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couldn’t figure out if it was surprise, amusement, or
annoyance. “I’ll restrain my bossy tendencies for the greater good.”
    To
her surprise, Adam actually did help. Not just with the practical matters, sorting
and folding the clothes, but with the harder task of deciding what to keep and
what to give away.
    She
kept a few things, like his sport coat, but there was absolutely no reason for
her to keep twenty-three pairs of men’s jeans, just because they had been Josh’s.
    Adam
was surprisingly easy to work with. His attitude was matter-of-fact and
neutral, which helped Zoe control her emotions, and he seemed to know what
questions to ask in order to determine whether something was worth keeping or
not.
    They
managed to get through most of the clothes before Zoe would have thought it was
possible.
    At
the back of the closet, Zoe pulled out a leather jacket. She recognized it,
although Josh hadn’t worn it since they’d been married. It was the jacket he’d
worn when he was in high school and college.
    She
pulled it off the hanger and shook it out, turning around to say something
about it to Adam. When she saw his face, she stopped short.
    Adam
stared at the jacket, his expression almost frozen. There was an ache in his
eyes she recognized, an ache she’d felt so often herself.
    That
was when she realized something she hadn’t known before. Adam grieved for his cousin.
He’d cared about him. He was sad that Josh was no longer in the world. The
leather jacket, which held little emotional resonance for Zoe, evidently held a
lot for Adam.
    His
expression made her own chest hurt, and she had to swallow over a lump in her
throat to say, “Did you…did you want to have this?” She held the jacket out to
him hesitantly.
    “You’ll
want to keep it, won’t you?”
    “Not
really. This was before my time with him. It doesn’t mean that much to me. But
I think it meant a lot to him.” She ran her hands over the soft leather. “And I
think he’d like for you to have it.”
    This
time, Adam accepted the jacket when she extended it to him. “If you’re sure,”
he murmured, lowering his brow and studying her carefully.
    “Yeah.
I’m sure.”
    They
stood in the closet across from each other for an uncomfortably long time. They
weren’t really looking at each other, but Zoe was acutely aware of Adam, like
he was more of a person to her now than he’d been even this morning.
    Finally,
she managed to clear her throat. “Well, I think we’re almost done. Thanks for
your help.”
    “Of
course. Do you want me to carry these down and take them to wherever you’d like
to donate them?”
    She
started to object—more out of habit than anything else—but then she realized
that would be ridiculous. “Sure. Thanks.”
    Adam
actually looked a little surprised before he managed to hide the expression, but
he didn’t say anything. In a couple of trips, they managed to get all of the
clothes down to his car.
    When
the last bag had made it into the trunk, Zoe stood in front of Adam on the sidewalk,
holding Logan. “Thanks for your help.”
    “You’re
welcome.”
    It
felt like he was waiting for something, but she had no idea what it might be.
She patted Logan on the back and felt a little uncertain.
    For
the last few years, she’d grown used to Adam being professional and distant. But
he seemed more like the guy she used to have lunch with just now. And maybe a
little lost.
    Since
Josh had died, she’d been lost herself, so there wasn’t anything she could do
about that recognition in Adam. It made her feel kind of strange, though—unsettled
and disoriented.
    “All
right,” she said. “Well…”
    “Well,”
Adam repeated, “I’ll be in touch with some options for Byte Tech. The decision
is entirely yours.”
    “Okay.
I’ll be around. And I’ll try to keep my ringer on.”
    Adam
smiled back, his expression almost poignant. “Good.”
    When
he got into the car and it pulled away, Zoe carried Logan back up