“Did you have fun?”
She shrugged. “I was working.”
Did she feel like she was working when she was with me? “Do you like your client?”
“I like all my clients.”
“Do you actually mean that, or are you supposed to say that?”
She smiled at my blunt question. “Not all my clients are the same. Some are more difficult than others. And there are some I like more than others. But for the most part, yes, I do like them all…except one or two.”
I bet Jake Patterson was one of those two. I saw him in the elevator one time, and he stared at me like we had a blood feud going on between us. But I wasn’t intimidated by a man who spoke to women that way. I didn’t like him. I disliked him so much that I would punch him in the face the second he gave me a reason to. “I’m not one of those two, right?”
She smiled with her eyes. “We both know the answer to that.”
I continued to grip my beer as I stared at her, the one person I could drop my guard with, sit still with. Most of my conversations were task-oriented, so we always had something to discuss. But there were times when I had absolutely nothing to say to Cleo—but I talked anyway.
“I booked a flight for Monday morning.”
I didn’t want to think about sending Derek home.
She must have noticed the sadness in my eyes because she said, “I’ll figure it out with Valerie. I’ll get her to relocate here.”
I would normally tell her it was impossible, that the woman was too stubborn and spiteful, but if anyone could do it, it was Cleo. “I hope so.” I took a drink of my beer. “No parent should have to go through this…to drop off his son and not see him for a month.”
“I know,” she whispered. “When I dropped him off with Valerie last time, I felt terrible the entire journey back…like I’d left a piece of my heart behind.”
That was the perfect description.
“But every time I do it, I’ll leave another piece of my heart…and then another.”
I nodded.
“But we’ll figure it out, Deacon. I promise.”
If this woman made a promise, she delivered. And I actually had faith it could happen. “Alright.”
After we had dinner, we sat in front of the fire, our chairs huddled close together so we all had access to the flames. Cleo had a blanket over her body to stay warm, which she shared with Derek.
Derek slid the marshmallow onto the stick and handed it to her. “Have you ever done this before?”
“No,” she answered. “Why don’t you show me?”
I smiled slightly, knowing she was lying.
“Well, you don’t want to burn the marshmallow,” Derek instructed. “Doesn’t taste good. Trust me.”
She chuckled. “Alright. Don’t let it burn. Got it.”
He put the marshmallow on his stick and stuck it in the fire. “Don’t get too close, just close enough for it to turn brown on the outside. And turn it, like those hot dogs at the gas station.”
I sighed in annoyance, wishing Valerie wouldn’t let him eat gas station garbage.
Cleo did as he instructed, slowly turning it. “Pretty easy. Thanks, Derek.”
“Dad taught me.” He kept spinning the stick. “But we have to be careful, because if it melts on the inside, it’ll slide off the stick. All our hard work will be for nothing.”
“Oh no,” she said.
They kept turning their sticks.
I watched them together, a little tired from all the beer I’d had that afternoon. I usually restricted myself to one or two per day, but since I was so relaxed, I just kept drinking. Now my eyes were a little tired. My brain didn’t fire off with endless thoughts. I kind of just…existed. I smiled slightly as I watched them together.
“Okay, pull it out.” Derek retracted the stick and grabbed two plates.
Cleo removed her marshmallow from the flame.
“So, you take two crackers…” He put them on the plate. “One piece of chocolate. Then you put the marshmallow on top…like this.” He smeared it onto the chocolate.
“Wow, that looks good.”
“Then you put another piece of chocolate on top…” He placed the bar on top of the hot marshmallow.
She raised an eyebrow. “Isn’t it just one piece of chocolate?”
“Yeah, but that’s stupid.” He put the cracker on top. “And that’s it.”
She chuckled and did the same—using two pieces of chocolate. She took a bite, the crunch audible. “Wow, that is good.”
“It’s awesome.” Derek made a mess as he ate it, getting the ingredients all over his face.
Cleo was a lot better at it, barely getting a smear of chocolate on the corner of her mouth.
“And then we just keep doing it.” He grabbed his stick again.
I wanted Derek to enjoy his youth, do everything fun while he still could, but I didn’t want him addicted to sugar. “One more, Derek.”