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With that, I left the dining room and went downstairs. I had no desire to be lectured about my involvement with Marcus, such as it was. There was no way we'd be together like that, but still, it was none of their business if we were. I had always made the right choices in life, unlike Riley, who got away with things I never even would have dreamed of trying to get away with. I'd always been on my best behavior growing up, and still was.
To think, they doubted me now, as an adult, pissed me off beyond reason.
I grabbed my bag and walked out the patio door. As soon as I did, I smelled something cooking on the grill next door. Marcus was barbecuing something that smelled delightful. He looked over and saw me standing there, and gave me a warm, gentle smile.
“Hey there,” he said. “We have some extra pork steaks if you'd like to join us.”
I knew I shouldn't. I knew if it did, it would only piss my father off more. But Marcus was a good guy. His past was behind him, and nothing my parents said could convince me otherwise. I looked at the house, wondering if my folks were in there listening to our exchange, and decided I didn't care.
“Thanks, I'd love to,” I said with a smile.
CHAPTER EIGHT
“Where are the kids?” I asked, noticing the backyard was quieter than normal.
There was no Zoey and Zack running around like chickens with their heads cut off, it was just the two of us standing back there next to his grill. I was so used to the manic energy of the children that the lack of it made the atmosphere in the backyard a little strange, and a little empty.
“Oh, my mom called and wanted to see them, so they're with her for the night,” he said. “She's taking them to see a movie and they're sleeping over at her place. It's good for them to spend time with the grandparents once in a while. And to be honest, I could use the break.”
“Yeah, I'm sure it is,” I said. “My grandparents aren't local. The ones that are still alive, anyway.”
“Oh, I'm sorry to hear that. I didn't know that.”
He popped the top on a beer and guided me over to the picnic table near the pool. I took a seat and Marcus sat down across from me.
I shrugged. “My mom's parents live in Maine, we've visited a few times,” I said. “They used to visit us when they could get around better.”
He nodded. “Getting old sucks, that's for sure.”
“Pfft,” I scoffed. “You're not old. Far from it.”
He raised an eyebrow. “Most girls your age consider people my age to be dinosaurs. Maybe even older than dinosaurs.”
“Please,” I said. “For one thing, I'm a woman, not a girl,” I very pointedly corrected him. “And seriously, you're acting like you're ninety. You're not even forty yet, so shut up.”
He laughed, staring off into the distance as if deep in thought. I would have killed to know what he was thinking in that moment, but I didn't want to ask. It seemed too personal. And though we were friendly, I didn't think we were on close enough terms to justify me trying to pry into his mind like that.
“Mind if I get something to drink?” I asked.
?
??Oh sure, help yourself,” he said. “You are over twenty-one, correct?”
“Yes, sir,” I said.
“One minute you're telling me I'm not old, the next you're calling me 'sir',” he chuckled. “Anyway, you can grab yourself a beer or a glass of wine, totally up to you. If that's not your thing, there are sodas in the fridge.”
“Thank you, sir,” I said, teasing him with a smile as I stepped inside his house.
Like the backyard, the house was eerily without the kids. They most definitely brought such an electric energy to everything, that the absence of it was striking. Even when they were upstairs asleep, their presence just made the place feel like home. I helped myself to some white wine he had chilling in the fridge. As I did so, I noticed a new drawing by Zoey attached to the refrigerator door with a magnet. I smiled as I read the names above each person. Her dad wearing a business suit and carrying a briefcase, she and her brother were holding hands in the middle. and there was one other person off to the side that caught my eye.
It was me.
I stood beside her father, almost in the position a mother would stand, and above my picture was my name written inside of a little red heart. Seeing that filled my heart with a sudden sense of joy and it nearly made me well up with tears.
I realized then, just how much those kids meant to me.
I stepped back outside just as Marcus was plating the pork steaks. He handed me a plate with a baked potato and asparagus – all of which he'd cooked on the grill.
