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I take a moment to unwrap my sandwich before responding. "Yes, it has been good. I'm happy to spend time with you like this. Mom seems really pleased to have me here again. Sasha is loving hanging with her grandparents and at the pool. She likes her teacher. It's working out better than I expected, honestly."
All this sharing makes me hungry, so I dive into my sandwich.
"And Harper?" he grins.
I choke on my chicken. Dad pats me on my back, and I take a long sip of my drink.
I'm hoping my mini near-death experience distracts him from his question, but no luck. He just stares at me, waiting patiently for my answer with a friendly smirk.
"She's fine," I answer.
"Hmm, ok. She looked a little more than fine when I came into your office a few weeks ago."
I can't help but laugh. "We were just reconnecting."
"Is that what kids are calling it these days?"
Ok, I'm clearly going to have to give him something. He's a persistent man. "We definitely had a bit of a rough start. She wasn't all that happy to see me. But we seem to be working through it, taking steps in the right direction lately."
"Well, I'm glad to hear it. The two of you can do some great things here if you work together," he says. "I really am happy you're back, son, I've missed you."
"I've missed you too," I give him a pat on the back.
He gives me a break from talking to be able to finish my food and we just sit in silence, enjoying the peaceful sound of the water. It's one of the things I appreciate about him. He doesn't feel like he has to fill every second with words. He says what he needs to say when it really matters.
A few minutes later, there's another hand on my shoulder and this one does belongs to Harper. "Hi. Enjoying the scenery?"
"Yep, Dad and I are just taking a break from the day."
Dad stands up immediately. "I just remembered some work I have to do, very urgent." He winks at me. What is with my parents and their sudden need to wink all the time? "Good to see you, Harper. See you later, Deacon."
"Thanks for the sandwich," I tell him.
"Of course." He makes a double thumbs up sign behind Harper's back. Oh my goodness, what is he, twelve? I give him a wave to shoo him away before I start laughing.
The air is less tense with Harper since our last meeting, it's refreshing. Today, she's wearing a short sleeved blue blouse and a black skirt with a subtle pattern. She has long legs, and it falls well above her knees. I can't keep my eyes off them as she takes a seat.
"There was something I wanted to talk to you about if you have some time."
"Sure, what's up?" I respond.
"I know we agreed on one design for the billboards, but I had an idea. I thought we could split the designs to see which ones get more traffic." She puts pictures of the designs on the table and goes through which ones we could put where. Her original designs will be for the more rural areas and mine for the ritzier areas in the city. Then the design we came up with together would be sprinkled in both places. It's very clever.
She continues on, "We can put unique phone numbers on each one and see which design gets the most traffic. What do you think?"
What I think is that the way she's looking so intensely at me is sending heat up my neck. Maybe I could take a quick dip in the pool to cool off. Whoa. Please tell me I didn't say that out loud. She still looks like she's waiting for an answer, so I think I'm in the clear.
"I never considered anything like that. It's a great idea. Guess that's why you're the marketing expert."
I see her cheeks flush instantly. My compliment looks good on her, I should try it more often. Maybe that dip in the pool is appropriate now but for the two of us. No, that's ridiculous. Just because we've gone a few days without fighting doesn't mean we're going to hang out lounging in the pool together.
It's not that I think our relationship will be smooth sailing from here on out. She's always going to have strong opinions and so will I. There will be a time in the future that we clash, it's inevitable. I'll probably be hit with a Harper lightning bolt of disagreement at some point, but strangely enough, I'm starting to think maybe I won't even try to dodge it. The jolt may be worth the experience.
But for now, I wouldn't mind riding this wave of positivity as long as it lasts.
"Ok, then I'll run with it. I think it's going to be great." She sits back in her chair with a sigh. "You know, if you would've told me we could find a way to work together without killing each other, I would never have believed you."
I laugh. "Well, the day's not over yet."
