Diamonds Are Forever - Brooke St. James Page 0,51

series was above and beyond my expectations.

The beautiful thing was that they wanted me for me. I didn't have to pretend to know what to do in the publishing world, or the advertising world, or the animation world. All I had to do was live in my hedgehog world and continue to write Garden City stories.

I didn't see the Hollywood sign or try to look at the homes of movie stars while I was in Los Angeles. I didn't go shopping on Rodeo Drive. I didn't do any of the touristy things that the city has to offer. I did make it over to the beach once, but just for one afternoon.

My trip was focused on work, and that was what made it great. If I had been there to enjoy the landscape and scenery, I would have missed my people too much. But as it stood, with all the business and progress that was taking place, the time passed quickly, and I was back in Texas before I knew it.

I was happy to get home. I was relieved to see Mac and hold him. It had only been a few days, and I felt like he grew.

I got home earlier today, and I was still missing Drew.

We had crossed paths with our plans. He was in Houston, helping his sister move, so I wouldn't see him for another day or two. We had seen a whole lot of each other lately, and this was the longest gap in a while. I missed his presence. I missed his laugh. I missed his confidence and his logic. We already had inside jokes, things that made us pinch each other.

I was daydreaming about him when Mac came into our cottage. Mac had asked to go to the park for a walk, and Mom asked if she could come.

"Are you ready?" Mac asked. "Nana said come on so she can walk Sport."

"I'm coming," I said. "Give me a second to put my shoes on."

Mac was excited about going on a walk. My mom almost never went with us, so Mac was jumping around and talking fast like he was all pumped up.

It was my Mom's idea to go to Oak Bayou. She had been around Drew quite a bit, and she knew the story of how we first met, but I had never taken her to the place.

Mac sat in the backseat with Sport. He giggled and talked the entire time we drove. He was in the best mood, and it made me smile because I figured he was happy to have me back home.

"Oh, my dar-ling Luuuucy." He sang the words from the backseat, causing me to look back at him.

I thought he was going to sing "Oh, my darling Clementine," but then I realized he said my name and sang the song in a completely different tune.

"What?"

"My darrrr-liiing Luuuucyyyy!" he sang, out of tune. He was being hilarious.

"What are you singing about?" I said, scrunching my face and being silly with him in the rearview mirror as I drove.

"He's just excited to have his mama home," Mom said, turning to glance at Mac.

Mac continued singing and jabbering in the backseat. He was excited.

Moments later, we parked on the street near the place that would take us to the dock at Oak Bayou. I turned off the car and reached out to open my door.

"Hold on," Mom said from the passenger's seat, putting her hand on my arm to stop me from getting out. "Mac and I are actually going to keep going from here."

"What? Ma'am?"

She turned to Mac. "Stay in your seat," she said.

He nodded and kicked his legs like he already knew that.

"I'll take your keys and drive your car," Mom said to me. "I told Mac we would go for a walk somewhere else, or I'd take him to Pap's store or something—maybe to the taffy shop."

"Yeah!" Mac said.

My heart started beating faster as I realized what was happening. It had to be Drew. My mom was a stable person. She wasn't the type who would drive me out to a deserted road and leave me there for no reason. It made sense that she was telling me to stay by myself because Drew was here. I was so excited to see him that I didn't even care why we were doing it this way.

"Is Drew here?" I asked, looking for his truck. I hadn't seen it when we pulled up.

"He's supposed to meet you at the dock," Mom