Page 76 of Derek

“That sounds bad; I noticed—” Her sentence came to an abrupt stop as Yvonne shot upright. Sonja cringed as the girl almost poked her own eye out with the pen she had been chewing on. Yvonne blurted, “We could do a Dutch week!”

Sonja paused with her mouth wide open. Yvonne’s cheeks colored an attractive shade of pink, and she mouthed, “Sorry.”

Suzie studied her with a pensive gaze and a cocked head. “No, don’t be. Please continue, Yvonne!”

Yvonne looked from Suzie to Sonja and back. She drew a deep breath and launched into her explanation. “I was thinking about Haarlem, my hometown, and my sister, Els. Els is my last living relative besides Tante Wilma,” Yvonne said. Both women listened with growing interest as Yvonne explained her idea. Neither Sonja nor Suzie spoke until she finished her monologue. “So, I was thinking how I missed some of the Dutch foods, mostly de kroket.”

Suzie looked puzzled. “Croquet sounds French to me. What is it?”

Yvonne smiled. “Oh, believe me, it’s very Dutch, and we also make them in a smaller version, called bitterballen.” At the raised eyebrows, she chuckled. “Yeah, I know it doesn’t sound good in English, but it tastes great! Basically, it’s a fried food roll; bitterball is the snack variety.”

Sonja was doubtful, but her partner became more excited, always interested in trying new foods. “Let’s try to make them and have a tasting at Club Indigo tonight,” Suzie said. “We can also make two of the pastry dishes you mentioned.”

Yvonne nodded. “I’d like that, but I have to call Tante Wilma. I hope she can manage today without me.” Yvonne excused herself to make her call.

After an afternoon of experimenting in the café kitchen, Yvonne and Suzie decided on bite-sized beef bitterballen. Their first try had been an utter disaster when the balls had disintegrated in the frying pan. Yvonne had been ready to abandon the idea, but Suzie laughed it away and told her that shit happened. They also made a batch of them with cheese filling, which had been Sonja’s favorite, and Dutch hazelnut meringue cream cakes.

Later, Sonja watched Yvonne making the rounds through Club Indigo’s main room with a plate full of golden-brown balls the diameter of a quarter. She halted at James and Laura’s table, where Laura was looking stunning in her purple corset. “These have beef in them, but we have a vegetarian version, too.”

James smiled at Yvonne. “I’m impressed you remembered my preference, pet. I’d love to try those.” He stroked Laura’s neck along her collar as she turned her head to give him more access.

“We’ve also brought a sweet treat,” Yvonne said with a smile. “I’ll be back right away with the cheese bitterballen.”

“I love it when you talk dirty!”

Chris embraced Yvonne from behind and chuckled as he steadied the plate. She tried to turn, but he halted her movement and whispered in her ear. From the blush on Yvonne’s face,Sonja could guess. Chris would always be a big flirt, although he seemed serious about Yvonne.

Yvonne managed an answer. “These are Dutch specialties. We’re doing a tryout for The Sweet and Savory.” She twisted out of his grip and pushed the plate between them. “And if you want to see my breasts, you can always negotiate a scene with me.”

Laura chuckled behind her, and Sonja couldn’t suppress a laugh either. Whatever Chris had said in her ear, Yvonne was holding her own. Chris picked up a treat from her plate and popped it into his mouth. He chewed, closed his eyes, and groaned. As soon as he swallowed, his eyes popped open, and he scooped two others from her plate. “Delicious.” He winked. “Find me when you’ve finished your rounds.”

It looked like Yvonne was going to have at least one scene tonight. Sonja felt sad and missed Derek something fierce.

She could still hear the quiet finality in his voice when he told her they needed space. Not because he’d wanted it, but because he thought it was best for her. That had hurt more than anything—knowing he wasn’t pushing her away out of anger, but out of some misguided attempt to protect her.

How long would they have to be apart?

She swallowed against the lump in her throat, watching the play unfold in front of her, but it barely registered. Everything inside her felt off balance, like a piece of her had been cut away and she didn’t know how to function without it.

CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN

A week passed, during which Sonja was constantly reminded of Derek. She started to text him half a dozen times the first day, and bedtime without talking to him was a painful experience. She tried to finish readingA Cricket in Times Squareone evening, but dissolved in tears over the book.

When a customer told her a new joke on Wednesday, she had it memorized to share with Derek before realizing that she wouldn’t be seeing him. Friday night, Sonja was watchingFrozenwhen she heard the unmistakable sound of Snuggles retching. She looked over and saw him ridding his stomach of water and bile all over his bed. He jumped out and down to the floor and continued vomiting.

“Snuggles! Baby! What am I going to do with you?” Sonja was off the couch and in the kitchen for rags to clean up the mess. “That’s the second time this week you’ve spit up on your bed. You’re throwing up all the water you’ve drunk. This is so not good. You have to stay hydrated, baby.” Once she was finished, she offered Snuggles some beef baby food. He ate about a tablespoon before turning away. Sonja spent the rest of the weekend babying the cat. She fed him several small meals each day and hoped for signs of improvement.

On Sunday night, she called Suzie. “I might not be in to work tomorrow. Can you manage without me?”

“Of course. What’s wrong? Are you sick?” Suzie asked.

“Not me. Snuggles. He’s hardly eating anything, and he keeps throwing up. I want to take him to the vet as soon as I can get an appointment.” Sonja reached over to pet him while she talked. “I think it’s something serious. He hasn’t purred all day, and he doesn’t want to be in my lap, either.”

“You take care of Snuggles and yourself. We can manage at the café. Call me with updates, please?” Suzie said.

“Sure.” Sonja ended the call and returned her attention to Snuggles.

Monday morning, Sonja was on the phone to Dr. Phillips’ office before they were open. She explained Snuggles’ difficulties keeping anything down and got an appointment for 10:30 am. The morning passed slowly as she spent it with Snuggles next to her on the couch, alternating petting him with reading and worrying.

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