Work Text:
April 3rd, 1990
“Just some coffee, thanks...I’m waiting for someone” Henry said smiling slightly apologetic at the waitress.
He had been sitting here just over an hour sipping black coffee while conducting small talk with the waitresses as they passed by his table to see if he was finally ready to order something.
The issue of the Colorado Daily, lying next to his coffee cup on the table, had the faces of the Goodwin’s plastered all over the cover, as they had for the last couple of months. It was cross country news after all.
The story of how Ned Goodwin, the shell shocked war veteran, had illegally brought his son to the Shoshone National Forest, pushed his pre-teen son to follow in his footsteps which had led to his death after an accidental fall during exploration of one of the nearby caverns. That his father then had covered up the death for the past three years and, lived as a hermit in the park, before it had been discovered by an unnamed ranger. Shortly after sentencing Ned Goodwin had been found dead in his prison cell after commiting suicide by hanging.
Henry felt grateful Delilah had somehow managed to keep him out of the tabloids.
It had been a media circus, chaos, and he had had his hands full with chaos during the time of the court proceedings.
The bell above the door rang, he autonomously faced the door. An average tall, a bit curvaceous, beautiful woman with curly hair, wearing a dress, with a bright floral pattern, had appeared inside it. She seemed to be looking for someone.
“D?”
She turned and walked the few steps to his table. Her pink lipstick shined in the morning sun seeping in as she smiled awkwardly back at him.
“Don’t tell me - Hank, right?!”
He laughed back at her, a false laugh, though he was still happy to finally meet her in the flesh.
“Henry”
Delilah placed herself on the seat opposite him in the booth and began skimming through the menu of the diner.
“Like I’d forget” she let out a light chuckle “You were right by the way, a little like Burt Reynolds”
“Heh...well I told you…” he shrugged his shoulders while thumbing his now lukewarm cup of coffee.
“So, have you ordered yet? I...I just drove down here from Casper, I haven’t had any breakfast yet...are the...blueberry pancakes any good here?”
He nodded, taking note of the nervousness in the tone of her voice.
“Are you...How are you?”
She looked at him for a moment before letting out a heavy sigh and fell back on the seat. “Well...shit...Henry, I told you I didn’t want this”
“And yet, here you are”
“And yet, here I am…” she sighed “So um...how are you, how is Julia?”
There it was, the question he’d been waiting for.
“Well I went to Australia to visit her…”
He held up his, naked, left ring finger.
“We...eh...got divorced...she thought it wasn’t fair to me that we’d stay married...I still keep in touch with her family though. It’s been a few months.”
“Well, good...I’m glad you did. Good to get some closure”
“Um...Javier...you and him...?”
“We broke up, well I broke up with him. I’m sorry I lied, it’s...it’s better now”
“Closure?”
She nodded and ordered blueberry pancakes, bacon and black coffee from the waitress passing by for the tenth time today. Feeling his stomach growling Henry ordered himself some eggs and bacon with toast along with a cup of new, hot, coffee.
“I went to his funeral you know”
“Oh?”
“Yeah, I felt like he should have someone there, with his dad being... like a friend...or something...someone who knew him...shit I don’t know...I just wanted to be there. Like I owed him that, at least that. It was beautiful. I met some of his friends, they’re in high school now. They all still play Wizards and Wyverns”
The food arrived and Henry cupped his hands around the coffee mug, gathering its comforting warmth, as he watched Delilah dig into her breakfast.
“Do you...ever think of…?”
“The night we named the June Fire? Yeah”
“I liked the way we could talk back then...I…”
She took his right hand and held it.
“I felt the same way, it was...great”
“Just great?” he tried a cheeky smile, feeling a little braver.
“Well...it would have been better without the walkie talkies”
“That...is very true. Do you...would you…?”
“- I don’t know, Henry...I mean I wanted to...like really wanted to. But with everything… I planned on never meeting you after what happened.”
“You know it wasn’t your fault, what happened… you testified. You were cleared. It was an accident. ”
“I still feel guilty though”
“And that’s okay, just don’t let the guilt run your life”
Delilah raised her eyebrow at him.
“Did you get a degree in psychology in the past months, or something?”
He laughed, but this time it was genuine one, like it had been a long time ago, finally taking a bite of his own food.
From then the conversation seemed to flow a bit more natural. They spent several hours just sitting there eating and talking; about love, life and all the shitty things that made the good things more worthwhile.
“So you’re a Nuggets fan...I should have known.”
“Why because they’re in Colorado?”
They payed and tipped their waitress handsomely before getting up and moving towards the exit as it had began to darken outside.
“Well yeah, and the name...nugget. It fits”
“Hm...well I wouldn’t say you seem like a cowboy to me”
“Hey, you haven’t seen me ride the bull after a few tequilas. I’m quite talented”
“I hope I’ll get to see that sometime”
Delilah stopped in her steps, as they arrived on the sidewalk outside the diner, and looked at him in silence. Henry felt like maybe he had asked to much of her again. An icy feeling arose in his stomach, similar to when he’d talked to her on the phone a few days ago inviting her to meet him here.
“You know, Henry. It’s getting late and it’s a bit of a drive back to Casper”
“I get it, don’t worry...I was just..”
“So I thought maybe I should take in on a hotel here. I have a few days off from work...most of my stuff is in the car anyway. I haven’t really found a place yet, after the break up. I’ve been staying with a girlfriend in Casper, trying to figure things out. We could hang out tonight if you’re free.”
By pure impulse, he leaned in and kissed her softly on the lips. His heart fluttered for the first time in a long time. It was surely something he hadn’t expected to come out of today. There had been a faint hope of it but no expectation.
“I’m free”
Delilah smiled back at him, her hair bouncing on her shoulders, in the light April breeze. Taking his hand in hers they wandered down the sidewalk together, talking and laughing. Trying to come up which was the best mexican bar, with a mechanical bull, in town.