Page 94 of Lost Track

He nodded and went for the fridge.

* * *

“Are you doing Saint-Tropez for Christmas this year?” Cherry asked from the head of the table.

Sabine and Max exchanged a look.

Cherry had been dropping hints throughout the day that Chicago wasn’t where she thought her son should be spending the holiday. That perhaps Dave should be someplace warm with people who weren’t people he got to see all the time anyway.

She hadn’t come right out and said it, but it was obvious that she thought a traditional Thanksgiving was boring.

“I have a friend.” Cherry stopped and smirked. “Well, we’re more than friends. Anyway, he has a yacht. I spent President’s Day there.”

“Ah, yes,” Max remarked. “The sexiest of all the holidays.”

Cherry slid her eyes in his direction but didn’t respond.

Max had gotten into the pink wine and his comments had started to get louder as the day had progressed. On one hand, Sabine was a little worried Max was going to cause trouble for Dave. On the other, Max was increasingly hilarious.

And Kara, that little chaos demon, just kept the man’s glass full.

“Max,” Kara stood up. “Do you think you could teach me how to properly load the dishwasher?”

Max stood up, chagrined. “How are you a functioning adult and you don’t know how to load the dishwasher?”

Kara waggled her eyebrows at Sabine and sashayed her way to the kitchen.

Oh.

Kara and Max?

It wasn’t the worst idea.

“You’re a teacher?” Cherry asked, addressing Sabine.

“I’m a private tutor,” Sabine replied, her gut twisting in on itself.

“Dave could never get along with teachers,” Cherry said, the smile on her face not matching the implications of her statement. “They were always convinced there was something wrong with him.” She tilted her head and smiled sweetly at her son. “But he just needed room to breathe.”

“I think it’s neat that both of you are in education,” Leslie broke in, nodding his head at André. “How did that happen?”

“Is it true what they say?” Cherry asked. “Those who can’t do, teach?” Again, she was smiling but not really.

André, more practiced at social situations like this, leaned back in his chair and put on his professor face. “Idoand I teach. I teach archaeology at Wheaton. And I have a small paleontology class this semester as well. But next summer I’m joining a dig in South Dakota.”

“Oh, you got it!” Sabine exclaimed. “That’s awesome.” He’d told her he’d applied to a private company that did excavations but she hadn’t heard any update.

André smiled at her reaction and then sobered again, addressing Cherry. “Sabine’s been teaching since she was small. She’s always seen the world in a complex way and taken it upon herself to make sure everyone could see the full picture. She has the heart of a teacher.”

Sabine blushed and looked down. She reached for her wine. She wasn’t sure she was as cool as her older brother made her sound, but it was nice to hear.

“I’d agree with that,” Dave spoke up.

She glanced at him, and he sent her a soft smile.

“She helps me see things in ways I hadn’t before.”

Oh.

---