Page 11 of Blueberry Cake
“Fancy pants. Has that always been your dream?”
“Owning my own real estate, yes, but the marketing company became one over the years.”
“Because you wanted to be your own boss?”
“That’s right.”
“I don’t think I would be cut out for that. So much would be on the line. I mean, I can manage myself, but being in control of so many other lives… that would be maddening.”
“It can be challenging.” He turned and only now realised that he hadn’t offered her a beverage. “Would you like to drink something?”
“What do you have?”
“Soda, orange juice, lemonade…” Taking a chance, he added, “Wine?”
Queenie didn’t take the bait. “Tempting but I’ll need to drive later. So, I’ll take the lemonade.”
“Ice?”
“Yes, please.”
Boyd took to making her drink, desperate to get to know this gorgeous woman more. “What is the most challenging about your job?”
“The parents,” she shot out, as if she had the answer ready. “Well not all of them, but a lot. Sometimes they think they have perfect children. It makes advocating for the educators a lot harder.”
“Do you often have to negotiate between parents andteachers?”
“Quite often lately.”
He wanted to ask why she’d chosen her career, but something told him he might not like the answer. They’d been perfectly fine not dredging up the past. He didn’t want to ruin that.
“Can I ask you something?”
Sensing it was important, he gave Queenie his undivided attention. “Of course.”
“Are you and Luka close?” Well, there went that idea.
“No,” he admitted, scrubbing a hand over his face and trying to think of how to voice his thoughts without sounding like a jerk. “We still speak, but it’s more of a monthly check in to see if we are still alive.”
“Why is that?” Seeming to second guess herself, Queenie dropped her gaze to her lap. “You don’t have to talk about it.”
“I don’t mind.” Boyd returned to their meal, trying to keep the conversation short and sweet. He didn’t need to bore her with the details. “He doesn’t believe that my parenting is fair. He thought he was entitled to money because I had it, and I refused.”
“Why does that make me happy?”
Boyd’s heart swelled. He’d always appreciated an honest woman. “Because you dislike him.”
“So, you cut him off from the money?”
“Partially. I offered to cover his college tuition under the condition that he live here and help with the bills. Then he told me about his plans of moving out of state, and he was rather shocked to find out that I wouldn’t fund any of his housing or partying lifestyle. The end choice was up to him.”
“Why did you decide to do that?”
“I grew up poor. The kind of poor where you didn’t know where your next meal was coming from or if you’d come home to an eviction notice slapped on your front door. My mother did her best, but she hadn’t even graduated high school. She was a single, teen parent with a deadbeat dad and her parents cutting her off. I wanted Luka to grow up to be a responsible adult and not a spoiled brat.”
“You had him young too, right?”
Boyd nodded. “I was fifteen when he was born. My mother nearly beat me to death. She hadn’t wanted that life for me.”
