The Current Between Us (13 page)

“
Are you going to get married?” Em asked. Gage smiled, feeling a little double teamed by their shooting questions about such a personal topic.

“
Maybe someday, if I meet the right person,” Gage said, and showed Em another color she might like for the grass on the picture.

“
Oh! Em just picked out Barbie birthday decorations. I knew you would pick Barbie, Em,” Hunter said. He kept talking and painting, never taking his eyes from the book. “Her birthday’s next Sunday. It’s the day our mom died, but we don’t talk about it. We just talk about Emalynn’s birthday. Right, Em?” Hunter asked, and Emalynn nodded her head, looking through the colors, finally picking the pinkest of the pink for the dress. Gage watched the kids closely. They were talking of their mother and her death, keeping it all very casual. The words reached out and touched his soul, hurting his heart. He wasn’t sure what to say.

“
It’s the day we came to live with Daddy. I was just born,” Em said, working the pink back and forth on the page, coloring the dress in. For one of the first times in his life, Gage didn’t know how to respond. Their mother must have died giving birth to Em, and it broke his heart. He looked back and forth between the two of them, judging their reaction to what Em had just said.

“
Do you like living with your dad and step mom?” Gage finally asked, needing to say something to fill in the desolate quiet after the kids dropped their little bomb. For the first time since she started the coloring, Em looked up, concentration clear on her face, but she looked confused.

“
We don’t have a mom,” she said. Hunter jumped right in to explain.

“
We have Rhonny and Auntie Sophia. Daddy calls her Auntie Crazy because she tries to make Daddy go on dates with her friends, and he doesn’t want to. But we can’t call her that, she makes us call her Auntie Sophia,” Hunter said. They both stopped coloring and were looking at him, questioning his question. He wasn’t sure why it seemed an odd question to them, so he went for a different angle.

“
How old are you going to be on your birthday?” he asked.

“
Four,” she said back, staring at him.

“
How old are you, Hunter?” Gage asked, turning to him.

“
I just turned six,” he said, and they were both quietly staring at him.

“
So that’s first grade?”

“
No, I’m in kindergarten. School’s out soon and I’m going to be in first grade. My teacher says I’m smart enough to be in first grade though. I can read, want me to?” Hunter didn’t wait, but began sounding out words from the coloring book he’d chosen.

“
He isn’t very good at reading,” Em said and turned her attention back to the coloring book.

“
I am too! Daddy says I’m very good,” Hunter shot back, anger filling his words.

“
Wait, hold up. I think you did great, Hunter. Keep going, Em, try this color, too. Look, let me show you. See how this is a little lighter pink than the one you’re using? Color this one like this,” Gage said, making several shading strokes on the page and Em’s eyes lit up in response.

“
I can do that.” Em picked up the color and began copying his stroke in earnest, awe lighting her features.

“
Daddy’s taking us to McDonald’s when he’s done,” Hunter blurted out, giving up on the reading.

“
He is? You sound lucky,” Gage said, picking up the paint brush, handing it back to Hunter. If he could get them back working their papers, maybe he could get them back on the subject of their father.

“
He said it was our reward if we acted good,” Hunter said. He took the brush, keeping his eyes focused on Gage.

“
Did we act good?” Em asked. Again they were both looking at him and not their papers which were his target goals.

“
I think you’re acting great,” Gage said.

“
Do you want to come to McDonald’s too, because you’re acting good, too? And it’s lots of fun,” Em asked, her face back to an excited glow.

“
I don’t want to get in the way,” Gage said, smiling back at her. Her invitation was so sweetly offered, he couldn’t help but run a hand down her long hair, while the lights shot back to life in the gallery.

“
You should come to McDonald’s so daddy has someone to talk to. Then we can play longer,” Hunter said.

“
Yeah, you should come so we can play longer,” Em said, nodding her head. “Will you come?”

“
I guess I can do it to help such a worthy cause,” Gage said, laughing at their excitement.

“
Okay, you guys, clean up your mess. Let’s get out of Mr. Synclair’s hair.” Trent said, coming into the room, not looking at anyone as he began loading up the spilled box with the coloring books from the table. “You’re back up and running. There was a faulty cell in the breaker. You’re replaced and everything’s running fine. You can call me if anything else happens and I’ll be right back out.”

“
Daddy! Mr. Synclair’s coming to McDonald’s with you,” Hunter said, folding up his coloring book and dumping the paints back in the box.

“
I’m Gage, Hunter. Call me Gage,” he said, picking up and dropping all the paint brushes into the water to soak. At the same time, Trent answered the kids.

“
No, he doesn’t want to come to McDonald’s, guys,” Trent said, working the colors in Em’s box back into their spots. Gage gave Trent kudos. He worked fast, never looking over at him, trying hard to get them out of the office as quickly as possible.

“
Daddy, he said he wanted to come so you wouldn’t be lonely sitting there,” Em said. She gave up helping Trent and sat back in the chair trying to explain why Gage needed to go.

“
Honey, no, he doesn’t want to go to McDonald’s,” Trent said. He finally dumped everything left on the table into the box with no care to it at all.

“
I would love to go to McDonald’s. I’ve never been,” Gage said. It caused Trent’s eyes to pop up to look him straight in the face.

“
You’ve never been to McDonald’s?” Trent asked. His hands stopped in mid-wipe, where he had taken Hunter’s paper towel to clean off the table.

“
No, not once, and apparently I’ve had a neglected childhood. Hunter and Em offered, I accepted. So it looks like we’re off,” Gage said, not giving Trent any more room to exclude him. Gage pulled Em’s chair back and she bounced off. Hunter wiggled out of his, both heading toward the front door of the gallery.

