Mrs. Lemont? He was working with my mom and not my dad?
I held out my hand and watched as he kissed my knuckles gently, trying to shake away the thoughts. He was probably just sick. “Welcome,” he nodded, letting my hand go only to walk over to my chair and pull it out for me.
I smiled, taking the seat. “Thank you.”
He walked over and sat across from me, the table small, intimate. “It’s very nice to meet you,” he said, adjusting his tie. “But I do apologize, she didn’t give me a name.”
A waitress stopped by, offering red wine which I gladly accepted. “You can call me Rose,” I said, “and you? Shall I justcall you Mr. Kingsmen?”
He chuckled and waved me off. “No formalities here. Call me Malachi. Rose is such a beautiful name, but it hardly stands up to your beauty. Are you from here?”
My cheeks warmed at the compliment as I folded one leg over the other, carefully adjusting my dress to cover the burn. “I’ve only lived here a few years. Family matters, and you?”
“Off and on over the years,” he nodded. “A beautiful city. Is that what drove you to this place? The beauty of it?”
I did love the mountains. Something about them felt refreshing. “I feel most of us can be considered a prodigal son. I just don’t think I’ll ever go back. I needed a fresh start; I feel that’s required every now and again.”
He nodded, his own cheeks rosy. “I agree. I’ve had a few daughters begin their lives anew just in the last couple of years. Eventually you have to find something worth staying for though. Something worth keeping.”
I shrugged. “I have my dog, she’s enough for me.”
His eyes lit up. “A dog? What breed is she? I’ve always loved dogs, but I’ve never gotten the chance to keep one. My travels simply don’t allow it.”
Dogs loved to travel too, but he seemed the type to travel by plane a lot and that simply wasn’t fair, in my opinion, to put a dog through that. “Wolf-German Shepard. Well trained and wild.”
“Ah, the key to this old man’s heart. Come, let’s order, tell me more about your life.”
So we looked at the menu and ordered our food, and we talked. Any apprehension I had felt fell away the more we spoke. It was nice, just having someone to talk to about nothing. About everything. About mountains and fresh air, about the vastness of the world, and the depths of the sea. About poems, literature, and art.
I never got that before. Not with my parents, certainly not with Steven.
I found myself smiling for the first time in a very long time. A real, genuine smile. He was kind. He listened. His conversations were filled with real information, with substance, rather than empty words and nonsense. It feltgood.
When the meals were gone and dessert was eaten, we sat back in our seats and the world slowed. I twisted my glass around, staring at the liquid. It was my third glass. His fourth, and while the night may have been coming to a close, I wasn’t ready for it to end.
I found myself staring out towards the window, wondering what it would have been like, what this conversation would have led to had I told him that I was a Lemont. Would it have led to deals and talks of true business? Or would our conversations have remained the same as they were?
But I wasn’t a Lemont. And I was free to have whatever conversation I wanted without the cameras and the flashing lights and my mother’s influence hanging over me like a bad ex who just wouldn’t take no for an answer.
“You know,” Malachi began, pulling my attention back, “when a woman gets that look in her eyes, she’s either plotting for something, longing for something, or thinking too much about something she can’t change.”
A soft smile touched my lips.
He folded his hands over his lap, reminding me too much of the man from The Club that haunted my nightmares. “What has your mind wandering down valleys too often traveled?”
I shrugged lightly, finding his eyes. “I don’t know,” I answered truthfully. “I feel as if I’m wandering, and my compass is broken. I’m not sure what to do next.” It was the most truthful I had been in a very long time, but what was the harm? I would never see this man again. We were just two ships in the night, pausingbriefly in our own storms to ease each other’s sails before continuing in our journey.
He nodded. “I know a thing or two about lost souls,” he admitted. “In fact, in the last two years, I’ve adopted two beautiful young girls into my family. Both so lost and broken, finding their pieces within the chests of my sons.” He smiled so brightly, it made my chest ache. “One of them just got engaged.”
My heart fluttered, tears burning behind my eyes. “You must be so proud,” I said, feeling the lump grow in my throat. In all of this confusion and chaos, at least there was that. Still beauty. Still something that made sense. While I was having delusions, another girl just got engaged and that was just…it was beautiful. Her dreams were coming true. Her joy could be felt across my skin despite the fact that I didn’t even know her name.
I wished her well. I wished for her everything that I never got.
I could see the pride shining in his eyes. “My sons have been with me since they were just boys, and I didn’t think they would ever settle down. Between you and me, actually, I knew one of them would, but the others? I wasn’t sure they were capable of such a thing as love. I thought it best the three never settle, but they proved me wrong last year,” he chuckled. “Very wrong. They were both great additions to the family. What about you? Do you have a family of your own?”
I swallowed and shook my head, clearing my throat gently. “No, no, it’s just…just me. But it’s better that way,” I nodded, finding his eyes as ifheneeded the reassurance. “It really is.”
His eyes saddened. “It’s never better to be alone.”
