Bittersweet by Noelle Adams Read Free Book Online Page A

lowering herself onto the couch with Logan in
her lap. “I’m sure you just planned to stop by for a few minutes.”
    “I
told you,” Adam said, looking up with a vaguely impatient expression she
recognized, “I didn’t have any plans today.”
    “Oh.
Okay. Good.” She made a few faces at Logan, who giggled, and then let him stand
up in her lap. “Thanks for hanging out with us.”
    He
just gave a half-shrug and didn’t answer.
    An
idea hit her suddenly, and she asked the question before she could think it
through. “Did you and Josh talk about more than Byte Tech?”
    “What
do you mean?”
    “I
mean, when you talked to him before he died, did you talk about more than just
his company?”
    Adam
looked away from her.
    “Adam,
tell me.”
    Logan
babbled out some sounds, a few closely resembling “mama.” She couldn’t tell
whether he connected the sounds to her or not, but she liked to think he did.
    Not
letting herself get distracted, she prompted, “Adam?”
    “He
asked me to take care of you and Logan.”
    It
felt like Zoe’s heart dropped into her gut. “ What ?”
    Adam
made a faint gesture with his hands, almost in surrender. “He asked me to take
care of you. Make sure you both were all right.”
    “But
why…I didn’t think he…” She trailed off, not wanting to say the words that
might hurt Adam’s feelings.
    He
said them. “You didn’t think he trusted me? He didn’t always. Not fully. I was
a Peterson and he never trusted that. But I think he was starting to trust me at
the end.”
    It
felt like there was more to say, but Adam had evidently finished. He sat and
stared out the window at the cityscape lit against the evening sky.
    Logan
did a few knee bends, laughing as she helped him stand up in her lap.
    Zoe
wanted to say something, but she wasn’t sure what to say. She wasn’t even sure
how to feel. Part of her was glad that Josh has resolved things—at least to a
certain extent—with Adam before he died. But she felt weird about his asking Adam
to take care of them.
    “Logan
and I are all right,” she said at last. “We don’t need taking care of.”
    When
Adam didn’t answer, she was afraid she’d offended him. “Thanks, though,” she
added. “I know Josh would…would appreciate it.”
    “What
else would I do?” Adam asked, his voice low and soft.
    She
wasn’t quite sure what he meant.
    “Josh
was my family,” Adam explained, his eyes not quite meeting hers. “Since my
grandfather died, he was all the family I had left. Of course, I’m going to do
what he wanted me to do.”
    Zoe’s
chest ached, for Adam as much as for her. Although his words were bland,
matter-of-fact, something about them sounded as lonely as she felt herself.
    Finally,
she said, “He wasn’t all the family you had. Logan is your family.” She turned
Logan around so he could look at Adam. Intrigued by this new game, Logan
babbled and laughed and did a few more knee bends.
    Adam’s
mouth turned up at the corner.
    “Say
hi to your Uncle Adam,” Zoe said, trying to shift the poignant mood. “That's
your Uncle Adam.”
    “Lala,”
Logan babbled, grinning and looking between Zoe and Adam.
    Zoe
chuckled. “That’s right. He’s your Uncle Lala.”
    “Do
not encourage him,” Adam gritted out, a vaguely appalled expression on his face
as he heard what might become his new name.
    Trying
to suppress her giggles, Zoe managed to keep a mostly straight face and said
again, “Uncle Lala.”
    “Lala!”
Logan echoed with a huge grin. “Lala!”
    Adam
groaned, and Zoe laughed.
    Adam
left shortly afterwards, but he seemed to be in a decent mood as he did so. She
was pleased with her attempts to draw him out—especially after he’d been so
good to her.
    As
she nursed Logan before bedtime, she decided she was all right with her
connection to Adam. She didn’t like to be anyone’s duty, but she couldn’t help
but respect and appreciate Adam for trying to fulfill Josh’s trust.
    She
was