Page 8 of Heart of a Hero

“Lots of cheese,” she told him.

Conrad slid in after her. “I usually order Lizzie a cheese slice and then something more grown-up for me. They have a special, which is basically everything, and that’s what I get.”

“Sounds good,” Forrest agreed, and they ordered a large special as well as a slice of cheese pizza for Lizzie. They also got sodas.

“What do you do?” Forrest asked Conrad.

“I’m a CPA with Brunner Maxwell. I specialize in accounting system setup, so when a company has system upgrades or where their accounting systems are no longer working for them, I’m the one they call. I come in and assess what they have and what they need. Then I help them plan how to get there. At times I’ve managed their plans for them, but mostly I work with their people to help them get things up and running again.”

“So you’re an accounting system fixer.”

“Yeah… you could say that. I’m a CPA, but I also have a strong computer background, so I spend a lot of my time in the systems area. Lots of my colleagues understand accounting, but so much of it is done with computer programs now, and a lot of them don’t understand them. So it’s my job to bridge the gaps between them all.” He smiled and hugged Lizzie to him. “The best part of my job is that I get to come home to this munchkin here.” The server brough their drinks, and he helped Lizzie get the straw in hers. “So you’re an artist as well as a schoolteacher.”

“It’s something I do in my spare time. In the summers, when I wasn’t subbing or teaching, I work for a local construction company. They’re always looking for qualified help. It’s not my favorite thing to do, but it’s good money. I’ve taught summer school, but that just seems kind of unfair. The kids have so much energy and they’re stuck inside for part of the day. No, I don’t want to do that again,” Besides, he needed a break from the classroom, and being out in the fresh air, doing something different, helped him clear the cobwebs and got him ready to go back for the new school year. He loved his work, but it also took a lot out of him, “Do you do anything for fun?”

“Daddy and me go on walks, and he likes to play Lego,” Lizzie answered for him.

“Do the two of you do Lego together?”

Lizzie shook her head. “Daddy does Lego.”

“I used to do a lot of building competitions before I got this little one. Since then I haven’t had the time. The basement of the house has millions of bricks and tons of models I’ve put together.”

“Daddy has a big trophy,” Lizzie put in.

“So you won?” Forrest asked.

Conrad shrugged as though it were no big deal “I did a few times, but that was a while ago. I haven’t competed in over a year, and I rarely go into the basement anymore. I don’t have a lot of time to spend on it.”

Forrest grinned and leaned over the table. “I love Lego. I think I have all my stuff at my parents’. I used to ask for sets every year for Christmas. I made my own stuff too, but I never entered any contests or anything.” That was so cool, but what was more interesting was the way Conrad’s eyes lit up. They got this glow, and his eyes grew wider. And for the first time, he sat comfortably and those worry lines around his eyes smoothed out. Dare he say that Conrad might have even felt comfortable around him? Forrest wondered just how long it would last, but still. “What did you win with?”

“The last contest had a theme, which was space. Most of the other contestants did fantastic worlds or even ships, but I used it as an opportunity to design a Mars space station. That was so cool, and I got to let my imagination run wild. It had to be a minifigure-scale model, but I designed my own figures in the same scale and used them in the model. I think that was what pushed me over the edge. The figures themselves can tell a lot of the story, so designing my own meant that I had to tell the whole story, and I really think it impressed the judges that I didn’t take the easy way out.” He leaned forward as if telling a secret. “But in the end, it made everything easier for me because I wasn’t limited by the minifigures that existed. It’s really surprising the kind of parts you can use.”

“How long ago was that?” It tickled him that the quiet accountant had a creative side. Forrest loved his job, but his passion was his art.

“A little over a year ago.” He began fussing over Lizzie, who squirmed and drank her Sprite.

“Daddy.” She pulled away a little bit, and Conrad sighed softly, but Forrest got the meaning pretty clearly. Lego was something he had largely given up because of Lizzie, and his time and energy was spent on her. Forrest understood the need and not having enough hours in the day. Still, the light in Conrad’s eyes when he talked about it had been sexy. But it was already fading as the real world pushed its way in.

“What do you like to do most?” he asked Lizzie.

“Play dolls. I have Marcie, Betsy, and Lulu. I also have Lucy, but she’s a bad girl.” She was so serious. “Marcie likes dogs, and Betsy had horses and she cooks. Lulu reads and is quiet, but Lucy likes to climb trees and she talks back all the time. So she sits in the corner where bad girls go when they’re being punished.” She sipped from her Sprite, and Forrest had no idea what to say to that.

“She makes up stories about her dolls sometimes,” Conrad said for her. “You told me one of them a while ago.” Lizzie nodded, suddenly shy because Conrad had put her in the spotlight.

“I like making up stories too,” Forrest told her.

The server brought Lizzie’s slice of cheese pizza, and she began to eat. Their pizza arrived a few minutes later. Forrest was hungry, and things quieted at their table.

“Hey Langdon,” a voice almost sneered. Conrad set down his pizza with a sigh. “I hear you almost lost the Smith job.”

“Hardly. There was an issue. It was resolved in less than an hour.” He turned back to his pizza, but the interloper seemed intent on sticking around. “Forrest, this is Lester Drovers. He and I work together.” From his tone, Forrest figured it was not a happy relationship.

“Conny and I are both up for the head of systems,” the man explained.

“And that gives you the right to be rude?” Forrest asked. Lester’s eyes widened, and he looked at Conrad like he was going to get some support.

“I just came over to say hello,” he said as though he were trying to sound innocent. He continued standing at the end of their table, and Forrest figured he was waiting for an invitation, which he’d be damned if he’d offer.