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He nodded. “That’s Corinne.”
“She’s beautiful.”
“Isn’t she? She looks a lot like her mom.”
“I bet Quinn was beautiful, too.”
“Quinn was a dream.”
I expected to feel jealous, but I didn’t. I understood where he was at with that. He cleared his throat. “Do you want to come sit with us?”
“Um,” I looked back at the door, still contemplating leaving. I didn’t want to get sucked up into it with Robert again. I had already felt how painful that could be. He didn’t seem to be able to connect with people. “Sure.”
“Come on.” He held out his hand for me to take, and as I slipped my fingers between his, I was surprised to see how comforting it felt. His hand was worn and warm, calloused, though I didn’t know from what.
He led me to his table, where the older woman from the first day of class, Heather, sat, along with his daughter, who was scarfing down as much dessert as she could before her dad saw.
“Corinne,” he said firmly, in a voice that warned her. She swallowed hard and looked up at him with big, brown eyes. “Did you put any of the vegetables on your plate?”
“She ate a plate full of broccoli. I saw it myself,” Heather said, winking at Corinne.
“I don’t appreciate you lying for my kid,” Robert scoffed, as he pulled out my chair, seemingly without even thinking of it.
“Come on, Robby, lighten up. She’s eleven. Let her eat a plate full of crap,” Heather said jovially, nudging Corinne with her elbow.
Corinne smiled at her, but her smile was strained. “Sorry, Daddy. I’ll eat some vegetables, I promise.”
“I was the same way,” I interjected shyly. “I never wanted to eat my vegetables. That’s why I’m so puny now.”
“Now, come on, I saw that knee you gave Robby your first day of class,” Heather said with a sly smile. “I wouldn’t call you puny. Seemed like there was some anger there.”
I wrinkled my nose. “Maybe I have some unchecked issues.” I looked over at Corinne and teased, “Probably because I didn’t eat my broccoli.”
Corinne giggled shyly against her hand, her sleeve so long that it covered it. I remembered being her age, all the embarrassment I felt for just existing.
The hour passed by quickly, and I watched as Robert managed to somehow fit in perfectly and say all the right things to his daughter, to me, and to Heather.
He didn’t seem like a man who had just a few weeks ago fucked me mindlessly and then sent me home cold and filled with cum. Either he was an extremely adept conman, or I had misjudged him, and something else was going on.
My phone buzzed, my brother texting me that he was there to pick me up.
“Well,” I said, “I’ve got to go. My brother’s here. Any way that I could take some pie home with me?”
“You could always wrap it in a napkin and sneak it out in your purse. That’s what my grandma used to do with Red Lobster biscuits,” Heather said, her eyes darting toward the napkins on the table.
“Actually, I’ve got something you can use,” Robert said, standing up and walking away. He came back, pulling a wagon, to my surprise, and pulled a beautiful piece of stoneware out of it. “Here, take this.”
“Oh my God,” I breathed. “Is this an antique?”
Robert laughed a little. “It is. Good eye. But seriously, take it. Put some pie in there and take it. This one picked out like seven pieces of cookware at the store, and now we have far too many.” He looked at Corinne, who grinned a little deviously.
I turned the piece around in my hands, looking at the intricate gold leafing embedded in it. “Well, thank you. It’s gorgeous.”
“Sure,” he said simply, shrugging. He was standing so close to me, his hands awkwardly at his side, as though he were considering hugging me.
I leaned forward slightly and then gave up, my mind a whirlwind of all the things that we’d been through. And what he didn’t know.
“Okay. You all enjoy your dinner. And you, little lady,” I looked at Corinne, “It was very nice meeting you.”