"So you're telling me that you and my mother are not together?" Whitney perched her hands on her hips.
"That's exactly what I'm telling you." Julian swallowed a lump in his throat as he looked at Eve. "Your mother needs some time to herself."
Whitney's eyes flew to Eve. "Is this true, Mom?"
"Yes, it is. My marriage to your father may not be working anymore, but he was right—I need to figure out who I am and what I want for myself." Her voice thickening with emotion, Eve blinked back tears. "As much as I care for Julian, I can only do this on my own—and he's been loving enough to respect that."
"I would do anything for you, Eve," Julian said. "I would walk to the ends of the earth and back."
"I know you would." Eve choked up. "And I love you for it, Julian."
Whitney studied both of them. "If you're giving my mother some space," she asked, her eyes narrowing on Julian, "then why are you here?"
Julian's gaze remained locked on Eve. "I'm here to talk to Ethan."
Ethan glanced at Theresa and Chad. "Theresa and I were about to head out."
"This won't take long." His eyes still fixed on Eve, Julian cleared his throat and motioned to a nearby table. "Ethan, I have a business proposition for you."
Ethan glanced over at Whitney and Eve. "You sure know how to make an entrance, Fath . . ." Ethan's eyes darted to Julian's. "I'm sorry. It's still hard for me to get used to calling you anything but that."
"Please don't be sorry." Julian bowed his head. "I never should have let you stop calling me 'Father.'" Julian looked up at Ethan. "We may not be related by blood, but you were my son in every other sense of the word."
Ethan shifted on his feet; his eyes fell to the floor.
Julian's heartbeat accelerated.
He could do this.
Gathering himself together, Julian took a deep breath in. "I want you to come back to Crane Industries. If you want your old job back, it's yours."
Ethan looked up.
An invisible hand gripped Julian's airways; his left eye began to twitch.
Ethan furrowed his brow. "Is this about some unfinished project?"
"Absolutely not," Julian insisted. "It's just that . . . well . . . the job always should have been yours—and I'd like for us to work side by side again. Like we should have done as father and son."
"Like father and son?" Ethan repeated.
"Yes." Julian filled his lungs with air. "I realize that Sam Bennett is your actual father, and I'm not trying to interfere with that. I would just like for us to still work together—to have some sort of relationship."
"I . . . I don't know what to say," Ethan stammered.
"I understand." Bowing his head, Julian peeked up at Ethan. "I was just hoping that you'd think about it."
A few moments of silence passed.
"Okay—I will." Ethan fixed his eyes on his former father's. "Thank you, Julian."
Eve's heart ached as she watched Julian with Ethan.
What she wouldn't give to be in Julian's arms right now. To lose herself in the comfort of his embrace.
But if she did that, it would be too easy to let him assure her that everything would be all right—to not take a stand for herself and do the things she needed to do.
"Why don't you just go to him?" Whitney's voice filled with accusation. "We both know you want to."
Eve choked back a sob. Blinking back tears, she turned to Whitney. "I'm here because I want to talk to you."
"So you really didn't know he was going to be here?" Whitney raised her brows.
Eve's voice quieted. "No, Whitney, I didn't."
"Well, I'm here." Whitney folded her arms in front of her chest. "What did you want to talk to me about, Mom?"
Eve steeled herself. "Whitney, I know I've done you a disservice by keeping my past from you. I didn't have the courage to be me or to stand up for the things I wanted. When it came to teaching you to be your own person—I didn't set a good example for you."
"You could say that you were being somewhat of a hypocrite," Whitney said, "with the way you were always harping on Simone and me to stay out of trouble."
"Yes, you could." Eve choked back tears. "I'm sorry, Whitney. I'm sorry from the depths of my heart."
"Why should I believe you, Mom?"
"I suppose I haven't given you any reason to," Eve said. "All I'm asking is that you think about it. Think about it and know that I love you no matter what—no matter how you feel about me."
