Sandy Gingras - Lola Polenta 01 - Swamped (33 page)

BOOK: Sandy Gingras - Lola Polenta 01 - Swamped

2.71Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub

ads

Then Dreamer puts her paw up, and Juliet looks at my father. He hesitates. Then he bends down and high fives Dreamer. There’s a hitch in my breathing. My father turns and walks toward my mother. He’s got a little limp.

Paulie comes over. “Juliet, will you and Dreamer help me get the cake?” Then he says, “Excuse us.”

The detective and I stand there. “Curious George,” he says to me.

“I guess we maybe got off on the wrong foot,” I tell him.

“Must’ve been my hiking boots,” he says.

“Oh that.” I sigh. I really find it difficult to explain myself sometimes.

I look over at my father. He’s looking at us. Dave glances at him. My father looks down.

“He disapproves of me,” I tell Dave.

“I doubt it. He seems proud of you.”

“He doesn’t think I’m cut out for this job. My father considers me a kind of mini-plague. I spread disaster wherever I go.”

“You’re complex, that’s all.” Dave smiles.

We look at each other. He’s really incredibly cute, the way his eyes crinkle in his kind wide face. I feel how his whole body is turned to me and I want to fall right into his warmth. I think, suddenly, about living in the now. I let my head droop forward and it touches his shoulder. I wonder if it could be that the now is as simple as that—a man’s shoulder. He reaches out and touches my arm. It’s only a moment, then we both pull back.

“You look like you need a day off,” he says.

“I do?” I ask.

“Maybe we could play golf sometime,” the detective says.

The words hang in the space between us—this potential game of golf—the smooth greens, the undulating fairways, the lush palm trees lining the cart paths. It’s very inviting, for nature that is. It’s like the chalk paintings in Mary Poppins that you want to jump right in.

“Um,” I say.

“It’s just golf,” he tells me.

When a man says “just” you have to watch out. “Just one kiss” for example. “Just friends.” I mean, right off the bat, you know you’re in trouble.

“Just golf?” I ask.

He nods as if in agreement. Did I just agree to something? The air in the room feels hot and shimmery and smells like powdered sugar. My heart is wheeling around and around. I see my mother across the room watching me and nodding. I look back at the detective.

Juliet comes running up to him, Dreamer trotting behind. She grabs his hand. “There are chocolate roses on the cake,” she announces.

“Really?” her father says.

Her worried little face looks suddenly young and happy. “I get a whole one on my piece, Paulie says so.”

“Good for you,” he tells her.

“Do I get one too?” I ask her.

“If you say please nicely,” she tells me.

“Please nicely,” I say.

She smirks. “You’re weird,” she tells me.

“I’m COMPLEX,” I say.

My father clears his throat and says he’d like to make a toast. “I’m losing a partner today, but I’m gaining a great chef,” he says. “To my brother Paulie, the best of luck.

“And to my lovely wife,” my father raises his glass again, “May she have a safe journey and return to us soon.”

“Here, here,” we all say. My mother looks around at everyone and smiles.

“Also,” he says. “To my daughter.” The room gets quiet. My father hesitates, “Who just passed her P.I. licensure exam.”

The detective looks at me. I shrug.

“This is for you,” my father tells me handing me a wrapped present. “Congratulations on joining the firm.”

“Thank you,” I say taking the present.

Everyone gathers around as I open it. I smile.

It’s a level.

If you enjoyed SWAMPED, you may also like:

The Grace Cassidy Mystery series by Jackie King

The Inconvenient Corpse

Kindle