began to take care of Adam. “Would you like coffee this morning, sir? Maybe I can make you some breakfast?”
“I’d love a coffee, Neville. And what are my breakfast options?” He glanced about. “I was hoping Sam and Haley would be back today. You know?”
Nodding, Neville responded, “You had hoped to spend your birthday with them?”
“Yeah, but I guess that’s not going to happen now.” He looked down to hide his disappointment and instead buried his head in the newspaper. That should occupy him for a few hours. Then he just had to figure out how to occupy all of his time after lunch. “Maybe I’ll go out tonight,” he mused aloud.
“Will you need me to drive you later?” Neville asked calmly.
“I’ll let you know once I decide what to do,” he replied, already lost in thought. And before Neville had left the room, Adam was already focused elsewhere.
While in the garage, Neville called Mr. Davenport. After two short rings he answered. “Sir, your brother has suggested that he might go out tonight.”
“Ah, is he pouting over his birthday already?” Samuel laughed. “Thirty is no big deal. Of course, it does mean losing that Peter Pan complex he perfected.” He was leaning back on Adam’s sofa, looking out the enormous windows and admiring the view while Haley let the caterers in.
“Not exactly, but I do think he expected that you would be home for his birthday,” Neville remarked.
“Don’t worry. As soon as we get everything organized here, we’ll be home to take him off your hands. Just don’t let him leave before then.” Sam ended the conversation and ended the call while Neville pondered how on earth he was going to do that.
Adam decided to kick back in the study and enjoy the fire that Neville had started as the sun began to go down. It was another gray dreary November day where the seasons in New York City kept switching back and forth. One moment he would swear it was winter, with the frost on the ground, the flakes falling from the sky. The next moment it was a bit warmer and the last of the leaves was falling. He couldn’t think of any place that he would rather be. Haley had made this house a home.
Sighing, he called Sam’s cell. It was the fifth time he had attempted to reach him since he woke up. And still his brother had yet to answer. They should be home with him. And if they weren’t here, since they seemed to be here less and less, maybe he should find a place to spend the evening and someone warm and inviting to spend the evening with.
He began scrolling through his contacts and soon one thing became abundantly clear. He had no real friends. How was that possible? How could he be thirty years old and have no real friends? Adam sat up straighter in his seat, and then leaned on his legs as he looked through them more slowly. Nope. Not a one. He had friends from school that he had hung around, and friends from clubs, and friends that were really nothing more than acquaintances. There were people that he would call to party with, find out what the current meeting place was, but he really had no relationships of substance save that of the one with his brother. And now his brother was practically married. There was no way that they could be buddy-buddy like he needed.
Well, there was no time like the present to make the change. He could make sure that thirty was his best year yet, if he could just figure out how. And he leaned back and plopped his feet on the coffee table to think about it.
Sam and Haley walked into the study just before six that evening. Haley plopped down on the couch in front of Adam. Her eyes were sparkling and he could read excitement all over her face. Doing a quick scan, he realized that she still wasn’t wearing the Davenport Diamonds, so Sam hadn’t popped the question.
“What has you so happy, sunshine?” He asked her with a smile. Haley’s happiness tended to be contagious. She was so vivacious. No wonder his brother couldn’t stand to be away from her.
Sam sat next to her on the couch and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. Like they had been doing it for years instead of months, they melted into each other, one simply becoming an extension of the other. And Adam marveled