“It’s a good life philosophy,” he concurred.
Nothing was shinier than their two faces now. Glowing like a couple of little suns, happy to be in each other’s company again.
He could all too easily imagine them being the sun in his ecosystem.
Behind them a car containing a mom and child gave an impatient tap on the horn.
He stepped away reluctantly. Eden gifted him with a smile, then lowered her shades.
“Okay, buttercup, let’s roll.”
“Bye, Mr. Caldera!” Annelise leaned out the window to wave. He waved at them.
Which made him feel obliged to wave at every mom and child leaving as they all departed the parking lot, like some kind of town eccentric.
If that was the toll for talking to Eden for a few minutes, he’d happily pay.
And it was actually kind of fun.
Even though he of course had to get to a board meeting.
The next day Eden said to her assistant, “Hey, Danny, I’m going to pick up Annelise and leave a little earlier today than yesterday. How do you feel about holding down the fort about ten minutes longer than usual?”
“I’m down with that, Ms. H. I can totally do that! You can count on me!”
She was blessed that she’d found an assistant who was such a nice person and who was ready to seize life by the throat, balls, nape, whatever portion of it he grabbed on to.
She only realized how embarrassingly, transparently early she was to pick up Annelise when she barely recognized the virtually empty school parking lot. She’d never seen it when it wasn’t crowded with harried parents in revving vehicles. It was empty, apart from a couple of blue jays hopping around on the sidewalk.
And Gabe. Standing there in Ray’s reflective vest.
She could see his grin from the entrance.
She pulled up right next to him and rolled down the window.
“You came first,” Gabe said.
He froze in place when he realized how that sounded.
So did she.
Behind him a blue jay hop hop hopped, comically, in the fraught silence.
She slowly dragged her sunglasses away from her face.
“You don’tmindif I come first, do you?” She furrowed her brow ever so slightly.
“I’m all about whatever you need,” he said instantly, with such quiet, staggeringly thrilling conviction her breath stopped.
YOW!
Her nether regions flared with heat as though a match had been tossed down there.
She was reminded in that moment that this was a capital “M” man. Whatever they were doing, he meant business. What he’d just said confirmed for her everything she suspected he held in check.
He was waiting for cues from her.
She didn’t know what to say.