“I guess if you don’t want to grow big and smart, you could just have junk food all the time.”
“If I stay small and dumb, can I have cheese crackers?” she asked.
Harrison snorted, watching our exchanges with a bemused smile.
“Hmm, no,” I said, pretending to think about it.
“I don’t want that tea that tastes like bergamot. You keep giving me that tea, and I don’t like it,” George said.
“That was once, George. I haven’t given that to you in a long time,” I said on a sigh.
“Well, I didn’t like it.”
The pressure at my temple grew. “Let me make sure I’ve gotten everybody’s orders right. I’m like a short-order cook.”
“Oh, can we play kitchen? I’ll be the chef and pour the tea!” Collette jumped excitedly.
“No, sweetie can you go play dolls for a minute while I do this?”
“Nooo. I want to help,” she whined.
I looked up at Harrison and found him trying to follow the bewildering conversation that had just occurred, almost overlapping.
“Collette, why don’t you show me what movie you watched,” he said. “Then you can take my order.”
“Okay, but you have to order cheesy crackers,” she said, tugging Harrison out of the room.
“Deal.”
As Harrison took Collette, and George sat at his desk, I went to set the kettle.
I couldn’t believe I shared everything like that. Anybody in George’s life this long couldn’t be bad, but it was very unlike me. Harrison made me feel safe.
Feelings of safety led to the worst disappointment.
