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“Is it very urgent?” I asked.
“Not very, but I’d like to get it out of the way,”
“Then no Steve, it should be very damned obvious that you can’t talk to me right now. Go sit with Mark while I finish this,”
He shuffled away to the table where Mark sat, shoving his breakfast into his mouth. Yesterday was spectacular. I was certain I had kept the boy awake past his bedtime, but we’d had so much fun, I just hadn’t had the heart to send him to bed when he asked for ten more minutes. I’d be dropping him off at home by evening. Hunter had called to say I could drop him off.
“You might want to slow down with that,” I heard Steve say to Mark.
It wasn’t like Steve to require a private audience to say whatever he had on his mind. Whatever he had to say had to be important, even though he had said it wasn’t urgent. And why on earth was he not at work?
About an hour later, I turned the stove off and washed my hands at the sink before taking my gloves off and walking over to Mark and Steve at the table.
“What’s up?” I asked, settling into the chair beside him. “It’s got to be pretty important if you’re still here.”
Mark had fallen asleep, his head on the table as he breathed in and out slowly, his back rising and falling with each inhale and exhale.
“Hunter called,” Steve said simply.
“Shocking, so not only is he a party crasher, but he’s also a snitch, beautiful,” I said with my lips curled.
“You’re just as bad as he is,” Steve commented.
“Thanks, Steve, but I should say that you’ve always defended him, so apparently neither of you grew up,” I muttered.
“He’s sorry Becca, he’s had a bad time with his wife and his move back here. He was only trying to offer constructive criticism,” Steve replied, leaning forward on his chair.
“No, he was biting at me, hoping I’d bite back as always. I know it and you know it and you both know that I know it, so cut the crap,” I insisted.
“Fine, you’re different now, he gets it, he’s yhapologizing Becca, he’s sorry,” Steve argued.
“And if he’s so sorry, why’d he send you to do his dirty job?” I asked.
“Cause according to him, you didn’t let him do it last night, which, from what you’ve said now, sounds about right,” he said.
He was sort of right. I’d locked Hunter out when he had tried apologizing last night but only because I was scared, he would ruin my good mood.
“Whatever Steve, he brought Mark along, as a sort of bribe, what father does that?” I asked, my voice whispery now as I leaned closer to Steve.
“A desperate man Becca, I’m not here to convince you, that’s your decision but I’ll say this, Hunter isn’t all bad and we both know he’s always liked you, and just how much it is that you’ve always liked him yourself,” Steve replied.
I sat back in the chair and looked at him. He was right, I had always liked Hunter, and maybe that was why I was so scared of letting my guard down around him. He could slip in and hurt me just as surely as he had before.
“I hear you Steve, now get out, I have work to do,” I said, leaning in to give him a little kiss on the cheek. “I’ll think about it, promise.”
“Fine, I’m going back to work, later,” he said before giving Mark a kiss and stepping out of the kitchen. I had to restrict his movement in and out of my kitchen.
“Next time, Steve, get a table and buy some food,” I called out to him.
“You take enough of my money already,” he said.
I laughed softly. I always made him buy lunch or dinner when we met up while I paid for breakfast. He had agreed to the plan without thinking of its full repercussions. Steve wasn’t a morning person, which meant he barely made it out of the house for lunch. Breakfast was completely out of the running.
I heard my phone ring somewhere, and then footsteps as Delia brought it over. She’d been reading a book by the counter, and I must’ve dropped the phone there.
“Here,” she said, handing me the phone. It was Hunter and he must’ve been calling to check in on Mark.
“Thanks,” I replied, answering the call and placing the phone on my ears.
