Buried Treasure

Mark turned to see Gabe, one of the assistants, running toward him. He paused at the door of his car and waited for the other man to catch up.

"You okay?" Gabe huffed as he neared.

Mark shrugged. "Can't take it personally, right?"

"He talks about you all the time," Gabe said, with a nod of his head back in the direction of the home. "Good things, I mean," he added quickly. He shifted his weight, glanced up at the sky, then back at Mark. "You wanna get a cup of coffee or something?"

"Don't you have work to do?" The words came out clipped and terse. Mark regretted sounding rude, but he wasn't in the mood for company, at least not anymore.

"I'm on my lunch break."

Mark frowned. No way in hell would he stay at his work when he didn't need to. "You hang around this place on your lunch?"

Gabe shuffled his feet. "I like my job. And anyhow, I was actually hoping to catch up with you today."

"Why?" The tiny hairs on the back of Mark's neck stood up. "Something wrong with dad?"

"No." Gabe shook his head quickly. "Nothing like that. I just wanted to ask you out for a cup of coffee."

Mark cocked his head, studying Gabe's appearance for the first time. Usually dressed in a drab navy blue shirt and matching slacks, Gabe was wearing a brightly colored, close fitting Hawaiian shirt with black pants that, if Mark didn't miss his guess, were brand new. And Gabe had said he'd been hoping to catch up with Mark.