56. Chapter 56
Chapter 56
Paige bought a small urn and had it engraved with Spook’s name and put half his ashes in it for David. Then, she almost didn’t know what to do with it because giving him a ‘gift’ seemed intimate, even if the nature of the gift really wasn’t.
She wrestled with giving it to him for almost two weeks. Finally, after deciding she was being ridiculous, she texted him.
PAIGE: This might sound odd, but I have a gift for you.
He texted her back almost immediately.
DAVID: I wouldn’t say it sounds odd, but my birthday isn’t until February …
DAVID: And I’m a little hurt you don’t remember that. It’s Groundhog Day, after all.
PAIGE: Very funny. And it’s not a birthday gift.
DAVID: Well if it’s a Christmas gift, then I can wait until Christmas morning to open it. Unless it’s time sensitive, like a ticket to the sold out Foo Fighters concert next week.
PAIGE: Oh, boy. If a ticket to the Foo Fighters is what you’re hoping for, then what I actually have for you is going to be really disappointing.
PAIGE: Let’s start over.
PAIGE: This might sound odd, but I have a gift for you.
DAVID: I wouldn’t say it sounds odd, but my birthday isn’t until February …
PAIGE: Oh, my God …
Her phone almost immediately chimed with an incoming FaceTime request from David. She stared at it for a moment before accepting the request.
“What am I doing wrong?” David asked with raised eyebrows when she answered. “You said to start over.”
Paige sighed, embarrassed. “God, I’m sorry. I got this gift for you and now I feel weird about giving it to you.”
“Well, the sooner you give it to me, the sooner you can quit feeling weird about it. So, maybe you should give it to me as soon as possible.”
“Okay. How about—”
“Today would be good.”
“Today?”
She looked so comically shocked that he almost laughed; it also made him wonder what the gift was that had her in such a twist. “Sure, why not? Unless you’re busy?”
“I’m not, but—”
“Today it is, then,” he said, then added pointedly, “Jacob won’t be home until 5 p.m., so my afternoon is wide open.”
“All right.”
When she got to his place, David opened the door wearing a pair of gray sweatpants that she recognized from before they got married and noted they had more holes than they used to. Yet despite the rattiness, the sweats fit him very well and made her think of all the gray sweatpants memes she’d seen … and now totally understood.
He was also wearing a shirt with a ‘Scoops Ahoy’ logo on it and Paige smiled at seeing his homage to the show Stranger Things. “Nice shirt,” she commented, as he let her inside.
“You can buy anything on Amazon. I almost got the shirt with the Hawkins Middle School logo on it, but in the end, I had to go with this one. Because … Steve Harrington.”
“Is Steve your favorite character?”
“Of course. He has that great hair,” he told her, closing the door behind her.
Paige laughed, looking over David’s hair, which was down (and in her opinion, put Steve Harrington’s hair to shame). “My favorite character is Eleven, of course.”
“Of course.”
“I have a shirt that says, ‘In a world full of tens, be an Eleven’.”
“Nice.”
She made a sad face and placed a hand over her heart. “My second favorite character was Hopper.”
“Was? Oh. You think he’s dead.”
“He is dead.”
“No, he’s not.”
“Um, he got vaporized. Or did you miss that part of the episode?”
“No, I saw it,” he said. “But he’s not dead. He’ll be back.”
He motioned for her to follow him down the short hallway, which she did, and within seconds they were in the kitchen that looked nothing like she remembered. It had obviously undergone some major upgrades since she and David lived in it prior to buying their house, and Paige looked around, impressed.
While somewhat small, the space was utilized well, with shaker-style cherry cabinets, stainless appliances, and beautiful, cream granite countertops with veins of gray and black running through it. The new island was long and narrow, with three industrial bar stools on one side for seating and wrought-iron pendant lights hanging over it, providing task lighting.
David stepped around to the other side of the island, where the makings for sandwiches were spread out. “I was just about to eat a late lunch. Why don’t you join me?”
Thinking he was asking out of obligation, because he had good manners, Paige shook her head. “No, thanks. I just came by to give you this,” she said, cringing at her awkward and abrupt delivery as she set the package on the counter.
He didn’t even look at it as he started making what looked like two sandwiches. “I’ll open it after we eat.”
“No. I really should go.”
“Have you eaten lunch?”
“No, but it’s okay.”
He ignored that and continued making the sandwiches. “Jesus, I forgot how stubborn you could be.”
“What?”
“You heard me.” David gave her a stern look and pointed the knife at her. “Stubborn. It’s just a sandwich, so accept my gracious invitation, already. Okay?”
“Well, when you put it that way, I accept your ‘gracious invitation’,” she told him with exaggerated sweetness, adding, “I like extra mayo.”
“I know.”
For some reason that made her smile and she started to walk around the open area of the loft. “Everything looks really great.”
“Thanks.”
The floors, though still the original wide-plank pine boards, had been refinished and could have passed for brand new. The exterior walls, always one of her favorite features of the loft, were still a beautiful, unpainted brick, and contrasted nicely with the finished interior walls, which had been painted an inviting, soft gray.
When Paige saw the furniture he’d gotten from the storage unit arranged around the room, she experienced what David must have felt at her place—a brief moment of disorientation at seeing their furniture somewhere other than in their house. And while she was glad to see it here, it was still odd seeing it.
