“You cheated!”
Laughing, she waves me to a chair. “What do you mean?”
“Well, you’re already eating. You started before me.”
“Yeah. I’m actually a really slow eater. So I got a head start. Otherwise I won’t be done in time for Harper to go have her lunch and make her classes.”
“Okay.” She hands me a bag with a wrapped sandwich and a paper container of soup. Taking a big whiff, I swear my mouth is watering. “Ummm. This smells delicious. I haven’t had time to stop by there to pick up anything to eat yet and there’s barely anything in my dad’s place to eat. I’m not sure when the last time he went to the store was but it’s obviously been awhile.”
“You’re in for a treat then. They make the best broccoli cheese soup and their ham sandwiches are sublime.”
Lifting a brow, I unwrap my sandwich and set my lunch up. “I don’t think I’ve ever heard somebody describe a soup as sublime.”
“I don’t just love the food there. I’m a big fan of the books!” She laughs and takes a big bite of her sandwich, chewing and swallowing. “Most nights I’m staying in with a book or two to read instead of going out.”
“I like a good book every once in awhile too. But I haven’t had a lot of time to read lately.”
‘That’s a pity. There’s nothing quite like a cold afternoon, cuddled up in your bed with a book and a cup of hot cocoa.”
“What about coffee?”
“Love it! But when I’m reading and home in bed, I prefer my hot cocoa. It’s relaxing.” She stops talking and her slim fingers tap on her big dark oak desk. “I think maybe it reminds me of when I was a kid.” There’s a faraway look in her shifting eyes now. A soft smile curling her full lips.
My heart aches and I reach up to rub my chest.
“My mom and dad used to love staying in when the weather was crappy and they’d set us all up on the couch with the fireplace going and blankets all over the place to curl up under. And mom would make hot cocoa and we’d drink it, laughing about our day or the fickleness of the weather or a silly story we were reading. It didn’t matter. All that mattered was being together. And being happy.” Her face falls and she picks at the wrapper. “She was so pretty when she smiled.”
“Do you have a picture of her? I can’t quite remember what she looked like.”
She nods at a frame on the desk and I turn it around, smiling when I see a little girl holding onto the hands of two grinning adults. She’s missing her two front teeth and she’s laughing and her parents are swinging her up between them.
“You look just like your mom.”
She shakes her head. “She was beautiful.”
“So are you.”
Her eyes drop and she wads up her wrapper and throws it at the trash, missing it by a mile. She flushes and I reach over to pitch it in. “I’m not a basketball player obviously.”
Lifting a brow, I grin. “That’s alright. I like you the way you are.”
“That’s good. I’m probably too old to change.”
She huffs and takes a sip of her soup. “I almost don’t want to ask you but…what happened to your mom?”
“She left my dad when I was about ten. He was drinking pretty heavily back then and she’s never been a fan of drinking. Her own father was a heavy drinker and that’s one of the things she liked about my dad. He didn’t drink at all. Then he started drinking and I guess she just couldn’t forgive him for falling back on that crutch.”
My fingers clench. I don’t really like talking about my mom. But I’ve asked her some damn intrusive things and she’s answered all of them. Turn about and all that.
“She died about ten years ago.”
Fee sits up and her mouth twists. “I’m so sorry, Monroe. That must have been terrible for you.”
“No worse than losing both of your parents so young was for you, I’m sure.”
“I’m still sorry.”
“I’ll take that. But she had cancer and it ravaged her before she died. In the end it was almost a mercy when she slipped away from us. It hurt but…”. I shrug my shoulders. “It was so hard to watch what it did to her.”