“
Guys… You haven’t finished cleaning up,” Trent said to their retreating backs.

“
Leave it, I’ll get it later. Let’s go,” Gage said, looking back over his shoulder as he walked into his office to grab his wallet and car keys. The workers were here for at least another three hours; surely he would be back before their shift ended.

“
Are you riding with us?” Em asked Gage from the front door.

“
I have the work truck, guys,” Trent said, and Gage could see the inward groan he gave at their question. He bet Trent worked hard in his mind, trying to find a way out of Gage going. No way would he give on this. Trent stayed a complete mystery, especially after what the kids told him tonight. He needed answers, and maybe those answers would help Gage put this guy to bed. Okay, not the best choice of words, but he knew what he meant.

“
How far is it?” Gage asked.

“
I know of the one in Oakland Park, where we live. It’s about fifteen minutes away,” Trent said, stepping out the front door of the gallery. He grabbed on to Hunter’s shirt so he didn’t dart out to the truck and get lost in the people walking the street.

“
Then I’ll meet you there. Let me check things out in here, let them know I’ll be back,” Gage said as the front door began to close between them.

“
See you there, Gage,” Em said right before Trent scooped her up in his arms and turned away to his truck. He laughed at the look of discomfort all over Trent’s face. He must have thought Gage wasn’t looking. Clearly Mr. Hot and Sexy didn’t realize Gage was always looking… Watching this man, coming up with little names for him, was turning into his favorite past time. Whatever. The discomfort served Trent right, Gage had been uncomfortable all week and Trent needed to know the feeling.

Chapter 9

What the hell just happened?
Gage freakin’ Synclair is going to McDonald’s… with me… and my children… What. The. Hell?
Trent’s mind couldn’t wrap around the mere idea of the crazy notion let alone focus on the more important issue; how in the hell could he completely ignore the only other person sitting at the same table with him? Oh, this was so not going to be good!

To make it all a hundred times worse, he
’d been awake for twenty-eight hours. He coasted on no sleep and both his body and mind were strung out, completely exhausted. Trent sighed before reaching back to pull the seatbelt forward. Once secured, he glanced down at his lap. His fucking dick, which should be exhausted too, was already half aroused from merely being in the same room with Gage. One more of those hot, sexy looks Gage tossed his way and he would, without a doubt, be sporting a straight up, tent-building hard-on through the entire McDonald’s experience. How could he possibly explain that one to the man sitting across from him?

The bigger, more pressing problem for right now, he knew the fatigue showed on his face, making his eyes red and swollen. He looked at himself in the rearview mirror and saw little lines showing under his eyes. He looked terrible, and why should it matter to him? Dinner with Gage hadn
’t been in his game plan for the evening. How did he let this happen? Turning on the ignition, he looked back to make sure the kids were buckled up. He’d been in such a state of distressed mental anguish over Gage’s plan to meet them at the restaurant that he didn’t remember getting the kids in the truck, but they appeared to be perfectly secured in their usual seats.

“
Guys, listen to me. You can’t just invite people to go with us like you did. You have to talk to me first. Hunter, you and I have had this discussion before. You need to remember and talk to me first. I don’t want this to happen again, do you understand?” Trent said, while pulling the truck from the curb out into the street. Neither Em nor Hunter responded, and he looked back in the rearview mirror again. Both their little eyes were lifted to the mirror staring back at him. With the look on their faces and the silence coming from the backseat, he knew he must have said it too harshly. They thought they were in trouble.

“
I’m sorry, Daddy,” Em said first.

“
I’m sorry, too,” Hunter said immediately after and they both fell back into silence.

“
Just remember for me, okay?” Trent said. His eyes were back on the road, but he took his hand and rubbed it over his face, frustrated with himself for making the kids uneasy. Technically, they really had done nothing wrong.

“
Yes, sir,” Hunter said quietly.

“
Yes, sir, Daddy,” Em said, and he looked back in the rearview mirror to see Hunter sitting with his hands in his lap, his head bent down, and Em’s little bottom lip quivering. She hated being in trouble. They both hated it.

“
Honey, it’s okay. You’re both okay,” Trent said, reaching a hand behind the seat, ruffling Hunter’s hair. He couldn’t reach Em.

“
Daddy, we just wanted to play longer,” Em said, those big tears finally spilling out of her eyes.

“
I know, baby. You’re fine. It’s okay,” he said and wondered how in one minute he scolded them and the next he comforted and apologized to them for being angry. They drove the rest of the ride in silence. Trent focused on a mental game plan for getting through the fast food dinner. He racked his brain until it finally dawned on him in a relieved thump of his heart. He’d watched everything on Gage Synclair. What was he so worried about? Quickly he ticked off a list of worldwide topics they could talk about. He could ask Gage’s opinion, get him talking, and keep him talking, about the state of the world. If he paced himself, stayed on his game, maybe he could kill the hour with no harm, no foul, and move them out the door.

“
Daddy, he beat us here,” Em said, her eyes darting to the rearview mirror meeting his. He could see the uncertainty in her eyes and hated he’d put it there.

“
It’s okay, baby. Let’s go say hi, and you two can play.” Trent pulled the truck in the closest parking space to the front doors and got both the kids out on his side of the truck. Hunter tried hard to show his independence, refusing to hold hands across the parking lot.

“
Daddy, I want a cheeseburger with no pickles or mustard,” Hunter said.

“
Can we get ice cream?” Em asked. He supposed the remorse of the situation faded as they almost bounced toward the restaurant.