Page 15 of The Night
He nodded once. “And they don’t have telephones in Boston? Or mail? FedEx?Email?”
“It… I… It’s complicated,” I said. My gaze inadvertently darted to Hazel again. “Look, can we sit down? I’d love to buy you a cup of coffee and just… explain.”
Gideon snorted and lifted his eyes to the ceiling. “The one goddamn person in the universe whowantsto get me coffee.”
“Huh?”
“Nothing.” Gideon’s voice was hard. “And no, I don’t have time for coffee.”
“Sure you do!” Parker said from the table. “You were gonna drink coffee anyway, so why not—”
Gideon turned and shut him up with a look. “No fucking coffee.”
“Fine,” Parker sighed. “But, you know, maybe watch the language? What with the k-i-d around?”
We both ignored him. I was pretty sure Hazel was too far away to hear.
“Okay, how about an early dinner then?” I offered.
“Can’t do dinner either. I’m busy.”
I frowned. “I’m guessing you couldn’t do breakfast tomorrow or brunch on Sunday or teatime a week from next Wednesday either?”
“Nope. I have shifts every day. Firefighter, remember?”
Yeah.I remembered.I bit my lip.
Gideon sighed and ran a hand over his hair. “Just… go get your fucking—”
Parker made an impatient noise, and Gideon glared over his shoulder.
“Go get your papers, Liam,” he said, like he was forcing the words out. “I’ll sign them right now, and this will all be over and done. We didn’t have a big conversation before we got into this mess, and we don’t need one to get out of it.”
“Fine.” I pushed my lips together and told myself I wasnothurt. Itwasa mess. And getting out of it wasexactlywhat I wanted. “We just need a notary to sign off. I’m assuming there’s one in town?”
Gideon nodded. “Plenty. Lisa Dorian over at the library is—”
“Gone,” Parker interjected.
Gideon turned and frowned. “Gone? Where?”
“She and her sisters went down to the outlets in Cherry Hill for a long weekend of Christmas shopping. She’ll be back Tuesday.”
Gideon blinked. “How do you know this shit?” Parker opened his mouth to answer, but Gideon cut him off. “Never mind. I don’t care. Rick Chang is probably in his office.”
A nervous-looking lady from the table next to Hazel’s called out. “I couldn’t help overhearing, Gideon, dear. You do remember that little Ross Chang has croup, right? Rick and Kathy took him to the children’s hospital over in Syracuse—”
“Fuck,” Gideon said under his breath. He closed his eyes tightly, clenched his jaw, and raised his voice as he said. “Right. I forgot. Thank you, Ms. Davenport. For interjecting that helpful information. Into what was supposed to be a private conversation.”
“Welcome!” she said without irony. She leaned to the side and told me with a wrinkled nose, “Little Ross is gonna be fine, but Jules said Kathy sounded really shaken up. She took the wholeweekoff from the vet clinic, and it’s been just devastating to me and to my Macarena.”
I nodded slowly. I had no clue who Kathy or Jules or Rick or—did she say Macarena?—were, but I understood the feeling.
“When my daughter was three and a bit”—I nodded at Hazel, who’d abandoned all restraint and was now licking her cookie—“she got croup. It was my first time taking her to the ER. I was scared todeath.” I shook my head at the memory. “Parenting is a series of trials by fire.”
“Amen,” said a frizzy-haired younger woman, seated at a table with a teenaged girl and another girl maybe Hazel’s age. She gave me a warm smile and a cheery wave. “Sorry! I couldn’t help overhearing either. I’m Jess, and this is my Frannie.” She nodded at the little girl. “She’s eight.”
I nodded. “Liam,” I said with a tiny wave. “And my daughter is… Hazel.”