Page 5 of The Perfect Distraction

Chapter Three

Over the next week, Beth established a routine. She’d get up early and make breakfast and then leisurely get ready. Around mid-morning she’d take a walk, exploring different side streets each day before heading into town for lunch. Most days, she’d order her lunch to go and eat it down by the bay. She told herself she was doing it to enjoy the weather and the scenery, which was partially true, but the other reason was that she didn’t like to eat in a restaurant alone.

She’d never been one of those people who could sit at a table by themselves and look completely comfortable. Sure, some hid behind their phones or tablets, but that didn’t mean they were lonely. I should probably start getting used to it, she thought on one particular occasion.

The day had started out warm and sunny, but by the time she’d ordered her lunch, the clouds had rolled in, and it looked like it was about to storm. The woman behind the counter said, “You might want to eat this here. It looks like we’re about to get a whopper of a storm.”

Beth smiled at her and said, “That’s okay. I’m staying right up the street.” Big mistake. The woman proceeded to ask her a series of questions about where she was staying, how long, and with whom. When Beth admitted that she was by herself, the woman looked surprised, but she quickly covered it up.

See? Most women my age don’t travel alone, Beth thought. They’d either be with their significant other, their family, or a group of friends. Stubbornly refusing to eat inside the restaurant and risk the woman feeling sorry for her, she set off for home. Sure enough, she’d only taken a few steps when the sky broke open, and by the time she reached her front porch, she was drenched.

Swearing, she changed out of her wet clothes and went into the kitchen to eat, but when she pulled the soggy sandwich out of the bag, she groaned. “All because of my stupid, stubborn pride,” she hissed, tossing the sandwich in the garbage. She ended up making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and eating it in the living room.

While she filled the days by reading, shopping, and exploring the area, at night, she felt restless. Those were the hours where she would have had dinner with Christopher and then curled up on the couch with him to watch TV, make love, and settle in for the night. Now she made dinner and ate it alone. The hours after that dragged by until it was finally time to go to bed.

The evenings were also when she did the most thinking, which usually turned into a pity party for one or a pillow-pounding session depending on her mood. She’d thought about going out at night instead, but Harbor Springs wasn’t exactly teeming with nightlife. Besides, if she couldn’t handle eating lunch alone, dinner would be even worse. That was when the restaurants were filled with families—the parents pleased they didn’t have to cook and the children being towed along whether they liked it or not. There was no way she’d sit in a restaurant at a skinny table for one squeezed in between tables with couples and families.

Tonight, she went into the backyard after dinner and sat on a lounge chair with her novel. She usually read on the porch, but sometimes, she didn’t want the distraction of passing cars. She imagined people driving by, saying, “Who’s that woman sitting on her porch all alone?” even though she knew how ridiculous that was.

She’d just begun reading a new chapter when a soccer ball went whizzing past her head. She sat up with a start, and Joey came running toward her, looking apologetic.

“Sorry, Miss Summers,” he said, scooting around her chair to retrieve his ball.

Aside from the fact that she’d almost had her head knocked off, she was actually glad for the company. “That’s okay. I know you didn’t mean it.”

He shot her a grateful smile. “So, you won’t tell my dad?”

Interesting. Still no mention of a mother and no sight of one either. Not that she’d been paying attention. Who am I kidding? Of course I have been. She hadn’t seen Joey or Colton for a few days other than a brief glimpse of them coming or going in Colton’s SUV. Each time, she’d ducked down so they wouldn’t think she’d been spying on them out the kitchen window, which, of course, she had.

“Don’t worry. I won’t tell your parents,” she said, slipping it in that way.

“My mom doesn’t live here,” Joey said, his expression neutral.

“Oh.”

“My parents are divorced.”

“Ah. I see,” Beth said, feeling guilty for having brought it up. That would teach her for being nosy.

She was about to change the subject when Colton suddenly appeared.

“There you are,” he said, narrowing his eyes at Joey.

“I just came over to…”

“Say hello. Isn’t that right, Joey?” Beth said. Saving him from getting into trouble was the least she could do to redeem herself.

“Yeah. I just wanted to say hi.”

“You’re sure he wasn’t bothering you?” Colton asked with raised eyebrows.

“Positive. We were just chatting.” Why was Colton being so hard on his son? Now that she knew about the divorce, she felt empathetic toward Joey just like she would have with students in her classroom who’d gone through the same thing.

“It’s time for dinner,” Colton said to Joey. “Go in and wash your hands, and I’ll be right there.”

She expected Joey to race away, but instead, he smiled sweetly and said, “Can we invite Miss Summers for dinner too, Dad?”

Oh no. This is not happening.