Taking Heart by Kate Gilead

Author:Kate Gilead [Gilead, Kate]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2019-03-30T00:00:00+00:00

Kyle leads me through the garage door into the kitchen, calling out, “Dad?”

“Be right there,” Don’s voice comes from somewhere within the house.

Taking our coats off and slinging them over the back of a kitchen chair, Kyle smiles at me and motions for me to sit down.

“Have a seat, Heart,” he says, “make yourself at home.”

Then goes to the fridge, opens it, and peers inside. “Where’s that cheesecake,” he mutters. “Aha!” He pulls a white cardboard cakebox from the fridge and puts it on the counter.

The spacious kitchen is a bit bachelor-messy, and could use an update to the decor and fittings. The dark cupboards and chunky appliances look like they might have been new in the nineties, when I was a baby.

The most modern item in the kitchen is a Mac mini with a giant display screen, set on a little desk beside the table.

Kyle sees me looking at the computer. “That was my idea,” he says, quietly, looking around the kitchen himself. “Dad’s thinking about updating the kitchen, finally. I haven’t pushed him. He didn’t even want to have a computer, but I convinced him he could start by looking up recipes.”

“It’s a nice computer, Kyle. Does he use it now?”

“Oh, yeah. He’s gotten better with it. He has another one in his study now, too. He’s on Facebook mostly,” Kyle laughs.

“How old is your dad, if you don’t mind my asking?”

“He’s sixty. “

“And how old are you?”

“Thirty-five,” he says with a grin. “I already know how old you are, Heart. I admit, I looked it up in payroll.”

“Ohhh? Sneaky.” I smile. “So now you know my birthday, too.”

“Yep. June fourth.” He leans back against the counter. “Mine’s July sixteenth, by the way. Okay? Now, we’re even,” he says with a grin.

Don comes into the kitchen, saying, “So? How’d it go?”

“Fantastic,” I say, while, at the same time, Kyle says, “Great!”

Don laughs. “I told you! It’s really very easy once you get the hang of it.”

“Well, it was nerve-wracking at first, but after a while, it did get easier.”

“If you keep at it, it’ll be second nature in no time.”

“Thanks Don. I appreciate it.”

“No problem. Can I get you a tea or coffee?”

“Tea, thanks.”

Kyle cuts and plates the cheesecake, then takes the seat next to mine and we dig into our dessert, listening to Don’s little stories about spending the winter in Florida.

I stretch my legs out under the table and accidentally bump my foot into Kyle’s. I move it away, but immediately, I feel his foot touching mine again.

Experimentally, I move it away again, only to feel his foot press even more firmly against mine.

It’s all I can do not to giggle at the high-school silliness of playing footsies under the table with my boss.

But I love it. I can’t help it, I just do.

After a bit, Don takes his coffee to the computer desk, asking if we mind if he checks in with a Snowbird Facebook group that he’s a part of, and let them know he arrived home safely.

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