Page 18 of Daddy's Little Drummer Boy
“I was going to ask you out to dinner tonight,” he said, “but if you’d rather just go home, I’ll understand.” It was my one night off this week.
“Actually…” I hesitated. I never wanted him to feel like he was living in someone else’s shadow. He wasn’t. It wasn’t like that. “I was going to grab some greenery and go to the graveyard. Do you want to come?”
He turned it back on me. “Would you like me there?”
“More than anything.” It was easier to admit than I thought it would be.
I offered to pick him up since his office was on the way to the place I was going to get the greenery, and, surprisingly, he agreed. I’d thought maybe he’d want to meet me there so he didn’t feel trapped in the graveyard. Some people got kind of weird about that, but not Nick. He promised to meet me outside and, as I pulled up, there he was.
We drove to the Christmas tree lot where I always stopped in near silence, the low sound of Christmas music on my car radio the only thing either of us commented on. I appreciated it.
The lot sold Christmas trees, but his big sales were always the greenery. He was one of the few places that had them readily available for house and business doors, gravesites, and he even had garland for banisters or around windows. They were all pretty spectacular.
I found a beautiful memorial blanket. The owner reminded me how to keep it looking fresh, but I wasn’t planning to do any of the things they recommended. This was going on a burial site. Ashes to ashes, dust to dust and all that. I’d be leaving it there and letting Mother Nature take care of it. For some reason, that felt better than remembering the dead by trying to keep cut leaves looking alive, and that’s basically what these were.
Being polite, I listened, nodded, and smiled. That was the best they were going to get out of me.
The graveyard was about twenty minutes south of the city. We drove in almost complete silence, the radio even off. It didn’t feel like it was because he thought he was intruding on me. At least that’s not the sense I got. It was more that he was letting me take the lead on this.
When we arrived, I parked the car, and he carried the blanket. We walked together to Daddy’s grave.
“This was William.” I laid the blanket down. “Only I called him Daddy, always.” He’d preferred it, even in public. “I think you two would’ve been friends, even though you are very different from each other.”
“I’d love to hear how.” The two of us stood there holding hands as I told him happy story after happy story about Daddy.
“Sounds like he was a wonderful man.” He kissed the top of my head. “I’m glad he got to have such a wonderful boy.”
“Just like you do?” I leaned into his side.
“Yes, just like I do.”
Chapter Fourteen
Nick
Our company party was always held at the office—until this year. I’d been glad about that because it meant I could hang out awhile, eat some food, have a couple of drinks, and generally then make a break for it. With all the travel I’d had to do over the past several years, I hardly even knew anyone anymore, so I didn’t feel the need to stick around.
But this time, the powers that be deemed that we would be gathering in the bar on the first floor of our office building. It was convenient, at least, and also the first time when we were encouraged to bring a plus one. Another convenience since it was the first time in my tenure there where I had a plus one.
“You really don’t have to come if you don’t want to,” I told Bobby for the hundredth time when I met him outside the building. “We can just go out to dinner and forget the whole thing.”
“Don’t you have to be there?” he asked. “Won’t it look bad if you skip out?”
“I’d have said yes before, but I don’t actually care that much now. Since they chose not to give me the supervisor’s position, and I’m no longer allowing them to walk all over me, it’s a little tense in there.” We’d talked about all of this more than once, but remembering it made me feel that much less obligated to show up.
“In that case, we definitely should go.” He linked his arm with mine. “I spent time looking this good and everyone will be jealous.”
A chuckle burst out of me. Bobby never talked about himself that way. I loved that he did. Besides. “You do look spectacular. I’m just glad you realize it.” He wore black jeans, boots, and ablack cashmere sweater under a deep-maroon blazer. None of it was new, but all of it looked incredible on him. “You even got your hair styled.”
“I had to put the effort in if I was going to match your splendor. I want to make you proud.”
“You always make me proud.” I kissed his cheek. “How could you ever think otherwise? Let’s go in there and make them all jealous.” I’d bought a new jacket for this, to go with my favorite pair of jeans that made me look better than I was and a long-sleeved T-shirt with a faint pattern of Christmas trees on it.
The party was in full swing when we entered, everyone drinking and laughing and making off-color jokes. So not our scene, but it was so nice to have Bobby at my side. He handled the whole thing like a pro, meeting everyone and making them feel comfortable right away. It reminded me of the night we met, when I observed him being the Little Drummer Boy, letting the littles bang on his drum but also making everyone he encountered smile.
It was the first thing I noticed about him, although not the last.
“Come over here, Nick. Have a drink with us.” That particular request came from the executives seated in a booth along the front wall of the bar and was quite a surprise. And not really a welcome one. “And bring your date.”
