And now some woman in an Italian restaurant just looked at us and saw a family, and instead of correcting her, he said thank you, and I don’t know what to do with that.
“Syd.” His voice is low. “You okay?”
“Yeah. Fine.” I straighten up. Smile. “Fine.” I take another gulp of wine.
He watches me for a second longer than necessary, then lets it go. He’s good at letting things go. He’s been letting things go his entire life—me included.
“So, uh—” He clears his throat. “The season kicks off soon. Things are going to get crazy. Road trips, late games. I’ve, uh—I’ve thought about whether I should hire a nanny. An actual one. In case this is too much, and uh—”
“Archer.”
“—I don’t want you to feel like you’re stuck here. This wasn’t supposed to be a permanent thing, and if you—”
“Archer.”
He stops.
“The kids are not going with a stranger. They’re going to be with their Auntie Syd.” I lean forward. “I’m here. I want to be here. Okay?”
“You’re sure? It’s not an imposition?”
“It’s not an imposition. I’m positive.”
He holds my gaze across the table, and his eyes are doing that thing again—steady, warm, full of everything he’s not saying—and Lily chooses this moment to announce very loudly that she needs to go potty RIGHT NOW, and the moment breaks.
I take her to the bathroom. She asks me why my face is red. I tell her it’s the wine.
We get the kids to bed. Or rather, Archer gets the kids to bed, and I sit on the couch and listen to his low voice through the walls reading a book about a bear who can’t sleep. There’ssomething about a man putting his children to bed—his quiet voice, the patience of it. It’s endearing in a way I didn’t expect.
I call Lauren.
“How was your day?” she asks.
“Good. Really good. I, uh—I taught the twins to dance.”
“To dance?”
I smile at the memory. “Snoop Dogg in the living room. Lily has zero technique and all the confidence in the world, and Luke does this little head-nod sway that’s actually perfectly on beat.”
Lauren laughs. “That sounds amazing.”
“It was. It really was. I haven’t danced like that in… I don’t know. A long time.”
“Are you happy there, Syd?”
The question catches me off guard, even though it shouldn’t. Lauren is more perceptive than a psychic.
“Yeah,” I say. “I think I am. I think this might be the reset I needed.”
“Good.” She’s quiet for a beat. “I’m glad,” she says. “Just be careful, okay?”
“I’m always careful.”
“You’re never careful. That’s what worries me.”
We hang up. I sit in the quiet living room and think about the woman at the restaurant.
I hear Archer’s footsteps in the hallway. He pauses at the bottom of the stairs.
