Reconnecting

Chapter I - Part I

Two months Later
Somewhere in the Colorado Rockies...

Soleil groaned, her voice tinged with a mix of exasperation and amusement. She stepped from the truck and her feet crunched lightly against the loose gravel beneath her feet as she grabbed her bag from behind the seat.

"So many dad jokes," she lamented, her eyes rolling playfully as she retrieved her bag from the back of the truck. "I see why mom hid me from you - it was definitely for my protection."

Deveraux's smile grew wider as he observed her, but he remained silent.

"What?" Soleil chuckled, curious as to why he seemed so entranced.

His eyes were twinkling merrily. He had already exited the cab and was leaning against the tailgate with his arms crossed. "Who knew? All of these years of practice...honing my craft. It was all for this moment."

Despite the comedy of the moment, he said it as if it was some profound thing, and Soliel couldn't help but laugh.

With a single, gentle push of her hand against his shoulder, she let him know that the awkwardness which had once separated them was gone. Eyes twinkling with amusement, she playfully admonished him as she walked past, "Oh, shut up!"

He made a show of producing an imaginary key to turn inside the mechanism of an equally fictional lock that was placed upon his lips. With a theatrical flourish, he gave it a twist and followed up with a wink, discarding it behind him.

"You're such a goof."

"Oh? Am I?" He asked, grasping the straps of his bulky backpack and slinging it over his shoulder. Still grinning, he lifted the tailgate of his truck and shut it with a clang.

As they both moved forward toward the cabin and he stepped in line with her, Soliel felt the teasing heat of his stare.

A strange, yet exciting sensation stirred within her chest and she unsuccessfully tried to make it make sense. She turned to meet her father's gaze.

"Whaaaat?" she asked, this time dragging out the vowel, but remained unable to stifle her giggles.

"Oh, nothing."

Soleil could only shake her head in mock annoyance.

As they crossed the distance between the truck and their weekend sanctum, Deveraux looked up to the sky. The thick, dark canopy of the forest was beginning to camouflage with a gathering of similarly dark storm clouds above them.

"I hope your boyfriend get here before this thing unleashes on us," he said, pointing upward. "The wrath of nature is usually pretty swift and unpredictable around here."

As they traversed the last few steps of the sagging front porch, Soleil considered the idea of being alone with her long-lost father in the secluded cabin for the weekend and didn't find it distasteful at all. In fact, she felt herself rooting for it.

"I hope he makes it," she lied, readjusting her backpack.