The Current Between Us

“Daddy, Rhonny and I cooked dinner. Hunter helped too. I’m hungry,” Em said, coming to stand by him while he hung on to Hunter’s feet as he performed another handstand.

“Yeah, good point, Em. You two need to eat. It’s already seven-thirty. Dinner, bath, bed. Yay!” Rhonny said from the porch where she’d continued to read while they played.

“No, boo!” Hunter called back, but the night had come on quick. The late May evening air grew crisp. He could see the goose bumps springing up on Em’s arms.

“Come on, Rhonny’s right. Let’s go inside, you two. I have paperwork and you two have to go to bed. I need sleep. Sleep without arms hitting and legs kicking me. Any idea who it might have been, Hunt?” Trent asked, grabbing Em up in his arms and herding Hunter into the house.

“Emalynn,” Hunter promptly replied which started a whole new round of arguing over who could have kicked him last night.

“Step up here and wash your hands, then sit at the table,” Rhonny said, beginning to warm parts of the dinner. The small round oak dinner table sat four comfortably and the places were already set with plates, napkins and silverware.

“Daddy, I made the salad and Hunter made the green beans. Rhonny made the chicken,” Em said, pulling her stepstool to the kitchen sink to wash her hands.

“It looks delicious, honey,” Trent said, grabbing the milk from the refrigerator. He poured their drinks while Rhonny placed the food on the table. Hunter and Emalynn made fast work of washing up and then raced to the table.

Although technically Rhonny’s time off, she stayed with them for dinner that night. The usual “how many bites of this do I have to eat” and “can I have more” of anything sweet on the table ensued. After dinner, everyone helped with kitchen cleanup and then came bath time. Em and Hunter still bathed together at night, although Hunter showed signs of independence, talking about needing to have his own bath. Teeth were brushed, hair combed and dried, pajamas on, and bedtime stories read. Rhonny stayed through the whole process, and it helped to have an extra pair of hands.

When Rhonny gave her time for free, she usually bailed about halfway through bath time, but not tonight. She stayed the entire way through until the end of story time, when both kids were asleep. Trent shut Hunter’s door about the same time Rhonny pulled Em’s door to, and they quietly walked together down the hall toward the living room.

“It gets them to bed earlier when you help. Thanks for sticking around tonight,” Trent said quietly.

“It’s my pleasure… Plus I have something to talk to you about,” Rhonny said, stopping in the kitchen when Trent started toward his office to finish his paperwork.

“What? And after the day I’ve had, you aren’t allowed to tell me you’re quitting.” Trent looked back over his shoulder, his weariness from the day finally catching up with him. Before he crashed completely, he needed to finish the bid he’d worked on this morning. He stopped at the expression on Rhonny’s face and turned completely toward her. She appeared nervous, jittery. He stepped closer to her, narrowing his eyes in concern.

“No, I’m not quitting. I love you guys. But I do have someone I want you to meet,” Rhonny said, squaring her shoulders, resolve hit her brow. He could almost see her straightening her spine before she said anything more and that confused him that much more.

“Okay. Is it like playing your dad or something like that? Do I need to bring the rifle in the house? Give him my most mean look?” Trent said, a grin tugged at the corner of his lips, loving the idea of practicing the tough dad routine before Em started dating.

“No, silly, I have someone I want you to meet for you. It’s one of my professors. I found out today he’s gay. He’s super-hot. All the girls like him, and he’s totally single.” Rhonny gave a nod of her head at the end of her declaration as if that settled the matter.

“Rhonny,” Trent hedged.

“No, now listen. I’m completely serious. I know you don’t go out much, but you need to. Auntie Crazy’s going to start setting you up on blind dates. I’m not supposed to tell you, but she’s serious. She got so excited when she thought you were going out with someone this weekend, and I agree with her, Trent, you need to get out of the house more. You need to relax, and having a good time wouldn’t kill you. We’ll both babysit and work it out with each other to be here more,” Rhonny said.

“Sweetheart, I appreciate the offer, and tell Sophia, I appreciate her, but I’ll ask when I need help in that area. Blind dates just sound torturous… No offense to your professor, but yeah… No…” Squinting his eyes, he gave a grimace thinking over the idea of meeting someone out in public he’d never seen before and being forced to spend the evening with him. What a whipping! “Yeah, really, no… Not interested, Rhonny.”

“Look, let me snap his picture tomorrow in class. I’ll text it to you. Will you please not shoot it down without a look at him? He’s hot, Trent, and you two would be super-hot together. The girls would die when you two walked by. You know all my friends want to go out with you; they don’t care you’re gay. They want to be the one to change you,” Rhonny said it all while turning and walking out the kitchen toward her basement apartment. She sauntered away with a little swagger she did when she thought she was funny. She’d made those absurd remarks before, but they never failed to catch him off guard. He chuckled at her silly friends, who were all ten years younger than him. Mere babes in the woods compared to his “old man” status, especially counting the last four years.

****

After three hours of running totals, checking and double checking his numbers, Trent felt like the latest electrical proposal to hit his desk was finally done. The only problem, the basic, everyday bid shouldn’t have taken this long to work out. He knew this information like the back of his hand, yet hours passed while he got all the way through it.