“Ah.” Everything made sense now.
“She was one of the last kids there. She said itwassoembarrassing and then proceeded to not speak to me the whole way home.” He groaned.
Man, he’s really beating himself up for this minor transgression.I ignored my urge to scooch closer to him. “Luke, you’re only twenty minutes later than I thought you’d be. It’s not like you forgot about her.”
He turned to face me, a smirk breaking on his frustrated face. “Do people reallyforgettheir kids places?”
“I don’t know. Maybe not so much anymore, but my parents have all kinds of stories about being forgotten places when they were growing up.”
Luke chuckled before leaning his head all the way back on the couch and closing his eyes. I’d probably find how distraught he was about this amusing if it wasn’t so genuine.It must be really hard being a single parent with a full-time job.
“I got stuck in this new client meeting. If it was a client I knew better, I would’ve told them I had to leave. But it’s a big project and I didn’t want to be rude… I wish I just said something.” I assumed most of his work was at the actual construction sites; he so often came home with dust on his boots, a hard hat tucked under his arm.He must help with some of the back-office stuff, too.
“I get it. No need to explain to me. Sometimes it’s impossible to find an opportunity to extract yourself when you’re in the middle of it.”
He nodded but didn’t seem to feel any better.
“I have an idea,” I said.
Luke opened one eye and cocked his eyebrow.
“Why don’t you take her for dinner or ice cream or something when you get home?”
“I like it.” He stood, walked over to the stairs, and took them up two at a time.
After a knock Luke’s voice said, “Hey Luns, wanna go to Edgartown Pizza for dinner when I get back?”
A door creaked open. “Can we get bacon pizza?”
“Yes, we can get bacon pizza.”
A pause. “Okay.” The door closed again, but the change in her tone was noticeable.
After Luke got back downstairs I said, “I think she’s still a little too young to fully grasp the concept of bribery. Use that to your advantage.” I grinned conspiratorially.
“You’re brilliant.”
He looked so relieved, I felt it in my own chest. A chuckle escaped my lips. “You’ll be forgiven in no time.”
“Thank you,” he said, picking up his keys and heading for the door. He always said it so sincerely, like I was doing something much more remarkable than hanging out with his generally delightful eight-year-old and doling out arbitrary parenting ideas.
As soon as Luke’s car pulled out of the driveway, I went upstairs, knocked on Luna’s door, and convinced her to come down and watch a Disney movie with me until her dad got home.
Not long after our movie ended Luke came back in the front door and Luna popped off the couch. He didn’t bother taking off his shoes or moving beyond the entryway. He knew they’d be turning right around to go get pizza, as promised.
“Is Val coming to pizza with us?” Luna asked her dad.
“She can if she wants.” Luke looked at me, expression open. He hadn’t asked me to stay for dinner since last week when I declined because I had a date.
When Luna turned around and said, “Please!” I was grateful I didn’t have a date with Max tonight.
We slid into the worn, red leather booth at the casual pizza parlor. It was a cacophony of order-ready bell chimes and conversations. All the tables were full when we walked in, but a booth opened up just before our pizzas (one bacon, one veggie) were done.
I snagged two pieces of veggie. Luke leaned back in the booth, extending his legs. Several people nodded at him or said hello asthey passed our table. Luna happily munched on her bacon pizza, all traces of her earlier attitude gone.
I took a bite of my pizza crust, then a bite of the slice, then one more bite of the crust, from the other side. It tasted like my childhood. They’ve been making the pies the exact same way since I was Luna’s age. It was my grandfather’s favorite pizza place on the island.
“Do you eat the crust first?” Luke asked me, one of his dark brown eyebrows raised.
