Page 47 of Return on Love

“You’re nice. Will you take me for an ice-cream? I love strawberry.”

“Did your mom say you can have some?” asks Ryan before I can answer.

Jen is holding my hand and taking me to the couch. I sit down and she jumps onto my lap before answering Ryan. “What if I say yes? You know you can’t call her and ask when she’s gone to the Emergency.”

The sly fox. She’s so smart. She looks at me and winks. “Ryan is scared of mommy,” she half-whispers.

“Uncle Ryan!” comes Ryan’s voice. “Don’t forget the Uncle, pumpkin.”

“Yeah, whatever. I’m talking to my new best friend here.” She rolls her eyes dramatically and looks at me. “Men!” she says.

I can’t help but laugh out hysterically at her shenanigans.

“Well, I’ll take you for an ice-cream if you tell me about Uncle Ryan. Deal?” I half-whisper to her.

“Deal!” she shrieks and starts jumping on the couch.

“Hey, that’s so not fair,” says Ryan, with a false pout on his face. Oh, those lips. They look so edible. And now that I’ve tasted them, I want them again. They’re like heroin. I wonder if kissing could really be addictive.

“What do you wanna know?” Jen asks, still jumping.

“What do you like most about him?”

“He’s my best friend.”

“I thought that was me?” I reply, faking sadness.

She plants a kiss. “Don’t worry. You are too. But I’ve known him forever. He gets me gifts. Plays with me. He’s always there whenever mommy is not well or has some work. And, best of all, I love his pies and tarts.”

“Oh yes. That I agree. They are really yummy, aren’t they?”

“The best!” She turns to Ryan. “Did you get any today?”

Ryan shakes his head. “Sorry pumpkin. I wasn’t home when your mom called.”

“Where were you? It’s Saturday so you couldn’t be in office.”

“Um. With Eva. We were… um… working.”

Thankfully, Jen is satisfied with that explanation. “You know, Eva, Ryan learned to cook from my great grandma. That means his grandma.” She explains to me as if I wouldn’t understand otherwise. “She taught Uncle Ryan to cook and bake so nicely. I wish my mom had also learned a little, but she knows nothing. Great Grandma had this nice patisserie place in Danbury, y’know. Mom took me there once. Now, of course, it’s some restaurant owned by someone else.”

“Danbury?” I ask. I’m getting to know more about Ryan from Jen in five minutes than I did in so many weeks with him.

“Yeah. Did you know Hat City is a nickname for Danbury because long back they used to make a lot of hats there?”

“Interesting. You know a lot of things, Jen.”

Jen glows with pride and pecks me on the cheek. “I like you. Do you wanna see my game in Scratch?”

“Of course.”

She drags me, pulling me by my hand, and takes me upstairs into a cute little room. It has a large photo of Ryan, Emily and her. There are posters of Minecraft, Piggies and Moore. Even her bedsheet has patterns of Minecraft. There are some dolls and stuffed toys that are neatly placed by the side of her bed. She opens a laptop on a tidy little table. I wonder if the entire family has this thing about neatness.

“Here,” she says in a few minutes. “You wanna play?”

I do and to be honest, I’m wonder-struck by what I see. Given her age, I think she’s coded a great game. Almost like mini Minecraft. Of course, the world is smaller and there are fewer options, but she’s done a marvelous job. She keeps instructing me on the keys that I need to use for various things. Within minutes, I’ve got the hang of it.

“You’re fantastic at this, Jen. I’m impressed,” I say after some time.

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