Page 67 of The Broken Heart Playlist
It seems to kill Gideon to admit, “Sorry, no dolls.”
She wanders away, a disappointed slope to her shoulders, no doubt lamenting the sad, toyless state of his house. She perks up, though, when she spots Uno sprawled out on the back patio. We watch her make a beeline for him.
“Looks like a trip to a toy store is now on my list,” Gideon says.
“You don’t have to do that,” I protest.
“I want to,” he corrects me. “I can’t have Lisset not feeling at home here.”
Pleasure blooms inside me at his words, at the implicit promise in them. A pleasure mixed with a fear that we’re moving too fast here. Time to grab the steering wheel and turn usin a safer direction. “You said you had an idea to help Lisset overcome her hostility to reading?”
He nods, accepting the change of subject with an amused twitch of his lips. “I think we can make it work with Uno and the Reading Dog Program.”
Disappointment pricks me. This is his plan? We tried it already and it didn’t work. “She doesn’t want to read to Uno.”
“She doesn’t want to read to Uno when there are other children around who might tease her,” he reminds me. “But she likes Uno and we can work with that.”
“How?”
He sighs at the skepticism on my face. “Do you trust me?”
“No.”
I don’t even trust myself. Why on earth would I trust him? Or any person, for that matter? Trusting someone feels like the Everest of mountain ranges.
“Let me rephrase,” Gideon says. “Do you trust me more than you did when we first met?”
I consider my answer. “Yes.”
“Good. Progress.” He offers me a half smile. “I want you to trust me to help you with Lisset. Okay?”
For so long, it’s been only me making the decisions, coming up with plans, shouldering the successes, as well as the failures. Now, caught in the tractor beam of Gideon’s calm, steady gaze, I realize it might not be the end of the world for me to loosen the reins for a while and let him take charge. I don’t have to do it all alone anymore. Not for today, anyway.
My throat is too tight for me to speak so I simply nod.
He winks at me, ahey, come on, it’s not all that badwink, and says cheerfully, “Let’s get started, shall we?”
Confused and intrigued and a tiny bit nervous, I follow him as he strolls over to where Lisset is petting Uno.
“Hey, Lis,” he says, hunkering down beside her, “I wonder if you can help me with an important job today?”
She regards him solemnly. “Does this job have anything to do with picking up dog poop?”
Gideon raises his eyebrows, a gesture I’m almost certain is directed at me. Like daughter, like mother, is the thought I imagine going through his head. But I’m with Lisset on this. Who wants that job? Besides, a healthy dose of caution is a survival instinct.
“The task has nothing to do with dog poop,” he assures her.
“What is it?”
“I need assistance preparing Uno for his workday on Tuesday.”
Her lips set in an inflexible line. “I don’t want to read to him.”
My heart sinks, but Gideon says easily, “No reading is required. We just have to make sure Uno looks really good before he can visit the school. It’s one of the rules.”
She contemplates this. “You’re in trouble when you break the rules.”
“Absolutely. Do you think you can help me?”
