Page 11 of Tastes Like Summer

“Dee? You still there?”

“Yeah, sorry. I guess he was… less Marvel superhero, more Sons of Anarchy without tattoos. But maybe a little of both?”

Rosie gasps. “Hot.”

“Irrelevant since I’m not interested in any of that right now.” Or ever again. “He was just… annoying.” Her muffled laughter makes my skin burn. I roll my eyes, frustrated. “You’re really annoying, too, you know that?”

“What? I didn’t say anything!” But she chokes on a laugh, clearly struggling to keep her composure.

“I hate you. I’m gonna go. I have to make the girls dinner and then get back to studying.”

I almost hang up, but bring my phone back to my ear when I hear her yell “Wait! Hold on!”

“What?” I bite back.

“I’ll stop teasing you, I promise. But you really should consider at least being friendly with the guy—especially if what you said is true about the girls being friends. Just do it for their benefit. So they have someone else to hang out with on the weekends beside their mother.”

I heave a sigh, closing my eyes. “So I have to be nice?”

“It’s honestly much easier than you think. People do it every day, you know.”

“I guess.”

Despite what I tell Rosie, however, I have zero intentions of becoming even just friendly with Michael. The girls can enjoy their time with Rachel and the rest of their new friends while at camp during weekdays, and then spend their weekends doing fun activities with me. But I need to focus on making sure they feel loved and let them know that they can count on at least one parent. I need to focus on my daughters’ well-being and health. I need to focus on studying for the paralegal tests, studying my future boss’s clients. Not on making new connections only for them to end after the summer.

So I steer clear of Michael for the rest of the week, looking the other way whenever we see each other in the camp parking lot, avoiding any sort of interaction.

For the most part, I’m successful—that is, until my daughters run up to me just a few days later at pick-up, Rachel in tow, big puppy eyes at the ready.

“Mami!” Cami greets me, and already I know it’s going to take everything in me not to cave. I know that look.

“So Rachel’s dad has this super cool farm with a bunch of animals and plants and flowers and food and stuff, and she invited us over to play and check it out, and we were wondering whether we could go because it sounds super fun and⁠—”

“Whoa, hey. Hold on. Slow your roll; I can barely understand you. You want to go to Rachel’s?”

“Rachel’s dad’s farm.”

I practically see the physical effort it takes Cami not to roll her eyes at me when she makes the clarification, as if her summer goal is to also practice patience with her mother. The gall of this kid.

Emi tugs at my hand. “Rachel invited us. She was talking about how fun it can be, and it would be so cool because we’ve never been to a farm and⁠—”

“Okay, take a breath, will you?” Jeez, these kids. “I know you’re excited, but you’re not being timed here.”

“Well,” Rachel speaks up. “It’s just, Mic—I mean, my dad—will be here any minute, and we just wanted to know whether it was okay with you before he got here. So Cami and Emi could come with me and then maybe you could pick them up later?”

I cross my arms in front of my chest and narrow my eyes at all three girls. “Does your dad already know about this?”

Rachel looks down at her shoes, one of her hands moving to her hair to play with a loose strand. “Well, no. But I don’t see why he would mind. He’s really cool.”

Yeah, I bet.

I do my best to soften my features when I speak—it’s not her fault her dad and I didn’t mesh well. “I don’t think so, Rachel. It’s really nice of you to invite the girls over, but⁠—”

“Rach!”

Rachel’s face turns so quickly her messy braid hits her cheek. In her wild excitement, she barely notices, and I can’t help but be a bit charmed by her. Her face lights up like a Christmas tree when she sees her dad, running over to him to meet him halfway.

“Can Camila and Emi come over? To the farm. At least for a bit?” She practically bounces in place, doe eyes on full force. “I want to show them how cool it is.”