Henry (The Beck Brothers) (4 page)

"I'm sorry Henry,
”
Claire whispered.

Henry shook his head
and gave her shoulders a squeeze. "It'll be okay, just go."

Claire was so relieved
that he'd taken it so well that she threw her arms around his neck and hugged
him. Henry stiffened at first, but then slipped his arms around her to give her
the comfort she needed at the moment. Claire pulled back first and looked up at
him with wide eyes, realizing what she had just done. And Henry's face was an
unreadable mask, which did not help at all.

"I...I'm...
”
Claire stuttered, not sure of
what to say. God, she felt like a fool.

"You're wasting
time, get out of here,
”
Henry said, no hint as to if he was pissed that she touched him or not.

Claire backed up a
couple steps before turning and rushed for the door. Before she got out of his
office, he called to her, "Call me later with an update!"

Claire glanced back
and nodded.
 
“
I will,
”
she said then left, practically running out of the
office to catch the bus to St. Christopher's.

                                                 
~~~~~

Henry paced in his
living room later that night. He had changed out of his suit and into
sweatpants and a t-shirt. He grabbed Chinese on his way home. He'd eaten, and
then watched the news. That had been three hours ago. Claire had yet to call,
and Henry found himself worrying over a little boy he'd never met. He was also
worried about Claire. She had been frantic earlier, obviously not having dealt
with a seriously sick child before. He was worried that she was alone and
trying to cope with this by herself. She was a single mother, but did that mean
she had no family either? He hoped not. He hoped she had someone else there
with her.

Henry had no problems
with his meeting today. Even if it would have been easier with Claire there, he
was still able to take care of everything on his own. He didn't get to the top
without doing the actual work. He wondered how long Claire would need to be out
of the office for. Henry knew kids healed fast. But how fast?

This was the one thing
he was worried about when he found out Claire was a single mother. If something
happened to her kid, she HAD to be there. There was no other parent to do it.
And she was the mother. Really, either way, she would be there. Mothers were
like that. He knew his mother was; although, she could be a bit overbearing at
times. God forbid he ever got sick, she'd come to stay with him and nurse him
back to health.

Henry stared at his
phone. Should he call Claire? He didn't want to disturb her, but he was dying
to know what was happening. And he knew he shouldn't care because she was only
an employee. Ha! Yeah, right. He needed to stop kidding himself. They had
actually become somewhat of friends, and he was starting to care about her. She
had blown past his expectations and had become invaluable to him and the
company.

Fuck it, he was going
to call her. Henry hit the pound sign then the number one on his phone to call
Claire. Yeah, she was number one on his speed dial. He called her a lot, what
of it? It was always business related.

The phone rang three
times before she picked up. Her voice was hushed as she said,
"Hello?"

Henry cursed himself;
she must have been sleeping or something. "Claire, it's Henry,
”
he murmured.

"Henry, crap,
hold on,
”
she said, still
hushed.

He heard some rustling
around, then footsteps, then the snick of a door closing.

"Hey, Henry,
sorry, I had to go out in the hall,
”
Claire said, her voice sounding weary.

"How's Ethan?
”
Henry asked, raking a hand
through his hair, as he had been doing all night.
 

"He's okay. They
did emergency surgery to take his appendix out. It hadn't ruptured yet, so that
was a relief.
”
 
Claire sighed.

Henry closed his eyes
as his own relief washed over him. "That's great."

"I'm sorry I
didn't call,
”
Claire said
softly.

"Claire, come on,
you're mind is only thinking of your son right now. I understand,
”
Henry said gently.

"Thank you Henry.
You've been really great about this,
”
Claire said.

Henry wished he could
see her face to know what she was thinking. She had gotten better about
concealing her emotions, but he could still read her with ease. "I'm not
completely heartless,
”
Henry rasped, knowing that she most likely expected him to be an asshole about
the whole thing earlier today.

"I never thought
you were Henry,
”
Claire
whispered.

Henry let that sink in
for a moment. So Claire didn't think he was a heartless asshole. Well that was
good. He was afraid he had been too hard on her. She had hugged him earlier,
even if she was scared shitless afterward. She obviously hadn't known how he
would take it. If Henry was going to be honest with himself, he enjoyed it
immensely.

"How much time
off do you need?
”
Henry
asked into the silence on the other side.

"Oh, um, if you
need me in tomorrow, my father can watch...
”
Claire started but Henry cut her off.

"Shit Claire, you
do think I'm heartless!
”
Henry snapped.

"No, I
don't..."

"Dammit! Just
tell me how long you need off for.
”
Henry ground out. He was angry. Angry at himself for making Claire think that
she had to be at work while her son was in the hospital.

If she were anyone
else, he'd be insisting that she come to work tomorrow. But he couldn't do that
to her. He didn't know why. Claire was special, and he wanted her to trust him.
He wanted her to know that she was valued, that she could take care of her son
and not worry about her job security.

"They said Ethan
will be able to go home tomorrow and should be back on his feet by the weekend,
”
Claire whispered.

"Alright, take
the rest of the week off then, with pay of course,
”
Henry said, trying to keep his cool.

Claire gasped on the
other end, making Henry's heart clench painfully. What an ass he'd been.
"Henry, are you sure? It's only Monday, I could definitely be in on
Wednesday..."

"No Claire, take
care of your son, I'll give you a call in a couple of days,
”
Henry said then hung up before
she could answer.

Henry clenched his
phone, resisting the urge to smash it against the wall. Claire was sweet and
kind and caring. She deserved to be with her son while he was recovering from
surgery. She deserved to be treated better by him. She was great at her job,
great at being a mother - from what he'd gathered so far - and she deserved to
be treated better.

                                                 
~~~~~

Thursday rolled around
and Ethan was doing really well. He took his medicine without complaint. He was
even playing around a little bit with his toys. For the most part though, he
was sitting on the couch watching
Yo Gabba Gabba
with his PopPop. Claire's father hadn't left since Ethan came home
from the hospital. He spent the past couple nights on the couch. Claire was
grateful for the company.

