She was cold, though to be fair, that was how she was every time I’d seen her. And reading minds, especially past dreams of another person, was impossible. So, I didn’t really know what it was about me she disliked so much.
I thought I was a friendly guy. I didn’t give off creeper vibes as far as I knew, and most women seemed to at least be vaguely attracted to me if they noticed me at all.
But not her. She seemed to be annoyed by my mere presence each time she saw me, including at the hospital when she barely acknowledged my existence before brushing by me. Then today, the same thing. She did a little fake smile and then glared at me as she found another place to sit.
Most normal people would at least say hello or maybe even sit and talk for a bit. I was clearly on a lunch break. Not her. She went over to the flat rock that I initially thought about sitting on to eat and pretended I didn’t exist.
Whatever I did that upset her or made her dislike me, it really didn’t matter. I wasn’t going to give her the chance to be bugged by me. I would do whatever I could not to give her any more of my time and avoid her even at the diner. It shouldn’t be too difficult. She avoided me already.
Heading through the woods, I found the path leading back to the worksite and started to follow it.
The walk was a good twenty minutes of my break both ways, but since I was one of the owners, I could spare myself a few extra minutes if need be.
I had a mind to run by Deacon’s place when I was done at the office. There was only so much left to do on the job site before I left Wendy in charge, so I could handle some of the more administrative stuff that I would normally do with Deacon out in the field. I wanted to pick his brain about a couple things, but mostly I wanted to check up on him and get a chance to hold the tiny baby.
It was a deeply held secret that I absolutely loved babies. I liked kids in general, even if I felt like I wasn’t terribly good with them. I tended to avoid being responsible for them for that reason. I didn’t want to fuck up. But I loved how free and open kids were, and how small and cuddly babies were. It was part of me that I didn’t tell anyone else about, keeping it just to myself.
The administrative work was predictably boring, and I found myself wishing I had just taught Wendy how to handle the paperwork and sent her back up and stayed on site. But it was my job, and I powered through it with the help of coffee and a small stash of chocolate I kept in the top drawer of my desk.
As the day wore on and I got more and more tired of signing my name and making phone calls, I texted Deacon to ask if it was cool if I dropped by. As I expected, he was excited by the idea, and apparently so was Rebecca. I told Deacon not to order anything or make anything for dinner, that it was on me.
I was going to make dinner. I had a couple of recipes that clanked around in my head, especially in the last few months. Living alone meant I needed to rely on myself a bit more and I had taken a liking to cooking. I just had to drop by the store to make sure I had all the stuff I needed.
Getting in my car, I headed to the general store in town, near Dina’s. I parked, dipping inside with a cart, a list, and a hope I would find everything I needed.
By the time I got out of there, I had just about everything, albeit some off-brand names I didn’t recognize, and had only spent about an extra ten minutes. All in all, not bad. Sailing off to the place I used to call home, I texted Deacon to let him know that I was planning on cooking. Putting the phone on the holder attached the windshield, I turned on some tunes and drove up the mountain.
“You’re cooking?” Deacon said as a way of greeting me at the door.
“Yeah,” I said. “Figured I’d show off the new skill a bit and give you guys a night off.”
“And I appreciate it,” she said as I came in. She wrapped one arm around me for a hug, the other still holding on to the baby Eloise. As soon as she broke from me, I held out my hands and she rolled her eyes, handing her over. “I swear, no one wants to see me anymore.”