Alex blew out a shaky breath. I felt guilty for dumping all of this on him, but it also felt like a weight had been lifted off my shoulders through sharing it.
“Fuck me, Carter. I’m so sorry you went through that. I’m sorry Naomi did, too.”
“She saved my life, Alex. Without her, I’d have gone through with my plan, and I know that for a fact.”
“So, what’s tearing you up inside now? Are you starting to feel the same way that you did back then?”
I snorted. “No, far from it. The anniversary of her brother and sister-in-law, Shanti’s parents, deaths are coming up, so I decided to do something for her. I just don’t know if it’s the right thing to do.”
Pulling up in front of the station, Alex cut the engine and turned to look at me. “You knew her brother?”
“Yeah. I’m two years older than Naomi, and I was two years younger than her brother, but we played on the same basketball team in high school. I knew the guy well because he tutored me in math to earn money to feed his sister. Callum was fucking awesome.”
“Wait, how does Shanti know you knew her dad?” He’d been there when I’d gone to Garrett and Tamsin’s house, shortly after I’d moved here. Shanti had recognized me, but we’d never explained to anyone how and why.
After it, I’d spent time with Naomi at work, doing my best to let her know I was here for her and Shanti, but it hadn’t been until I’d gone over to help them out and had seen Shanti’s room that I’d understood how the little girl had known I knew her dad.
“Naomi has photos of Callum and Chastity—Shanti’s mom—on her bedroom walls. A lot of them are ones from high school that she’s cropped, so it’s just Callum in them. Well, he’s the main focus. But I’m in quite a lot of them because they’re team photos of us, so she recognizes me from them.”
Rubbing my hand down his jaw, Alex huffed out a laugh. “Holy shit, what a small world.”
“Right?”
The humor dropped from his face as he asked the next question. “What’s your intentions when it comes to Naomi? You know she comes with a child and that her and Shanti are a package deal—”
“Oh, I know that, and I wouldn’t have it any other way,” I snapped, glaring at him.
“I didn’t mean anything by it. I’m just speaking as someone who was and still is a single parent. DB might be all grown up, but he’s still part of the package that I bring to the table. Some people think they can handle it but raising a kid that’s not your own isn’t a small task to undertake, Carter. Naomi’s her aunt, but she’s the only living thing she has left of her brother, so it’s a no-brainer for her to raise Shanti.
“But it’s far different for someone to want Naomi in their life and to join in on raising a kid that’s not theirs. Do you see what I mean?”
Copying how he was sitting, I shifted to face my friend and colleague.
“Let me ask you this, then. Do you understand the same when it comes to Evita Edwards and Cody Walters? I saw you with the boy yesterday and how you were with her when she got to the ER.
“There’s something there you’re not sure of, and as a single parent yourself, do you understand the impact even the slightest bit of attention from you has on both of them? I don’t know the history with the kid’s dad, but he soaks up everything you give him. Do you see what I mean?”
Maybe turning the focus onto his situation would help him understand how seriously I was taking my own with Naomi and Shanti. They both trusted me now, and I cared about them deeply, so there was no way I’d mess around with either of their feelings.
“I do. I’ve no intentions of making promises I can’t keep and fucking with their hearts and minds.”
Seeing that he understood where I was coming from, I nodded and replied, “Then you’ll understand when I say—same here. Naomi and Shanti are very serious topics for me.”
There was silence while we both stewed over our situations.
“So, what have you done for Naomi to help her through the anniversary?”
It took me a moment to understand what he was asking, but then I remembered telling him the anniversary was coming up. Having lost his wife, Alex would understand the weight the day would put on Naomi’s shoulders.
“I never ate the Blow Pop. I put it in a box with my parents’ wedding rings and some other stuff in it, and I’ve kept it safe ever since. Last week I took it to the framing store in Palmerstown, and the guy’s mounting it and putting it one of those box frames.”