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I roll my eyes and find a comfortable storytelling position. “Right, like you did the last time?”
“In my defense,” Rachel begins, “Eric was awful and he deserved to have someone poking around in his background. You should be thanking me for helping you dodge that bullet.”
“Thank you,” I say with sarcasm. “I don’t think that will be necessary with this one, though.”
“Go on,” she says intrigued. “Tell me everything.”
“Well, I met this guy outside my building and he asked me out. I figured I’d give it a shot and go on a date instead of staying home reading. So far, all the dates have been great and I’m just having a little fun.”
There. Short, sweet and to the point. I didn’t even have to lie. I was just very selective about which details were necessary.
“Nope,” says Rachel. “That’s not enough backstory. I know there’s more. What’s his name? Where does he work? Does he have kids? Send me a picture, I know you have one.”
There’s the Rachel I know and love. This is exactly what I have been avoiding, and a small part of me feels justified in my decision to keep the details under wraps.
“His name is Asher, he owns his own business, he doesn’t have kids and I absolutely will not send you a picture of him,” I say, carefully measuring everything I say so as not to reveal too much.
“Damn it, Jade,” she snaps. “None of that is interesting. Where are the juicy bits? Why all the secrecy? Oh my goodness… is he married? That’s it, isn’t it? You’re keeping a low profile because he’s married, aren’t you? I totally understand, but c’mon, you can tell me, you know I won’t say anything, and I certainly won’t judge you.”
I groan loudly into the phone. “He is not married, and you know me well enough to know I’d never share a man,” I remind her. “I’m not being secretive, I’m being private for the time being. If we get serious, I promise you’ll be the first person I call.”
“Fine,” she finally says. “I’m going to hold you to that, but based on your behavior and the fact that you have completely blown me off for this guy for weeks, I’d say you’re heading to serious street.”
“Right now we’re just circling the block and having a little fun,” I say.
Jacob squirms around in his seat and I know that’s the beginning stage of his waking up process.
“Listen, I’m at the zoo with Jacob and there are a few more exhibits I want to see before we head back home.”
“All right, Jade. You take care of yourself and don’t scare me with another disappearing act. The very least you can do is respond to my text messages,” says Rachel. “Or next time I’ll show up with the SWAT team at that swanky place you live.”
“I promise to do better about returning your calls, especially since I know you’re serious about the SWAT team,” I giggle. “Talk to you later, bye.”
I end the call and shove the phone back into my pocket. Jacob is awake and squirming now, staring at me with those intense green eyes of his.
“Why hello, sleepyhead,” I say, rising to my feet. “Now that you’re up, let’s go see some animals before it gets too dark.”
I ruffle his hair and head to the elephant exhibit. As soon as I turn the corner, the beautiful animals come into view. I pull the stroller to the fenced-in compound and kneel next to Jacob.
“Let’s get you out of this thing so you can see, buddy,” I say, unhooking his straps.
Hoisting him into the air, I hold him against my hip. “Look Jacob,” I say, pointing to the elephants through the fence.
He excitedly blows spit bubbles and bounces up and down as soon as he spots them.
I’m lucky he’s such a good baby. It doesn’t take much to keep this kid happy, and that smile is the greatest reward.
My phone rings again and I reach into my pocket to grab it.
I need to assign Asher a special ringtone so I can stop getting my hopes up for nothing.
“It’s your mommy calling, let’s see what she wants.”
“Hello?”
While I’m sure it’s Magdalene’s voice on the other end of the line, I can’t make out what she’s saying. I ease Jacob back into the stroller so I can free up my other hand, and give my undivided attention to the phone call.
“Slow down, Magdalene, I can’t understand you,” I say.
What I do understand is that she’s sobbing and completely incoherent.
“Take a few deep breaths,” I coach her.
There’s a break in the crying for a moment and I try yet again to figure out what’s going on.
“Now, slowly, tell me what’s wrong. Why are you so upset?”
“Heath and I just had a fight,” says Magdalene.
Okay, what else is new? You could have waited for me to come home to tell me that.
