The Man Who Has No Heart - Victoria Quinn Page 0,31
his son alone. “My driver is waiting for you downstairs.”
Now I knew who he was texting. “I’m serious, Deacon. You don’t have to do that—”
“I’m not letting you walk home in the dark.”
“I could take a cab—”
“But I know you won’t. And I don’t want you alone in a cab either.”
Deacon always went out of his way to take care of me…even when I wasn’t his responsibility. It was sweet, sweeter than I could put into words. “Well…thank you.”
“Of course.” He closed the door behind him so we wouldn’t have to listen to Derek yell as he bounced on the bed. He stood in front of me, even though there wasn’t much else to say. “What time are we going tomorrow?”
“The car will pick you up at seven p.m.”
“You mean, we.”
I raised an eyebrow. “I didn’t realize you wanted me to accompany you.”
“I just assumed you would…unless you’re busy or something.”
Even if I were, I would cancel any plans to spend the evening with him and Derek. “No, I’m not busy. But I thought you’d want to spend the evening alone with him. That’ll be a great memory for the two of you.”
“Why wouldn’t it be a great memory if it was all three of us?” He asked the question like he was genuinely bewildered by my statement, like I was as much a part of their lives as Tucker or his mother, like I belonged there.
“I’ll see you tomorrow, then.” Now, I couldn’t wait to go to sleep and wake up tomorrow, to spend the evening with the two of them…the people who’d become a family I didn’t realize I needed. When my husband left me, I felt so alone, completely on my own. But Deacon made me feel like I was part of something…and not because it was my job. “Goodnight.”
“Goodnight, Cleo.” He smiled at me before he walked back inside his residence. Derek’s yells went silent the second the door was shut.
I stayed there for a few more seconds, missing both of them the moment they were gone.
Nine
Deacon
We arrived at the planetarium after hours, and Cleo checked us in. She’d somehow reserved the place for us to enjoy alone. There was never a request I made that she couldn’t fulfill. She was a woman of limitless knowledge, of determination that couldn’t be deterred.
We entered the lobby, seeing the large planets and stars hanging from the ceiling.
Derek was instantly amazed. “Whoa…”
We went to the different exhibits and simulations. In the Mars rover experience, Derek got to drive the cart over the planet in virtual reality, using actual footage collected from the device. Then we moved to the other sections, learning about the gas giants at the edge of the solar system, and even seeing a replica of Voyager 1 and 2.
Derek was amazed by everything.
We went into the theater with the seats that reclined back to see the projection of the universe onto the ceiling. It was a presentation about the origins of the universe, the formations of stars and galaxies, of Earth’s relative smallness compared to the mass that stretched across billions of light-years over the universe.
When I turned my head toward Cleo to see if she was enjoying the show, she was already looking at me, her blue eyes reflecting the light from the virtual stars. Her hair was down, lying on her neck in the perfect way, and the slight smile on her lips was so soft.
I stared for a while, more intrigued by her appearance than the show that fascinated my son. Sometimes I got stuck in these situations where I wanted to stare at her instead of anything else, where my brain was so stimulated by her appearance that I couldn’t look away.
She was the most beautiful woman I’d ever seen.
The presentation ended, and the lights came on.
Derek’s voice interrupted my thoughts. “They didn’t say anything about aliens.”
I broke eye contact with Cleo and turned to my son. “There’s been no scientific evidence to support their existence, so why would they be mentioned?”
“NASA says there’re fossils of bacteria on Mars, which means there was life there once. Doesn’t that qualify as an alien?”
My son always impressed me with his intelligence. “I think so.”
“Well, they didn’t mention that.”
“Maybe they’ll talk about it somewhere else.”
Cleo sat up. “What about Area 51? What do you think is there?”
Derek climbed out of his chair. “Not aliens. I think they’re hiding knowledge, technology, stuff the public isn’t supposed to know about.”