What did I do to deserve someone like him?
He pulled up to the empty curb and turned off the car.
I didn’t pull off my safety belt.
Neither did he. He turned to look at me, like he knew I had something to say.
I stared at him for a few more seconds before I said my thoughts aloud. “How do you feel about telling Lizzie the truth?” I imagined she would react positively since she liked him, but I’d never even mentioned a guy to my daughter, so I really had no idea how she would feel about it.
He stared at me with no reaction, his eyes still. “That’s your call.”
“But are you ready to do that?” I whispered. “It’s okay if you aren’t. I just thought I would ask since…this is where we are.” We loved each other, and I took that seriously. People who loved each other didn’t break up because of something stupid. They stayed together, pushed through obstacles, made it work. And I believed Derek would overcome this obstacle to be with me.
He looked ahead for a while, taking one of his signature long pauses to think about his words before he shared them. His hand stayed on the center console, and he looked out the slowly frosting window in silence. “I’m ready to tell her the truth. But only if you are. She’s your daughter. You’re the one who has to decide if you think it’s best for her, if you think it’s a good idea to expose her to me.”
It baffled me that he still didn’t understand how much of a benefit he had been to Lizzie, that he had made my daughter happy in a way I never could. He was her role model. I could see it in the way she talked about him.
“I want to be with you forever, Derek.” I didn’t sugarcoat it anymore because I just couldn’t. I wanted to marry him. I’d do it right now if that was what he wanted. There would never be another man for me. Maybe that was presumptuous because this relationship had been relatively short, but I knew how I felt. It wouldn’t change in a few months, in a few years. If anything, those feelings would just be more profound. “Yes, I think it’s a good idea.”
He slowly turned his head back to me. His expression didn’t change. There was no fear or trepidation. “Alright.”
“I’ll take some time to think about how I’ll tell her.”
He gave a slight nod.
I unfastened my safety belt, and he did the same. Then we went into my building and up the stairs to my apartment. He said goodbye outside the door, slightly left of the peephole so no one would be able to see if they thought they heard us talking.
His arms moved around me, and he gave me a kiss goodbye as well as a squeeze. “Goodnight, baby.”
“Goodnight.” I watched him walk away, watched his muscular back shift and move as he carried himself to the stairs and then out of my sight. “Damn…” I rubbed my hand over my chest as I turned to the door and got it unlocked.
I stepped inside and found my mom in the recliner watching TV.
Lizzie had fallen asleep on the couch.
Mom grabbed the remote and turned off the TV. “A heads-up next time, Emmy.”
“I’m sorry, Mom. It won’t happen again.” I set my purse on the counter and pulled out my books, careful to hide the smile that was heavy on my lips. I stared at them for a while before I carried them to the bookshelf where they’d been before, the area vacant for months because he took so long to decide what to write.
“Are those Derek’s books?” Lizzie’s sleepy voice came from the couch.
“Yes.” I turned back to the living room and looked at her. “Get to bed, honey. You shouldn’t be falling asleep on the couch.”
“Grandma does it.” She rubbed the sleep from her eyes.
“Well, Grandma doesn’t live here. Now, come on.”
Lizzie gave her grandmother a hug before going to bed.
My mom got off the couch then gave me a quick look, checking me up and down. “If you want some alone time with your boyfriend, that’s fine. Just check in.” She headed to the door and walked out.
How did moms know everything?
Whatever. Nothing could take away my happiness right now.15Derek“You think booster thrusters will work?” Jerome asked. “It’s going to add more weight to the vehicle, take up more space, and not to mention, it’s a hazard to the vehicle.” Jerome stood beside me and stared at my drawings, seeing where the gas compartment would be. “It’s just risky.”
I never told my employees this, but I only hired people who disagreed with me, not agreed with me. It was obvious when I conducted interviews when people were just enamored of me and would agree with whatever I said. I actually hired the people who were critical of my work because that was a benefit to me. Jerome and Pierre both challenged me, and when that happened, I was forced to defend my stance. If it held up, I knew it was the right decision. If they picked it apart enough, I knew it could be improved. “Unless we find a better tire solution, I don’t see an alternative. Not only is the rover a huge investment, but it takes over a year to arrive on the planet, and it’s such a disappointment when the rover gets stuck and has to be decommissioned. There’s little oxygen on the planet, so the chance of explosion is small. And when the tires get stuck somewhere, there always has to be a contingency plan to get it out of the situation and continue operating. It doesn’t need to have a lot of fuel, just enough for one or two boosts, so those incidences should be rare.”