Page 63 of Considering Us
“That’s how I like it,” I said. “You don’t have to investigate her or hold a hearing for her now. That’s something.”
“True,” she said. “I just know it’s a major pain in the ass for you now to reshuffle your staff and find someone who you can leave in charge so you can have a day off or something.”
“Look, Andrea, I need to be transparent with you,” I began. “I just came from Boston. David Anders’ mother made me an incredible offer so I can be more available to him. She wants to buy me a restaurant. I’d hire the staff and get the whole thing off the ground, with the idea that eventually, it would pretty much run itself. And then I could be there to support David and probably travel with him more.”
She frowned. “That sounds like a dream come true for someone like you,” she said. “I’ve loved having you here, Devon. Really, I have. I don’t want you to leave. But I understand it.” She slurped the rest of the soup down. “You’re probably going to take Kyle with you, too, aren’t you? It’s a good thing all the chaos over that stupid sculpture has calmed down. Now kids just decorate the damn thing, and Ward’s gotten over it. Well, sort of. He stillhas those cameras, but he’ll be in Arizona soon and likely will stop obsessing over it. Anyway, I can hire people. They won’t be you and Kyle, but I’ll learn to live with them.” She sighed and lobbed the soup cup into a nearby trash can.
“I told her no, Andrea.”
“What? Why? Are you crazy?”
“Maybe. But it’s not so cut and dry. David will likely get traded at some point. Then what? I’m not moving to Oregon or something. Or I could, and then he gets traded again a year later. That’s not the life I’m looking for right now.”
Andrea looked relieved. “What kind of lifeareyou looking for?”
“Something like this,” I said. “At least for now. And I’ll still keep working for David, and I promised to train someone else so we can tag team a bit. It’ll be fine, maybe for a little while. I’ll figure it out.” I looked at my watch. “Sorry, Andrea, I need to go see someone. I’ll see you later.” I stood up and started walking before I stopped and turned back. “There will be sliders at dinner tonight. I’ve come up with an incredible caramelized onion bacon jam for them, based on something I just had in LA.”
“I wouldn’t miss it.”
29
“Hey,” I said, getting out of my Jeep at the fire station.
“I never thought I’d ever see you again,” Heath said, standing against the ambulance. He was in a gray hoodie sweatshirt and athletic pants and looked very hot, but not what I wanted or needed. What I wanted and needed was sitting at my kitchen table, cursing the lack of capitalization in a student’s essay about the Teapot Dome scandal and its impact on Warren Harding’s presidential legacy while waiting for me to come home so we could go get a drink at The Horse. I couldn’t wait.
“I wanted to clear the air about a few things. I feel like I owe you that much,” I said.
He crossed his arms across his chest. “Okay, I’m all ears.”
I took a breath. “I’m really sorry about how it all went down. You know, dragging you to LA and everything.”
He gave a short laugh. “Hey, you didn’t drag me anywhere. I was a guest of David Anders.”
“That’s true. But I’m sorry.”
“You were different on that trip,” he said.
“So were you.”
He sighed. “Maybe we both needed to see that in each other. Deep down, Devon, I think I knew the whole time. You and Kyle, it was going to happen one way or another. I just got caught in the crosshairs of it.”
He was right. “You didn’t deserve that.”
He shrugged. “It happens. At least you weren’t spitting tobacco into the aisles of a movie theater.” We both laughed, which felt good considering how badly we had ended things. “But I appreciate you coming over to talk to me, Dev. Most girls wouldn’t have bothered.”
I smiled. “I figured you might show up on my campus at some point again, and it always helps to be on the good side of emergency responders.”
“Generally, a solid plan,” he agreed. “Have a great life, Devon.”
“You, too, Heath.” I meant it.
...
“I just graded the worst paper of my life,” Kyle said from my kitchen table as I walked in the door. “Somehow, the kid confused FDR with TR but then mixed JFK in there. I don’t know what’s going on. Was my use of acronyms in class that confusing? I need a drink.”
I leaned down and kissed him, savoring that I was finally home with him.
“How was your day?” he asked. “I want to know what happened with Marnie. I couldn’t help but plant that kiss on you when she showed up. I mean, I wanted to kiss you, but I loved getting that reaction. You know what I mean.”