It was around 5:30 pm,
when there was a knock her on apartment door. Her dad looked at her, his
eyebrows raised in question. Claire shrugged, got up from the couch, and went
to the door. She looked out the peephole and got the shock of her life. Never
in a million years had she expected this person to be at her door. She yanked
it open.

"Henry? What are
you doing here?
”
Claire
asked in confusion.

Henry actually
blushed. He cleared his throat and held up the grocery bag in one hand. "I
brought dinner,
”
he said,
then held up his other hand, "and a little get-well present for
Ethan."

Claire's hand came up
to press against her heart as she fought off tears. She moved aside to let
Henry in. He stepped into the apartment but stopped just to the right of the
door. Claire closed it and took the grocery bag from Henry. He looked tense and
uneasy, like he wasn't sure if he was going to be welcome or not.

Claire turned to her
father, who had stood. "Dad, this is my boss, Henry Beck.
 
Henry, this is my father, Frank
Russell,
”
she said in
introduction.

Claire moved towards
the kitchen but watched as the two men shook hands and said hello. Henry gave
her father a tight smile while her father gave Henry a more relaxed one. Claire
put the bag on the island that separated the kitchen from the living room.
Henry's gaze landed on her son, where he sat on the couch staring at Henry.

Henry's smile softened
and his eyes warmed. Claire rolled her lips in. She wasn't completely sure why
seeing Henry soften because of her son made her want to cry, but it did. He
already amazed her by being here and bringing dinner. But now he was looking at
her son with something close to affection in his eyes, and it was doing crazy
things to her heart.

"Ethan, say hi to
mommy's boss, Henry,
”
Claire called from where she unpacked the bag that Henry brought. It was filled
with sandwiches and soups from the deli down the street that they liked.

"Hi, Henwee,
”
Ethan chirped, making the
“
r
”
in Henry's name sound like a
“
w.
”

Henry chuckled,
"Hi, Ethan."

"Why don't you
come in and take a load off, Henry,
”
Frank said, moving back to the couch, to sit down next to Ethan again.

Claire went back over
to Henry as he unbuttoned his suit jacket. He must have left work early and
came straight over. "Here, give me your jacket,
”
Claire murmured and went around behind him,
helping him shrug out of his jacket.

Claire took it and
hung it up in the coat closet. Henry muttered a "thanks" as he went
to work on his tie, pulling it down just enough to unbutton the top button of
his shirt. Henry glanced at her before moving into the living room and sitting
down on the love seat, putting him adjacent to Ethan.

"How you feeling,
buddy?
”
 
Henry asked, his voice gentle.

Ethan scrambled up to
stand on the couch and lifted his shirt to show Henry his stitches. "I got
boo boo."

Henry frowned.
"Aw, that's not so bad.
 
You
’
re tough right?"

Ethan smiled and
nodded before plopping back down on the couch. Henry smiled. Claire couldn't help
but notice how his eyes crinkled at the corners. She'd never seen him smile so
genuinely before. Apparently Henry had a soft spot. Claire never would have
guessed.

"I brought you a
little present,
”
Henry
said, holding up the gift bag.

"Me?
”
Ethan asked excitedly.

Henry nodded and
handed him the bag. Ethan grabbed the back and looked inside. He shoved both
hands inside and pulled out a one of those old-fashion looking sock monkeys.
Ethan stared at it in awe for a minute before clutching it to his chest and
hugging it.

"You like it?
”
Henry asked. Claire could hear
the hint of nervousness in his voice. She found it cute as hell, too.

Ethan nodded
furiously. "Uh huh!"

Henry smiled, and
Claire thought her knees were going to give out. She never thought he could be
more gorgeous then he already was, but when he smiled like that, he was
breathtaking.

"Ethan, what do
you say to Henry?
”
Claire
prompted the little boy clutching his new best friend.

"Tank you Henwee,
”
Ethan said sweetly to Henry.

Henry nodded.
 
"You
’
re
welcome, little man,
”
he
murmured quietly, and patted Ethan's leg.

Claire was seeing a
whole new side to Henry. She never thought he could be so sweet, caring, and
thoughtful. At work he was all about work, getting the job done, no fooling
around; he was stern and wanted shit his way. They worked well together because
Claire did everything he asked without question. He was the boss. She liked
that side of him. He was commanding; it was kinda sexy.

Now there was this
whole other side, this soft side, with smiling. Who was this Henry? Claire
found that she desperately wanted to find out. Did he secretly wish he had a
wife and kids? Normally she would answer no, but seeing how he was reacting to
Ethan, she might have to change her answer to yes.