“The guy… from last year. The one who left after I went to check on the bar’s closing.”
“What? No way.”
I went on to explain the rest of the situation and the unfortunate part of Nate not remembering a single thing.
“And you believe him? I mean, no offense, but with the way you described that night after it happened and all the kinky shit you two did, it seemed pretty memorable.”
“Believe me, when I opened the door to him, it was pretty damn obvious he had no idea who I was.”
“Well, damn. That sucks.”
“We made out… at my apartment on Wednesday… until my brother walked in.”
“Oh, damn. What does Andrew think about all this? I mean, they’ve been best friends for like twenty years, right?”
“He doesn’t know. He never saw anything.”
“At least you get the memory, right?”
She was right, and I supposed I could live with that. Turning my attention back to the twins and their dad, I couldn’t help but try to take a mental snapshot. Something else to add to the memory box. Was I going to see them around town? Sure, but it wouldn’t be the same.
Nate must’ve felt my eyes on him, because as he stood, our eyes locked. It felt like time slowed as he gathered his daughters’ hands and began walking toward our booth, right to me. It may have been hot outside, but nothing compared to the heat that coursed through me under his stare.
“Whew, I should go find myself some marshmallows, chocolate, and graham crackers, because this booth is about to catch fire with the way that man is looking at you.”
“Shut it, Tami,” I growled at her.
He stood before me, just on the other side of the table, a simple display of produce separating us. We stood silently; not even the girls spoke.
“Um… hi, I’m Tami. This one’s best friend,” she greeted, tilting her head in my direction as she held her hand out toward Nate.
The disruption was enough to rattle Nate free from our connection as he introduced himself to Tami. “I realize you already met Eloise. This here is her sister, Molly.”
“Well, you’re just as pretty as your sister,” Tami announced, making both girls giggle. Tami’s eyes ricocheted between me and Nate, then she added, “If it’s okay with your dad, maybe I can take you to my favorite creamery’s booth, where they may have something nice and cold for us.”
It was a little early in the day for ice cream, at least for kids. I was a big believer in eating it any time of day. So it surprised me when Nate nodded. Tami stepped around the booth, her skirt in full display as she grabbed the girls’ hands, and Molly eyed her in wonderment.
We watched them retreat, and Nate described my friend as “interesting.”
“She is. And one of the best people I know.”
Turning back toward me, Nate’s lips were pinched into his mouth. They were almost nonexistent.
“Are you okay?” I asked.
“I… I want… no, need to apologize.”
“There’s no need.”
He seemed torn up about the incident, and I could understand why.
“There is. I don’t want to think about what would have happened had you not found her. God, what if she had been lost out there? These images keep running through my mind, and I can’t turn them off. She’s never done anything like this before. I just can’t imagine—”
“Nate, you can’t blame yourself or allow yourself to imagine what could have happened. She’s a little girl who got herself into trouble. I’m sure my father could tell you all sorts of horror stories from me and my sisters when we were that age. But you had a stressful night, and she’s okay.”
I knew Nate had a monitor set up in each of the girl’s rooms. Either he had been really out of it, or Eloise was very quiet when she made her escape. The girl was overly bright and spoke better than most of the older kids I knew. When I asked him about the monitor, he confessed he must’ve tripped over the charging cord, because it was unplugged. The monitors died sometime in the night.
“I also fell asleep without charging my phone. Seriously, anything that could have gone wrong… did.”
