He sampled his eggs,
closed his eyes on the simple pleasure of hot, delicious food.
We'll let it go,
darling.
Let it go! You can't. You have to contact the police. Of course, I'd prefer if all you boys got together and took a trip down to blacken that man's eyes...
She pressed a
hand to her heart as the image caused it to beat fast.
But,
she continued with some
regret,
the proper thing to do is contact the authorities and have them handle it.
No cops.
He scooped up delicately fried hash brown potatoes.
Dumont's going
to suffer a lot more, not knowing what I'll do or when I'll do it.
Well...
Considering that, Coco began to smile.
I suppose he would. Like waiting
for the other shoe to drop.
Yeah. And bringing the police in would make it tough for Megan and the boy.
You're right, of course.
Gently she brushed a hand over his hair.
I'm so glad they
have you.
I wish she felt the same way.
She does. She's just afraid. Megan's had so much to handle in her life. And you well, Nathaniel, you're a man who'd leave any woman a bit addled.
You think so, huh?
I know so. Are you having much pain this morning, dear? You can take another pill.
I'll settle for aspirin.
I thought you might.
Coco took a bottle out of her apron pocket.
Take these with
your juice.
Yes, ma'am.
He obeyed, then went back to his eggs.
So, you've seen Megan this
morning?
It was nearly dawn before I could convince her to leave you and get some sleep.
That information went down even better than the food.
Yeah?
And the way she looked at you...
Coco patted his hand.
Well, a woman knows
these things. Especially when she's in love herself.
A becoming blush bloomed on
her cheeks.
I suppose you know that Niels and I that we're... involved.
He made some sound. He didn't want the image in his brain of them together in the dark. Coco and Dutch were as close to parents as he'd ever had, and no child, even at thirty-three, wanted to think about that side of a parental relationship.
These past few weeks have been wonderful. I had a lovely marriage, and there are memories I've cherished and will cherish all of my life. And over the years, I've had some nice, compatible relationships. But with Niels...