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to the
apartment. It was huge. Vast. And for some reason felt emptier than before.
    All
of Josh’s clothes were gone.
    Josh
was gone.
    Now
she and Logan had to fill this huge space on their own.
    Since
she didn’t want to spend the evening depressed, she called a couple of friends
as she fed Logan. Then she ate and decided to spend the evening reading in bed.
    After
a while, she started to lose her concentration, thinking about how lonely her
big bed was without Josh, but then her phone rang.
    “Just
checking to see if your ringer was on,” Adam said at her greeting.
    “Has
anyone ever told you you’re kind of obnoxious?”
    He
actually chuckled. She almost never heard him laugh anymore. “You might be the
first.”

Four
     
    Zoe glanced over
into the living area where Logan was playing on the floor with his animal
tabletop. When she saw her son was still happily engaged, she shifted her eyes
back to Adam, who sat across from her at the table.
    “So
what do you think, Zoe?” he asked.
    She
sighed, staring down at the documents laid out on the table in front of her. “I
don’t know. I guess it makes sense. My lawyer says it’s the right thing.
Michael says it’s the right thing. Everyone says it’s the right thing.”
    “But?”
    “I
just don’t know what Josh would have wanted.”
    Adam
just sat in silence, looking at her. He was still wearing a business suit,
since he’d come over to her place right after work so they finalize the
paperwork for Byte Tech.
    Something
about his steady, dark gaze made her uncomfortable.
    She
knew him better than she had a month ago at Josh’s funeral. She knew he’d loved
his cousin. She knew he wasn’t trying to hurt or take advantage of her. She
knew he was trying to help.
    But
he still seemed to have so many layers—layers that Josh had never had. There
was so much about Adam she still didn’t know.
    “Did
he ever say anything to you?” Zoe asked, suddenly convinced Adam was holding
something back.
    His
eyes didn’t waver, but she saw him swallow.
    “Adam,
did he say something to you about what he wanted?”
    “We
did have one conversation.”
    “When?”
    “A
couple of weeks before he died.”
    “Why
didn’t you tell me? I’ve been torn up over this decision, and the whole time
you knew what he wanted?”
    “Would
you have believed me if I’d told you this a month ago?”
    All
of Zoe’s brewing angst collapsed into exhaustion. She hunched forward and
rubbed her face. “No. Probably not. I’m sorry. So what did he say?”
    “He
didn’t give me any specifics. He just asked me to take care of things—make sure
the company didn’t fall apart.” Adam met her eyes again. “That’s what I’m
trying to do.”
    “I
know you are.” She didn’t always like or understand Adam, but she realized he
was genuinely trying to do what was best. “Thank you.”
    They
sat for a minute at the table, neither talking. The only sounds in the room
were Logan’s little grunts and babbles as he played.
    Finally,
Zoe asked, “So you think this is the best option?”
    “I
do.”
    She
nodded, resolved to do what everyone told her was best. If it meant that she
would have to work more closely with Adam than she’d ever intended, then she
would deal with it. “Okay. Let’s do it.”
    Without
comment, Adam removed the cover sheet and slid a set of documents over to her.
They’d all been prepared, little sticky tabs on the places she needed to sign.
    She
started to read through the documents, as carefully as she could, relieved that
Adam didn’t seem to be watching her.
    She
was on the third page when Adam said, surprise evident in his voice, “Look at
Logan.”
    Zoe
whirled around toward the living area. Logan was using his tabletop for support
and pushing himself up on his feet, his little knees bent. As they watched, he
lost his balance and landed with a grunt on his diapered bottom.
    With
a smile, Zoe said, “Yeah. He likes to try. Sometimes, he can hold himself