On the wall leading down the hall to the bedrooms and bathrooms, a dozen black and white pictures in black frames hung in a straight line, and she wandered over to look more closely. One of them was a baby picture of Jacob sleeping naked on his stomach with his face turned toward the camera, obviously having been taken by David in his studio. Paige looked at it longer than she should have before finally tearing herself away.
Surprisingly, there was the picture of David and Spook shortly after his adoption from the shelter. David was sitting on the couch, reading, while Spook was lying on the back of the couch, looking over David’s shoulder and making it appear as though they were both reading the book. Knowing a perfect moment when she saw one, Paige had quickly snapped the picture.
David saw her looking at it. “One of the best pictures of all time,” he said as he grabbed two plates from a cupboard and arranged their sandwiches on them.
“Thank you. I picked up a few tricks of the trade being married to a photographer,” she replied teasingly, without thinking, only to freeze as she realized how inappropriate joking about their marriage probably was.
“I was actually referring to the subjects in the picture and not the, uh, skill involved in taking it,” he countered, apparently not at all offended by her joke. “Remind me again, what version of the iPhone you took it on?”
“Oh, shut-up.”
He picked up the plates and carried them to the table at the far end of the kitchen. “Would you like something to drink?”
“Water, please.” She turned away from the pictures and began heading toward the table. “With extra—”
“Ice. I know.”
As he got her water, she deliberately skirted the chair with the booster seat and made her way to another chair on the far side of the table. As she did, she took note of the wall that was painted with chalkboard paint and partially covered with drawings clearly done by Jacob. For the first time, it occurred to her that with the exception of the booster seat, this was the only visible sign that a child lived here, making her wonder if David had cleaned up all other traces for her.
Paige motioned toward the wall. “That’s fantastic.”
“My mom suggested doing it,” he told her as he put their glasses of water on the table and sat down. “She saw it on one of those HGTV shows she watches. I thought she was crazy, but it was a good call because Jacob loves it.”
She sat down next to him and despite wanting to keep her distance from all things Jacob, she found herself asking, “How’s he doing?”
David picked up his sandwich. “As far as my separation with Ashley goes, he’s adjusted to that very well. He’s really enjoying living in the loft, especially now that we have a TV to watch and furniture to sit on and everything. He tried to call dibs on the sectional, by the way, but I immediately shut him down.”
At that, Paige smiled.
“As far as the semi-shared custody goes, that’s a harder adjustment for him,” David continued.
“I’m sorry to hear that.”
“He’s really reluctant to stay with her. It kills me to see him so unhappy when he has to go over there. And I don’t know if it’s because he doesn’t like her new place, or if it’s just being with her alone, or being away from me. Or, a combination of all three.”
“It’s probably a combination,” Paige said, as she picked up her own sandwich, which was a masterpiece of layered turkey, bacon, tomatoes, avocado, and lettuce. “Thank you for this.”
“It’s just a sandwich, but you’re welcome.”
In between bites, they kept up an easy conversation, which he started off by telling her he’d been reading her book.
“Really?”
He nodded. “I said I was going to.”
“I know, but …”
“But what? You thought I was lying?”
“No. I just thought it might take you a little longer to start it, that’s all.”
“Why? Because I’m lazy?”
“No. Quit doing that,” she chastised him with a laugh. “Children are a lot of work. It’s logical to think you wouldn’t have much spare time to read books—especially since you just moved and had to fix this place up.”
“I’ve been reading in bed after Jacob goes to sleep.”
For a really graphic moment, she pictured David lying shirtless in bed, reading, with his hair in disarray on his pillow. She quickly veered away from the image, just in time to hear him say, “Aren’t you going to ask me what I think?”
“Think about what?”
“Your book.”
“Oh, my book.” She felt herself flush. “No, I’m not.”
“You don’t want to know?”
“Nope.”
“Well, I’ll just go ahead and tell you, then, because secretly I think you want to know. There’s one thing I don’t like about it, and if I’d been able to read the advance copy, I would’ve had you change something.”
“Oh? And what’s that?”
“I would’ve had you use a better name. Damon? For fuck’s sake, Paige.”
Her mouth fell open.
He blinked at her for several seconds and then burst into laughter. “Holy shit, you should see your face right now. Oh, God, that’s funny.”
“You’re awful,” she complained, then laughed with him. “I thought you were serious.”
“I was serious about using a better name. I would’ve had you use mine.”
“Really?”
“Hell, yeah.”
He said it so adamantly that she believed him, which touched her more than he would ever know.
After they were done eating, he opened his gift while she watched nervously. When he saw the urn, he traced the engraved name. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.”
Silence settled between them for a moment and then David broke it by telling her, “I’m really glad you came by.”
“I am, too.” She gave him a quick smile before adding quietly, “But, I should probably be going.”
David glanced at his Tag Heuer and nodded when he saw that it was a little past 4 p.m. and Jacob would be home soon. After putting their dishes in the sink, he ignored her protests that he didn’t need to walk her out to her car. “I’m not on the douchebag spectrum, thank you very much. So shut-up and let me be a gentleman.”
Down on the sidewalk, after she unlocked her car, he pulled her in for a hug, although it was more friendly and less intense than the last one they’d shared.
But still … very nice.