Page 24 of An Unexpected Chance

“I’ll ask her.”

“Okay!” She scrambled off the stool. “I have to go clean my room.”

“I haven’t talked to her yet, baby,” I said gently.

“She’ll come. I saw her watch you at Uncle E’s barbecue. She smiled when she did.”

Obviously, my daughter was more observant than I was.

“I see.”

“And, Daddy? Stop worrying about me. I’m pretty smart.”

She left the kitchen, and I laughed.

I had to agree with her again. She was far smarter than I was.

I had to figure out how to get Amy to give me another chance.

I prayed I could.

CHAPTER SEVEN

AMY

I looked around my spotless apartment, feeling partially satisfied and partially angry. It had been clean before, but now it shone—everywhere.

After Simon dropped me off, I had to do something to keep myself busy. I had no idea what happened to the open, teasing, sexy man I had spent the night with, leaving me with the withdrawn, anxious man who drove me home. A switch had flipped, and although I suspected why, I couldn’t bring myself to ask him.

I was certain the passion and closeness we seemed to feel toward each other frightened him. I felt his fear, although he couldn’t express it. I had hoped he would. That he would confess we had to take it slower, which I understood. But instead, he simply shut down. He dropped me off and drove away.

I was hurt by his silence and told him not to worry. I assured him I was a big girl and knew the night was simply sex. No big deal.

Except it was.

I hadn’t slept with anyone for a long time. My last boyfriend and I had broken up two years ago, and I hadn’t been with anyone since then. For me, sex and emotions were entwined. With Simon, I got carried away. I thought he was feeling the same draw to me as I was to him. I was certain of it.

Perhaps I had read the signs wrong.

I had to admit, I was hurt by his almost indifference when he brought me home. He had tried halfheartedly to correct my thoughts, but not hard enough. What I had hoped was the start of something incredible was, it seemed, just a night that helped us both scratch an itch.

I shook my head, refusing to let myself get tied up in knots over someone who didn’t feel the same way about me. I had been the one dumped in the last relationship, and I wasn’t allowing that to happen again. Hearing Mark say I was too much for him to handle and he was tired of my free spirit and didn’t love me anymore had almost broken me. It took him saying so to recognize the way he always distanced himself from me in public. I embarrassed him. After he was gone, I realized that I had tried so hard to be the woman I thought he wanted. To stop being me. Never again. I had decided then to only be myself, and if the man I was involved with couldn’t handle it, I would be the one to walk away.

I hadn’t expected to feel this way about Simon so quickly.

I poured a bath, filling it with my favorite floral bubble bath. I got a glass of wine, lit a candle, and sank into the warm, fragrant water. My iPhone played softly in the background, the soothing music helping me to relax.

I pushed out all thoughts of Simon and focused on deep, calming breaths. I let the water soothe, the fragrance soak into my skin, and the warmth chase away the chill I had been feeling since this morning.

Tomorrow, I was going to go and set up my classroom. Get it done so I had some days before heading back into the daily routine and be ready for the one-day open house our school always had. It was a chance for parents to bring their kids in to see the classroom and be more comfortable on their first day. It was popular with kindergarten and grade one, plus anyone moving to the area and attending the school for the first time. Smaller children enjoyed seeing their classroom and meeting their teacher, and it gave the older ones a chance to find their way around. It was this Wednesday, so I would go in and get ready, then spend the last part of summer taking some photos and walking the beach. Maybe go on a short road trip to PEI.

I mulled over what I had in storage and what I needed to go to the supply store to pick up. I needed a trip to the dollar store for some fun things. The art place for some paper supplies. I called out a list to Siri, then satisfied, sank deeper into the water and drifted.

Simon only entered my thoughts every other moment. Other than that, my ignoring his very existence worked.

Like a charm.

* * *