Chapter 154
Daily Walks and Picnic Dates-2
“Is that a question oris it already decided?” I asked.
He looked at the message again. “Decided, probably p>
“Then yes,” I said.
Claim
Lucian arrived at the park at ten forty-five, which was five minutes early, which I was learning was simply how Lucian operated-he was early in the way that some people were always slightly late, not because he was anxious about time but because earliness was how he organized his relationship with it. He had a bag over each shoulder and Lake on his heels narrating their arrival in real time.
“We’re here,” Lake announced, to the park in general. “We got here early. Dad said we should get a good spot before all the good spots are taken by others.
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The spot is good.” He surveyed the area with the authority of someone confirming that advance planning had paid off. “There are ducks p>
“There are ducks,” I confirmed.
“I know what kind,” Drew said, from beside Dante.
“What kind?” Lake asked immediately.
“Mallards,” Drew said. “The ones with green heads are males. The brown ones are females p>
Lake looked at the ducks with the focused attention of someone receiving useful intelligence about something he didn’t know before.
“I didn’t know that,” he said. “I know now.” He filed this apparently and moved on. “Can we feed them p>
“We didn’t bring anything to feed them,” Lucian said.
“We could get something p>
“We just arrived p>
“The ducks are right there p>
“Lake p>
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“Okay,” Lake said, and went to inspect the ducks from a respectful distance without feeding them, which was a compromise I was beginning to understand was characteristic id him. Lake was someone who when he wanted something pushed towards it and when he encountered a boundary that he couldn’t get through, he accepted it, and moved to the adjacent acceptable activity with remarkable speed, not dwelling on the former one or causing a tantrum that was characteristic of most kids who cried when they didn’t get what they wanted.
Drew followed him, and the two of them crouched by the water’s edge in the specific way of small people examining something at ground level, Lake providing running commentary and Drew making occasional precise corrections to what was being said.
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Picnic Dates 2 Meanwhile Lucian spread a blanket with the efficiency and speed of someone who’d done this before, which given Lake’s energy levels he almost certainly had Claim The bag contained food-genuinely good food, which shouldn’t have surprised me given what I knew of Lucian’s tendency toward thoroughness, but still did slightly. Sandwiches, fruit, something in a container that turned out to be a grain salad with the specific ingredients which showed that someone had mentioned about my dietary requirements and had taken it seriously as well. I looked at the grain salad. “Cameron mentioned some things,” Lucian said, which was his way of not making a thing of it. “He talks about me to you,” I said. “He talks about everyone to me,” Lucian said. “I’m his PA. It comes with the territory.” A pause, and then something that might have been the beginning of a smile but didn’t fully develop properly, making only the corner of his lips move upwards. “Also I think he was nervous I wouldn’t know what to bring p> Dante was watching the boys by the water with the attention he had-always aware of Drew’s position, always tracking without hovering, the specific vigilance of a parent who had calibrated the distance correctly. I settled on the blanket. The park was the kind of park that was filled with the kind of fresh air that I needed to clear my head and I was grateful to them for bringing it up because I didn’t think I would have done so on my own. “How are you feeling?” Lucian asked. Not how are you, which was the question people asked and didn’t entirely mean but just asked because it was polite to do. How are you feeling, which was the more specific version, the one that invited an actual answer because they were curious about it. “Better every day,” I said, which was true. “Frank cleared me for walking last week. I’ve been doing the neighborhood route.” A pause. “It’s more tiring and frustrating than it should be and I’m trying not to be impatient about that p> “You’re allowed to be impatient about it,” Lucian said. “That’s more permissive than most people have been,” I said. “Most people are trying to keep you calm and safe, making sure that you don’t get upset about something,” he said. “I’m just being accurate.” He looked at the boys. “Impatience is a reasonable response to recovering more slowly than you want to p> “Drew told me the tree was selective,” I said. “About which leaves it keeps p> Lucian looked at me. “He said that p> 23 Florence A passionate storyteller who brings emotions to life through her words. When she’s not writing, she finds peace nurturing her garden.