouse this week, but that didn’t happen. I’d also thought I might see Zac at the running trail since I’d been out there three different times. That didn’t happen either, though.
I hadn’t been able to get my mind off everything that Brooke had told me about him and his home life with his wife, Avery, and little boy, Malcolm. Like Brooke and Bash, I felt sorry for Zac and I also respected him. Tremendously. I understood the catch-22 that he was caught up in and it was a hell of a thing for him to have to shoulder.
I needed to stop by Whole Foods after work to pick up some groceries for dinner with my dad this evening. I planned to cook some salmon fillets, make a salad, and bake some garlic bread. Dessert was going to be my dad’s favorite: key lime pie. I was so excited about him coming to see me this soon. I’d thought it was going to be at least a month. Although he and I regularly talkedon the phone and texted each other, it just wasn’t the same as being able to see his face and hug his neck.
At Whole Foods, I found everything that I needed to make dinner and dessert, and as I was walking up to one of the checkout lines, I found something that I didn’t need but wanted. I couldn’t resist getting them because they reminded me of my mom. She loved all kinds of flowers, but Galaxy orchids were her favorite and the bouquet that I was holding had them. The orchids’ blue-purple color was so pretty and went perfectly with the white Calla lilies.
I was walking across the parking lot when I heard someone call out my name. I looked to my left and as soon as I saw who it was, I smiled.
“Hey, Zac! How are you?” I said as he was approaching me.
He didn’t have on a tailored suit, white-collared shirt, tie or dress shoes like he did last Friday at Mystic Bar. Today, he was wearing something similar to what I’d seen him wearing on the running trail that first time: a tank top, shorts, and Asics running shoes. Also like before, he had earbuds but this time they were hanging loose around his neck.
“I’m doing well. How about yourself?” he asked, reaching out his hand to shake mine.
“I’m doing well too. Did you get off work early?”
“Yes, I worked for only half a day. Met with some new clients. No court appearances, though.”
“That explains why you’re wearing your running attire instead of your professional attire at…”
I started to check my cellphone for the time and realized Zac’s long, warm fingers were still wrapped around my hand and my fingers were still wrapped around his hand. Zac also realized what we were doing, and then we slowly let go of each other. The shy smile on his face mirrored mine and so did the quiet deep breath that he took. We’d done it again. Just like when wefirst met, we immediately got caught up in our conversation and didn’t realize we were still touching.
I cleared my throat and then pulled my cellphone out of my pocket to see what time it was. “Um, five-forty in the afternoon,” I said, looking back up at Zac.
“Yeah, I just finished taking a run. It felt great too. Always a stress reliever.”
“It certainly is.”
I pushed the button on my key fob to open the hatch on the back of my car and then Zac asked me if I had weekend plans.
“Yes. Actually, unexpected plans. My dad surprised me by calling me early this morning and asking if I wouldn’t mind him driving up from Austin to come to see me. He’s on his way here as you and I speak, and it’s gonna be the first time I’ve seen him since I moved to Dallas. I’m really excited.”