“There’s nothing wrong with your reputation,” he said firmly. “People’s opinions about the decision you made for your own health aren’t worth a sack of old shit.”

I reluctantly looked back up at him. “I know. But what the hell else am I doing?”

As soon as the words were out, I wanted to snatch them back. They were embarrassing.

But Rowan’s reaction was to beam at me like he had life-changing news. “I wanted to wait a few more weeks, especially since you’ve got a lot going on, but…I’ve been talking with my director. I think you’d be a good fit here.” He tapped the top of one of the boxes filled with produce. “I want to hire you to run the senior food program.”

My jaw dropped. “Are you serious?”

“As a heart attack, big guy.”

I coughed into my fist. “Sorry, I wasn’t expecting you to say that.”

Rowan leaned forward in his chair. “I don’t need to tell you why getting food to these folks is so important. You and I see it every day. But this program can’t be the ugly stepkid of everything we do at the rec center. We need to hire a paid person to run it, smooth out the logistics, expand it. I think it could be you.”

I swallowed hard, thinking about Eddie. “What do I know about running a food program? I’m a boxer.”

He held out his hand, ticking off fingers. “Would you say sparring with someone in the ring is stressful?”

“Uh…yeah,” I said sardonically.

“Have you had to manage your time, going to early practices and traveling and touring and shit?”

I nodded but didn’t see his point.

“Can you or can you not think on your feet?”

“That’s literally what a boxer does, but why would that—”

“Dean,” he said, interrupting me. “You’ve spent the past three years fixing up leaky pipes for people like Edna Kozlowski. You know our neighbors. You talk to ’em. They trust you enough to let you into their houses. Most importantly, into their kitchens.”

I jiggled my knee up and down. “Edna didn’t have any food in her fridge when I fixed it for her.”

His face softened. “That’s what I’m saying. She deserves to have a full fridge, yeah? That’s the job I think you could do. And do well. Plus, you and I would get to work together at a place that made us who we are. I know its bad timing, coming to you with a chance to work here when you’ve got your agent coming to you with a huge opportunity.” Rowan tore open a bag of carrots and began organizing them into boxes. “But I don’t want you to think there isn’t a place for you here. Because there is.”