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One
Derek
I left the lobby of the building and approached the Escalade waiting at the curb I opened the door and got into the back seat
Ronnie greeted , Mr Hamilton”
“Morning”
Ronnie pulled onto the street and got into traffic
“How are you?” Emerson smiled at me from her side of the SUV, her coffee in her hand, her hair in a slick ponytail so it would stay out of her face while she had her head bowed over my paperwork She was perky, warm, a dash of sunshine inside the vehicle
“Good How are you?” I pulled out my laptop from my satchel and set it on my lap The conversation with my father had taken place yesterday Unfortunately, the rest of the afternoon was a bit aard, and we never really recovered froo to bed and wake up to a new day My father and I rarely butted heads, and since I was a grown man, I didn’t appreciate the way he stuck his nose in my private life But I reminded myself that my parents loved me in insane proportions, and they only wanted the best for me That conversation was difficult for my father, but he did it anyway because he felt it was necessary
“Great Hoas your weekend?”
“Alright” It was a little weird to talk to her right now, especially after the whole thing that happened with Paht I’d compared the liaison to fictitious ones with Emerson—and I was extremely disappointed
“Did you do anything?”
“I visited my parents at their cabin”
“Oh, that sounds like fun” Whenever she was cheery, it was infectious, and it lifted my mood a bit “Where’s this cabin?”
“In Connecticut On a lake”
“Wow, that sounds like the perfect way to spend a weekend Do you fish?”
“Yes But we didn’t do that yesterday”
“It was a beautiful day, so that lad you did so fun instead of stared at your laptop all weekend” She gave me a smile before she looked out theand drank from her coffee “How are your parents?”
“Happy” When I reflected on my childhood, I had very fewlike two best friends My father and Valerie…all they ever did was fight I still remembered how sad ed when hetime, and they’re still in love”