Page 67 of Forever Mine
Chapter 23
With Scott gone, my life returned to its old normal. I took Angel to and from school, chatted with Mom and Rita, and threw myself into work at the office. The studio was getting even more projects and with Primrose's push to keep all her workers' skills upgraded, we were busy.
I had doubts that Scott would return at the end of the week. Something inside said he was punishing me for my reluctance to commit to him. But Scott wasn’t that kind of man.
He'd been in touch every day, the same as usual, but didn't say anything about what he was doing to sort out his situation with Lucy. I shared how my day had gone each time we talked, but felt like an outsider in his life. The truth was, I had no plans to invade his privacy.
One thing was constant: I missed him. Although we didn't spend our nights together, we talked often enough that I was used to having him in constant contact. Friday rolled around again, and I asked Mom to come over and stay with Angel and Renée while Rita and I went out for the evening.
Mom would have made good company, but I needed someone my own age to talk to without having Angel around. She'd spoken to Scott several times this week. Their conversations highlighted everything she was missing by not having her father around.
In comparison to my time with Nolan, the dynamics of my relationship with Scott was different. He treated me as an equal and I expected nothing less. I was truly grateful for what we’d shared.
Before I hit the streets with Rita, I wanted to talk to Scott. I sat on my bed, opened the laptop, and got him on Skype.
He answered right away. “Hey, Vaughn, what are you up to? You look hot.”
The place where he sat piqued my curiosity. A certificate hung on the wall behind him and he was on a sofa. “Where are you?”
“This is Dad’s den.” His gaze shifted, then he added, “I planned to spend the weekend with my parents.”
“Okay. Sounds good.” His explanation sounded strange, as if he might change his mind, but I didn’t question it. “Tell them howdy. So yeah, Rita and I are going out for the evening.”
“Girls' night, huh?”
“Yeah, but I wanted to say hey before we go out. What up with you?”
“You know how it is. The work never ends.”
“Don't stay up all night hunched over the laptop.”
“I won't.”
I was about to disconnect when he said, “Why don't you call me when you come back? I'm sure I'll be up.”
“Sure.” I threw him a kiss. “Later.”
A flurry rose beyond my bedroom door and I guessed Rita had arrived with Renée. As if she had a homing device, Renée hammered at the door, flung it open, and raced across the tiles toward me.
I opened my arms to embrace both Renée and the koala knapsack on her back. “How's my wonderful niece?”
“I'm good. Angel said we're playing cards tonight, but I want to watch TV.”
“Don’t worry.” I tapped her chin. “You'll get to do some of that too, although Angel is addicted to the television.”
Renée laughed, showing me her gap. “Mommy says the same thing about me.”
I got off the bed and put my laptop on the writing desk in the corner. “Have fun.”
“You too,” she said at the top of her voice as she trailed me to the living room.
Rita and I seemed to be in the same fashion mode. We both wore dresses. Mine was cream and flared around my knees and hers was black and clung to her hips and thighs.
We said our goodbyes and got in my car. Tonight was not about fun and games. I wasn't in the mood for any of that. I didn't want to play cards, slot machines, shoot pool, or cause havoc with darts. I wanted a quiet evening away from everything normal. With its comfortable but classy atmosphere, The Eatery was what I needed.
The ride took fifteen minutes, and we drove with the windows down, enjoying the cool evening air.
When we were seated in the restaurant and had received our drinks order, I teased Rita. “Did Hugh see you when you left the house?”