Switch (Landry Family 3)

“Define crazy.”

“Kid’s cereal. Stuffed French toast. Biscuits and gravy.”

“I haven’t had kid’s cereal since I was a kid.”

“Why not?”

“Because I’m not a kid.”

“That makes no difference,” I point out. “Those chocolate pebbles are the best thing ever. Let them sit in the milk until they’re a little soggy and . . . oh my goodness.”

“I used to like the fruity ones. Only as soon as they hit the milk, though. I hate them soggy.”

A smile touches my lips as I imagine Graham as a little boy, eating cereal as fast as he could. It’s adorable, probably even less adorable than it really was.

“Well, I had chocolate chip pancakes with butter and syrup,” I tell him. “Not much more adultish than chocolate cereal.”

“I haven’t had pancakes in forever.”

“Who are you?” I joke. “What do you even eat?”

“I had a blueberry muffin this morning. And a bowl of oatmeal.”

“So boring.”

He laughs. “So true.”

“Maybe I’ll bring you some pancakes tomorrow morning. I feel like you’re deprived.”

“Oh, so you’re coming in to work tomorrow, huh?” he singsongs. “Good to know.”

“Someone didn’t accept my intent to resign.”

“Someone was bluffing with her intent to resign.”

I blush because he’s kind of right. I didn’t want to resign, but I absolutely would have if it would’ve made things easier. But talking to him today doesn’t feel awkward. Maybe it even feels easier.

“I wasn’t exactly bluffing.”

“You were,” he says simply. “But I’ll tell you something.”

“What’s that?”

“I like the way you bluff.”

“I like the way you do a lot of things,” I say quietly.

“You’re pretty well-versed in a number of things as well.”

Standing, I head towards the lake and consider my next move. I’m not sure where to go with this, so I change the subject.

“One thing I don’t do well is ski,” I say randomly. “I wish I could.”

“Where the hell did that come from?”

“I’m looking at the lake and thinking about the last time I water skied. It was a couple of years ago and I thought I was going to drown. I never did stand for more than a few seconds.”

“We go out every summer and fuck around,” he says. “I love to water ski. Snow ski. It takes focus and quiet and most of it is in your mind.” He pauses for a long moment. “Maybe someday I can give you a lesson or two.”