I had a feeling he would be visiting a lot more.
Deacon walked inside, saw the walls covered with space-themed wallpaper with a poster of Neil Armstrong on the moon like the one he had at home, the bed, and the other matching furniture I’d placed inside. There were framed pictures of him and Deacon on the walls, pictures I took at the cabin. “Wow…this is so cool.” He ran to the bed and started to jump on it.
Deacon leaned against the doorframe, his arms crossed over his chest, staring at his son with a slight grin on his face. “I think he likes it.”
He kept jumping. “Look, I’m like Armstrong on the moon…”
Deacon chuckled. “I’m going to walk Cleo out. I’ll be right back.”
Derek was too interested in his room to care.
Deacon turned away and pulled out his phone from his pocket, firing off a quick text. Then he returned it to his pocket. “Thanks for picking him up today.”
“My pleasure.”
“I would go myself, but I don’t think it would be productive to see Valerie in the flesh. I know you’re busy, so I would send someone else, but I don’t trust anyone else with Derek.”
That was the biggest compliment he’d ever given me. “I don’t mind.”
“How was she?” He stepped into the hallway.
I decided not to tell him how psycho she was. “Fine. What are you doing?”
He turned back to me.
“Deacon, you don’t need to walk me out.”
He glanced into the residence, like he was torn. He wanted to walk me out, but he didn’t want to leave his son alone. “My driver is waiting for you downstairs.”
Now I knew who he was texting. “I’m serious, Deacon. You don’t have to do that—”
“I’m not letting you walk home in the dark.”
“I could take a cab—”
“But I know you won’t. And I don’t want you alone in a cab either.”
Deacon always went out of his way to take care of me…even when I wasn’t his responsibility. It was sweet, sweeter than I could put into words. “Well…thank you.”
“Of course.” He closed the door behind him so we wouldn’t have to listen to Derek yell as he bounced on the bed. He stood in front of me, even though there wasn’t much else to say. “What time are we going tomorrow?”
“The car will pick you up at seven p.m.”
“You mean, we.”
I raised an eyebrow. “I didn’t realize you wanted me to accompany you.”
“I just assumed you would…unless you’re busy or something.”
Even if I were, I would cancel any plans to spend the evening with him and Derek. “No, I’m not busy. But I thought you’d want to spend the evening alone with him. That’ll be a great memory for the two of you.”
“Why wouldn’t it be a great memory if it was all three of us?” He asked the question like he was genuinely bewildered by my statement, like I was as much a part of their lives as Tucker or his mother, like I belonged there.
“I’ll see you tomorrow, then.” Now, I couldn’t wait to go to sleep and wake up tomorrow, to spend the evening with the two of them…the people who’d become a family I didn’t realize I needed. When my husband left me, I felt so alone, completely on my own. But Deacon made me feel like I was part of something…and not because it was my job. “Goodnight.”
“Goodnight, Cleo.” He smiled at me before he walked back inside his residence. Derek’s yells went silent the second the door was shut.
I stayed there for a few more seconds, missing both of them the moment they were gone.
Nine
Deacon
We arrived at the planetarium after hours, and Cleo checked us in. She’d somehow reserved the place for us to enjoy alone. There was never a request I made that she couldn’t fulfill. She was a woman of limitless knowledge, of determination that couldn’t be deterred.
We entered the lobby, seeing the large planets and stars hanging from the ceiling.
Derek was instantly amazed. “Whoa…”
We went to the different exhibits and simulations. In the Mars rover experience, Derek got to drive the cart over the planet in virtual reality, using actual footage collected from the device. Then we moved to the other sections, learning about the gas giants at the edge of the solar system, and even seeing a replica of Voyager 1 and 2.
Derek was amazed by everything.
We went into the theater with the seats that reclined back to see the projection of the universe onto the ceiling. It was a presentation about the origins of the universe, the formations of stars and galaxies, of Earth’s relative smallness compared to the mass that stretched across billions of light-years over the universe.
When I turned my head toward Cleo to see if she was enjoying the show, she was already looking at me, her blue eyes reflecting the light from the virtual stars. Her hair was down, lying on her neck in the perfect way, and the slight smile on her lips was so soft.