I squirmed in my seat under his scrutiny.
My attention was directed to the bright green crayon rolling off the table between Lucy and Theo’s arms. Right when it toppled over the edge, Theo’s quick reflexes snatched it right out of the air before it could fall any further.
“Great catch,” I said, laughing as he took the crayon to color with his daughter.
He marked the page as he drew a few shapes on the paper. “Do you like to color?”
“Sure, when I was a kid I loved it. I haven’t done it in years though.”
He handed me the red crayon as Lucy’s eyes grew wide, and I joined in their coloring.
“Here’s a pretty flower,” I said, drawing the petals as best I could.
“Ooh, I love it,” Lucy said as she tried to replicate my flower.
“I used to love gardening with my mom when I was young.” I let out a deep breath as memories of her flooded through me.
“What would the two of you plant?” Theo asked, looking up from his coloring project.
I glanced at Theo’s strong hand guiding his daughter’s tiny, delicate one, helping her trace a flower on the paper.
“Marigolds, Zinnias. Different flowers. We did have an orange tree and my father would pay me to pick the oranges for him.” I smiled, remembering pulling the branches down to get the best ones. “He would give me a dime an orange.”
He glanced up, cracking a grin as he set the crayon down. “What did you do with so much money?”
“Ha ha. Actually, there were quite a lot of oranges.”
“I’m guessing you grew up in Florida.”
I nodded as the waiter arrived with the shrimp and Lucy’s pizza. He set them both down, and Theo picked up a knife, cutting small pieces of the pizza for Lucy.
I grabbed a shrimp, dipped it into the salsa, and brought it to my lips. It tasted like a slice of tropical paradise. The flaky coconut pieces danced along my tongue, and I closed my eyes to savor the flavor.
“I’m kind of wishing I was that piece of shrimp right now,” Theo husked out.
My eyes sprang open at his words, and my cheeks flushed.
“Oh, sorry, these are really good.” I picked up another shrimp and popped it into my mouth.
Awkward silence loomed as a black Dodge Viper pulled into the valet and parked. The door flung open, and a stocky man emerged, screaming in Spanish to the worker behind the valet stand. I snuck a glance at Theo and noticed he sat on the edge of his seat. The worker in the yellow jacket tried to calm the man with gold chains hanging around his neck.
Finally, the man handed off his keys and shouted, “Not a scratch on it.”
“I guess he doesn’t want a scratch on his car,” Theo said matter-of-factly, relaxing back into his seat.
“Guess not.” I laughed. “Why not park in the lot on the other side?” Theo shrugged his shoulders against a beautiful backdrop. Pink and orange colored clouds painted the sky as the sun set behind the Clevelander.
“What did you want to talk to me about?” I asked after a moment of silence passed.
“I wanted to talk about your ideas for The Goat and how we could implement them.”
I wiped my mouth with the linen napkin and returned it to my lap. “Are you serious?”
Theo glanced to me after wiping the pizza sauce from Lucy’s lips. “Yes.”
Things had come full circle since this morning. I breathed in the circular moment in time as chills rolled down my back.
Finally, the recognition I deserved. “Ok, what did you want to start with first?”