Ethan almost choked and replied awkwardly, “She is my boss.”
Avery looked surprised and asked, “The one in charge?”
Rachel laughed in a way Ethan had never heard before and said, “More or less.”
“You do not look like a boss, you seem nice,” Avery added honestly.
Ethan felt embarrassed and said, “Avery, please.”
“Let her speak,” Rachel said while looking toward the ocean, “kids usually say what adults are afraid to admit.”
Then without turning toward him, she added quietly, “Everyone at the office thinks I am cold, but no one asks what had to happen to make someone that way.”
Ethan stayed silent because he did not know if she was warning him or opening up to him.
Rachel lowered her voice and said, “I lost my husband five years ago.”
Ethan turned quickly and said, “I am sorry, I did not know.”
“Nobody knows,” she replied, “and I do not try to explain it, because people expect you to smile instead of admitting you are still broken.”
Ethan swallowed and answered, “My wife died in a car accident coming back from Tampa, Avery was only four years old.”
Rachel looked at him differently then, without authority or distance, as if she finally saw him clearly for the first time.