“I do?” Sherry asked, turning her head quickly. “You really think so?” She still envisioned herself as the woman working at various bars throughout her early twenties. If a guy was looking to have a fun time, she was available and ready to go. Hooking up with a guy from Chicago only visiting for the night was better than getting with a local guy who might be a little too clingy and be looking to settle down.
“Hell yeah,” Darren said, staring out at a dog jumping to catch a Frisbee. “My mom and aunt liked you...if that means anything to you.”
Sherry laughed out loud. She imagined Darren’s mother Joan walking down the walkway and out to the street sidewalk. Just before she’d gone upstairs with Gabriel after standing in the shadows of the foyer and staring out the window, she imaged a much more toned-down version of Cruella Deville.
“Your mother was….was… She’s interesting.”
Darren’s eyes cut to Sherry. “Is that how you would describe her?” His head shook. “There’s a lot of ways to describe her. She was going to stay longer, like she talked about weeks ago, but she has her corruption to get back to, so she has to run.”
A giggle slipped out of Sherry’s mouth. “Darren, you don’t have to say that.”
“What?” Darren asked, holding his hands up. “It’s the truth.” He chuckled. “But, that’s Mom. She wants me to join one of the older churches.”
“Really?” Sherry asked. “Um, your mom didn’t exactly seem like a church-going kind of l
ady. No offense…”
Darren dismissively waved away the subject. “She’s not. She just wants me to go so I can make certain kinds of connections. Growing up, she always told us that church was the best place to find old money.”
Sherry’s face fell flat from disbelief. “You can’t be serious.” At that very moment, she realized how small-town-from-Indiana she really was. She shook her head, snickering. “That is...is...”
“My mother,” Darren said, confidently. “Yup, that’s Mommy. She’s off to do something about a judge’s case then defend some prosecutor’s drunk driving daughter so she can get some favors done for my dad.”
“What in the world?” Sherry asked. “Your family sounds like the mafia.” She playfully squinted at Darren. “I wonder who you are really? Why did you come to Fort Wayne? Are there about to be dead bodies coming up floating in Chicago?”
Darren chuckled then looked away devilishly. “No, I brought them here to a place where nobody will find them.”
Sherry looked at Darren then away, once again feeling her heart beat for this man in ways it hadn’t been for any man in quite some time.
Darren and Sherry eventually got up and walked the park for about thirty minutes before loading back into the car and heading back home. Sherry updated Darren on how Gabriel’s day had been. Once Sherry finished up explaining, he couldn’t help but to notice how Sherry looked back at Gabriel. It was as if Gabriel represented more for her than a job. Darren finally felt the courage to ask her something he’d been wanting to know since meeting her. “Have you ever had a child, Sherry?”
Sherry’s head quickly turned toward Darren. “Huh? Why do you ask that?”
“Because,” Darren said. “I just have a strong feeling. If I’m wrong or asking something too personal, then please forgive. It’s just...it’s just...I sensed something. I could tell you were getting over something when I hired you. Again, if it’s too hard to open up about, then you don’t have to answer.”
Sherry turned toward her window, looking at the convention center as Darren drove passed it. She sighed, realizing that it would probably do her some good to open up about it to Darren. They connected so well, even though the nature of their relationship was anything but ordinary.
“Yeah,” Sherry said, never pulling her eyes away from the window. “I did. I had a son.”
“Oh, okay,” Darren said, He noticed her unwavering, blank stare. “And may I ask what happened to him?”
Sherry sniffled then held her head up. “I...I...I had to give him up for adoption. I just wasn’t ready to be taking care of a child… I just couldn’t. I got my diagnosis when I was pregnant and then everything in my life seemed to go downhill from there. I did the best thing I knew to do. Look at me… I’m a nanny and that was really out of desperation, at least at first. I wasn’t fit to take care of a child...or so I thought.”
Darren decided against asking about the diagnosis part as they continued the way home. He listened to Sherry open up about giving her son up for adoption and how it was one of the hardest things she’d ever done. She admitted she wondered some days where her child wound up. Had he been placed with a good family that would indeed give him a better life than she could?
When Darren pulled up out front of the house, the conversation had long transcended into other things. Sherry suddenly felt more like a human-being when she revealed her secret to Darren; yet, she did feel as if she were being judged. Shortly after putting Gabriel back into his crib, she stepped out into the hallway and was surprised by Darren’s presence. He quickly rushed up to the thought-consumed woman and wrapped his arms around her waist. Sherry closed her eyes and melted into his embrace.
“Darren, we...” Sherry began saying. Her words were cut off by a passionate kiss.
“Come on,” Darren said. He wanted to be with her tonight. “Just come with me.”
Sherry turned around, her eyes practically glowing in the dimly-lit hallway. With a smile on his face, Darren led her into his bedroom and gently pulled her into the bed. Sherry lay on top of Darren, kissing him passionately. There was no place in the world Sherry would want to be right then; whatever anxieties Darren harbored inside suddenly disappeared. Neither one of them ever spoke.
Several minutes of passionate kissing passed by quickly. Darren chuckled then helped Sherry lift her shirt over her head. She giggled as well, knowing exactly what this meant. With everything she’d been through, as well as all the changes it brought to her body and personality, Darren was a guy who clearly was genuinely interested in her regardless. Sherry looked down at the man, smiling as she lowered her chest into his face. Like his frat boy days during college he talked about, he pressed his face into her chest.
“Okay, okay,” Sherry said, pulling back. “You seem to have a little too much fun with that.”
Darren smiled and nodded. He then placed his hand on the back of Sherry’s head and ran his hands through her silky hair. They locked eyes and smiled. Both wanted to say so much, but neither could form any thoughts.