Page 66 of The Liar in Room 5

“Does that mean you like the spa?” I asked between bouts of laughter.

He paused, kissing me long enough to say, “As a matter of fact, I do.”

“Well, thank God, because I wasn’t sure. I was hoping since you liked saunas that a spa wasn’t too far off.”

“Well, you guessed exactly right, Daddy,” he said, then gave me another firm kiss on the mouth to emphasize the point.

I knew that his life before Halo House had been vastly different, but it impressed the hell out of me how he never complained about the change in circumstances. If it had been me, I probably wouldn’t have shut up with the whining.

Drew had secured the job at the daycare center completely on his own, and I was beyond proud of him. As far as losing the creature comforts of life, he never once acted as if it bothered him. In fact, the longer he spent at Halo House—or at least over the last several weeks that I had known him—the more he seemed like that kid from Iowa. Less Cali. More salt-of-the-earth.

There was nothing I didn’t like about this guy, about this man. Like obviously wasn’t the word to capture it. There was nothing I didn’t love about him. It would suit me fine if he decided it was time to leave Halo House and move into my place. But truthfully, I wasn’t sure how he’d respond to that, knowing he had never been on his own. Regardless, today wasn’t the day to broach the subject when we had mani-pedis, facials, massages, and saunas waiting for us.

Once inside, we were greeted with iced tea for Drew and a little champagne for myself. I’d arranged a private day for the two of us so we didn’t have to travel around the spa. They’d set up a table on the veranda and a few snacks, so we could enjoy the ocean breeze, the sound of the waves crashing, and the cries of the seagulls. The massage beds were close enough together that we could hold hands while the masseuses worked over our muscles. But before we could do that part, it was off to the sauna.

Sitting in the cedar-lined sweat house wasn’t, in fairness, my favorite part. Getting sweaty for the sake of it made no sense, but Drew was clearly loving it. He had the faintest hint of a smile when he leaned back against the wall. He was like a lizard lying on a hot rock—languid and sluggish in a relaxed, my-muscles-barely-work sort of way. He looked happy, and an absurd amount of pride at being the one who could give that to him puffed up my chest. We sat quietly next to each other, hand in hand, while we let the heat soak into our slick skin. If there hadn’t been other spa customers in there with us, I might have tried to give him another birthday present.

After the sauna, we were back within earshot of the ocean for our facials. I might have been born and raised here, but it was a first for me. It was better than the sauna, but unless Drew wanted company, I’d skip the next one. Actually, I was pretty sure Marc loved this stuff. Maybe he and Drew could enjoy it again together. I made a mental note to ask him about it, but then turned off my brain to try and enjoy the pampering. And if I was mentally reorganizing a performance contract that was due next week, that was no one’s business but my own.

“Daddy, thank you for this,” Drew murmured when the staff left to put away their oils and potions. “But you also didn’t need to do this.”

“Maybe not, but I wanted your birthday to be a good one. You don’t turn forty every year.”

Drew snorted.

“I’m serious. Forty is a good age—old enough to know when it’s a foolish mistake and young enough to do it anyway. Now you get to be wise.”

“Do you think I’m turning forty or eighty?”

“If you’re eighty, you’re the hottest damn octogenarian I’ve ever seen. Oh, would that make me the cougar?”

“Can men be cougars? And I think I’d be the one. Actually, I’m not sure how that would work, to be honest.”

“Shit, I don’t know either, but whichever gets me you is the one I’d want to go with.”

Drew waved me off and laid his head back down on the towel. He smiled softly but had nothing else to say.

“What are you thinking, sweetheart?”

“I’ll tell you later, Daddy,” he whispered.

The moment was interrupted when the staff discreetly returned and let us know it was time for our massages. Now this was the part of the spa experience I could get behind. I was still working through case law and planning in my head, but the massage made my thoughts highly productive. Maybe I should add this into my routine case prep? Although I can’t imagine the bar association would approve of putting it on my billable hours.

“All right, gentlemen, it’s time for your mani-pedis. Are we doing polish today?”

While I opted to skip nail polish, Drew elected to go with moss green because he was sure his school kiddos would think it looked like Godzilla claws, and he was tickled to think about how excited they’d be. Happiness radiated from him as he explained his reasoning to the manicurist. She added a few extra shadow lines to make them look more claw-like. Watching their exchange made me think more and more about how to broach the subject of Drew leaving Halo House and moving in with me.

I knew it would be a leap of faith for him, and a scary one, but I was ready to go all in. Marriage was definitely on the table as far as I was concerned, and I hoped it wouldn’t be too much for Drew.

The buzz of my phone interrupted my wishful-thinking daydreams. It was a number not saved in my phone.

Unknown

Finally landed, and thank you for the car.

A lot less stressful.

Perfect timing.