Shereally, reallywanted her son and her boyfriend to hit it off. Was that too much to ask?
She’d fretted a bit before deciding that lunch was the perfect start. Everybody got hungry. Everybody liked lunch. And then, once everyone was feeling happy and full and chill, maybe they would move totally naturally to a different activity. She had a few planned, but she wasn’t going to make it sound like they were planned. She’d be chill. No muss, no fuss.
Or something.
Because, yeah, maybe she’d already seemed a little nervous when Jeremy had left bright and early that morning for a hike he and Shane planned to undertake. Apparently, it was a tourist attraction in the area, not that Eleanor was a big person for paying attention to local trails. Give her a walk on the beach any day.
Jeremy had gotten himself up before the sun, something that his younger teenage self would have rather pulled out his own teeth than do, and Eleanor had dragged herself to the kitchen to bid him farewell. She’d blearily watched him fill up his backpack with water and snacks, then lace up his hiking boots.
He’d kissed her lightly on the cheek, then paused before leaving.
“You cool, Mom?” he asked.
Eleanor stopped arranging and re-arranging the salt and pepper shakers.
“Uh, yeah,” she said. “Totally. Why?”
“Oh, nothing,” he said. “Just that you seem like you’re about to leap out of your skin. And you’ve been super twitchy this whole trip.”
She could tell from the smile on his face that he wasn’t really worried. He probably knew exactly why she was acting so weird, but he was also considerate enough not to press her on it, which she appreciated.
“Nope, I’m good,” she said with a light shrug. “And I think I’ve been acting normal.”
“Right. Totally normal,” he agreed, shaking his head at her antics. “Okay, see you later.”
“Tell your uncle I said hi! I want him and Winnie over for dinner this week!”
He gave her a wave and then headed out. A few seconds after he left, Eleanor heard the door downstairs click shut.
Eleanor hadn’t calmed down since. But finally it was almost noon, which was the time that Jeremy and Shane were due back from their hike and Eleanor, Jeremy, and Garrett had planned to meet at Main Street Diner.
Not that she was counting the minutes or anything like that.
She was just throwing her purse over her shoulder when her phone rang. She fumbled in her coat pocket for her phone, saw June’s name flashing across the screen, and pressed it to her ear.
“Hey, honey, what’s up?” Eleanor asked.
“I am the worst,” June said by way of greeting.
“You’re definitely not,” Eleanor responded immediately.
“Ah, you say that now, but you haven’t heard what I’m going to ask yet. Because I know that Jeremy is in town and you’re soaking up your time with him, but I just got a call from Benjamin’s school that he’s not feeling well, so I have to go pick him up and bring him home. But I have a house cleaning job that Ireallycan’t miss, and Miriam is volunteering at an event for the Historical Society, and Winnie is there too, and Cadence and Diana are both at work, and Levi is busy on calls with his record company, and?—”
“Take a breath!” Eleanor interrupted with a laugh. “What I’m getting from that is that you need someone to watch Benjamin?”
She kept her tone light, because she could tell that June was genuinely distressed to ask, but internally, she was conflicted. She’d done all this waiting and waiting, and now she was supposed to… what? Let Jeremy and Garrett have lunch without her? Where they could say or do anything and she wouldn’t be there to see it?
But she remembered what it felt like to be strapped for childcare and to feel incredibly guilty over asking for favors. And being a good friend was more important than babysitting two grown men while they had a conversation.
Even if she really wanted to babysit the heck out of them.
“It’s only for an hour and a half,” June assured her.
“I’ll be there,” she promised. “I was heading out the door anyway.”
“Oh my gosh, you’re a lifesaver.” June’s relief was palpable, and it made it clear to Eleanor that she’d made the right decision. “Seriously. I owe you times a million.”
“Hey, what are friends for?” Eleanor asked. “Give me ten minutes and I’ll be there.”
