The Man Who Has No Sight - Victoria Quinn Page 0,2
out the window, which was hazy from the winter snow. He turned back to me after a while. “I’m gonna host Thanksgiving here. I thought about doing it at the cabin, but it’s going to snow every day and the streets might be slippery.”
“That’s probably smart. Let me know what you need. I’ll make sure I grab everything. And if you’d prefer to have a chef, that works too.”
He shook his head. “No. I’ll cook.”
I wasn’t sure where I would be. I didn’t usually celebrate the holidays since I had no one to celebrate with. Most of the time, I worked in my office in case a client needed something. It was depressing, but I chose not to let it bother me since it wasn’t my fault I’d lost my parents so young. I always told myself I would have my own family someday…and I just needed to be patient.
“I’ll invite my mother and Tucker over, maybe Pria, depending on what Tucker says.”
“What about Derek?”
“I’ll invite him…and Valerie.”
I hoped she was on her best behavior, especially in front of his family. “I’ve got a lot of work to do, so I’ll be at the office.” I would stay out of his way, make sure Valerie didn’t have any idea I was living there.
His eyes turned back to me, narrowing at my words. “You’re working on Thanksgiving?”
“Well, I always have stuff to do.” I didn’t want him to pity me. Pity was the worst. I didn’t volunteer that the office would actually be closed for the long weekend.
He continued to give me his cold stare, like I offended him. “I just assumed we would spend Thanksgiving together.”
Now I stared at him blankly, surprised by the offer because I’d never expected him to feel that way. I’d met his family, but spending the holidays with him, his family, his son, and his ex-wife…seemed pretty serious. “I…I just assumed you wouldn’t want me there.”
“Why?” he asked, his eyes more intense.
“I don’t know… I thought we were taking it slow.”
His eyebrows furrowed. “You’re the woman I love. I want to spend the holidays with the woman I love. I don’t understand what’s so complicated about that.”
I took a breath and steadied the tears that wanted to form. I had been alone on every holiday, and it was the first time I had someone to spend it with since my divorce. There was nowhere else I wanted to be than right here. “I just didn’t want to be presumptuous…”
“Well, you should be more presumptuous.” His tone was a little cold, as if he was actually upset with me at the assumption.
“Even with Valerie there?” I asked incredulously. “Don’t you think that’s going to be—”
“I don’t give a shit how she feels about it. I’ll invite her because I want Derek to see a healthy relationship between his two parents. If she can’t handle that, then she can spend it alone or with Jake. I really couldn’t care less.”
It meant the world to me to be included, for him to want me to spend the holiday with his family and his son. It was the first time I was actually excited about Thanksgiving since I never really felt comfortable with my ex’s family. “Well…thank you.”
“And I’m not inviting you because you’re living here—if that was your next assumption.”
Two
Deacon
I walked down the hallway to Valerie’s front door.
“The museum was soooooo boring.” Derek walked beside me, his backpack over his shoulders. “I don’t get museums. They’re quiet…you can’t touch anything…there’s ugly paintings everywhere.”
That was something Derek never had connected with—the arts. He was like me, only interested in quantitative data, moved by facts, not fiction. He was never interested in reading Harry Potter, but instruction manuals instead. He liked to color in coloring books, but if he were to try to paint a blank canvas, he quickly lost interest. “You should try to appreciate everything in life, Derek. Even the things that don’t interest you.”
“Do you like museums?”
“Depends on the kind of museum.”
“Well, this one was so lame.”
I chuckled then knocked on the door.
Valerie opened it a second later and greeted her son. “Hey, honey.” She ran her fingers through his thick hair before she stepped aside and let him into the condo.
“Hey, Mom.” He immediately dropped his backpack and left it in the middle of the floor even though he knew better. Clearly, Valerie had very different house rules than I did. He moved farther inside and disappeared from the entryway.