Chapter 11
I look down at the paper, and I don't know what to say. It's an okay drawing, but there are no colours. It needs colours.
But at this restaurant they wouldn't have crayons would they? Oh well. I'll colour it when we get back to the hotel. Mom takes it from me so the waiter can put the food down on the table. She asks the server for a small plate on the side, because there's a lot of spaghetti on my plate, and I can't eat that much!
Mom puts some on the smaller plate and asks the waiter to wrap the rest of it up. When he leaves she looks at the picture I drew. She giggles and hands it to Danny, who still doesn't know what's happening.
He looks at me with the picture in his hand. His eyes say something like, "Can I hug you?" I may be seven, but I know that look. I slide off my chair and go over to him. I put my arms around him slowly. I don't know if I want to do this… why should I hug the guy who's trying to steal my Mom from me?
He hugs me back, and I see another mom walk by, she's watching us.
"Isn't it nice to see a father and daughter act like that?" she says to the man beside her. She says it very quietly, but I hear it.
Wait a minute; did she just say father and daughter? I don't feel that way. Danny doesn't feel like my dad, I don't feel like his daughter. I'm hugging him, why isn't Mom saying anything? Why is she just watching? Shouldn't she say something?
Lindsay couldn't do anything but watch the interaction between her daughter and Danny. She had never expected Maddie to really warm up to Danny, it had taken her awhile too.
She watched as Maddie let go of Danny and sat back down in her seat. They were still waiting for their meals (Maddie's had come first since it was very simple to prepare), and she was being very patient, Lindsay observed.
The table was quiet again, and it was uncomfortable.
"Lindsay?" Danny broke through her train of thought and looked her seriously in the face.
"Hmm?"
"Would you consider moving back to New York?"