“You know,” he said, cutting into his steak, “ain’t nothing wrong with your mind being on two things at once. Life do be like that.”
She gave a small smile. “I’m here.”
“I know,” he replied, tone warm but too aware. “But I ain’t gon’ pretend I don’t see where your energy slid off to.”
Meadow didn’t deny it…she couldn’t even if she wanted to. She didn’t have the emotional bandwidth to lie convincingly tonight. Still, she enjoyed herself more than she expected to. She forgot to be strong for a couple hours and just…existed.
Brent wiped his mouth with his napkin and leaned forward a little, elbows on the table the way men do when they want to stay in a moment with you. “So what you been doin’ with yourself besides workin’ that range into the ground?”
Meadow scoffed playfully. “Working that range into the ground. That’s basically the whole list.”
They both laughed, falling into a more familiar rhythm.
“Nah,” Brent disagreed, tapping his finger on the table. “Ain’t no way you don’t do nothing fun.”
“I don’t,” she spoke honestly, shrugging one shoulder. “I be tired.”
“That’s sad as hell,” he laughed. “You too young to be livin’ like a retired auntie.”
She rolled her eyes. “Boy, shut up.”
“I’m serious.” Brent pointed at her with his fork. “You need a hobby, or a vacation, or a sin.” He grinned mischievously.
Meadow choked on her drink and coughed out a laugh. “A what?”
“A sin,” Brent repeated calmly, like he was discussing grocery lists. “A little one…nothing crazy. Just… something foryou…something that make your shoulders drop.”
“My shoulders are dropped.” She rolled her eyes.
He squinted. “Them shoulders up to your ears, girl. Stop playin’.”
Meadow looked away, suddenly aware of how tense she had been all night. “I’m working on it.”
“Lemme help then,” Brent suggested lightly. “We could hit a day party one of these weekends or the lake. You ever been out there? Folks be cooking, drinking, spades tables going crazy…you might actually laugh and not be thinking about the range for ten minutes.”
She smirked. “You just want somebody on your spades team.”
“That too,” he admitted. “You look like you cut real quick and don’t warn nobody.”
“Oh, absolutely,” Meadow chuckled while nodding her head. “I’m not saving you, though.”
Brent grinned, tongue pressed to his cheek. “I knew it. You one of them.”
“One of who?”
“One of them quiet assassins. Sweet until there’s cards on the table.”
“Don’t project your trauma on me,” she teased.
He chuckled and took another sip of his drink, eyes drifting over her face like he was memorizing her without trying too hard. “It’s good seein’ you out, though,” he said after a moment. “You be hidin’. Folks don’t even know you exist unless they need somethin’ from you.”
Meadow sighed and looked down at her plate. “That’s life.”
“It don’t gotta be,” Brent responded softly. “You deserve more than bein’ the family fix-it. You deserve a night where you ain’t thinkin’ about nobody but yourself.”
Brent didn’t have all the details of her life, but he’d put two and two together while listening to her and Tia talk quite a few times.
She didn’t have anything smart to say to that.
