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Sophie shrugged. “Maybe. We shall see, shan’t we?”
Sophie let loose a cackle of delight, and then she and Emma were on their feet again, dancing and whooping and hollering like this was the best thing ever. One thing was for sure, and that was that Emma wasn't bored anymore. That was great, except that now, I was terrified of the implications of what I had done. Bringing Drew to this picnic was more than a little get together. It was a crossroads, and I had no idea how it would wind up.
Chapter 16: Jess
“Are you sure you’re going to be okay?” Sophie asked. “I know you must be totally bummed out that Drew isn’t coming. I would be. If you want to call it early and just go home, we totally can. I know I would understand, and I’m sure that Emma would, too.”
“But Aunt Sophie!”
“Right, Emma?” Sophie asked Emma pointedly, giving her the look of death. “Because we both want your mom to be happy, right?”
“Right,” she answered glumly, looking far from convinced. “We can go. If you want to.”
I reached over and pulled Emma into a hug, kissing the top of her head until I heard her start to giggle. I could feel Sophie watching us, and I knew she was still concerned. She knew how excited I had been about Drew joining us for our annual July Fourth picnic. So when Drew called to cancel, she knew it was massive disappointment to me. She wasn’t wrong.
I was most definitely bummed out, and there had been a part of me that had wanted to cancel the whole day. Looking at Emma, though, I had known I couldn't do a thing like that. It wouldn't have been fair to cancel, based on my own disappointment. Just like it wouldn't be fair to call it and early night, now that we were here at the park.
This was a family tradition, on that had existed long before Drew came into the picture. And if things ended up not working out with him, the tradition would continue. Besides, Emma looked forward to this night all year. It was the only time we got to see a huge fireworks show in our area. There was no way I would deprive her of it.
Emma was trying not to look upset by the idea of leaving early, but she was my daughter. I knew her well enough to know that she was fighting back tears.
“No, we’re not going anywhere,” I said. “Are you kidding? We haven’t even seen the fireworks yet. We are not going to stop having fun just because a guy didn’t show up.”
“Darn right,” Sophie answered with a smirk, putting a comforting arm around Emma. “And it’s been pretty awesome, too. Guys don’t necessarily make a thing better. Just like we were t
elling you a couple of days ago, Emma.”
“Yeah, I guess I get that now,” Emma agreed, looking hopeful that things might work out in her favor, after all. “This is fun without boys. It always has been.”
"And it still will be," I asserted.
I made a decision then to take my hurt feelings and shove them down deep, where they couldn't rear their ugly heads again for the rest of the night. I knew I couldn’t ignore them forever, but for now, they could wait.
Later, when we were safely home and Emma had shuffled off to bed, I would have to think about things. I would have to think about Drew canceling on me at the last minute, and also the way he had canceled. There had been something strange in his voice, a weird little hitch I couldn't ignore.
When I had asked him why he couldn't come, he had told me that something had come up, but something in my gut told me it was someone that had come up. I wasn't a complete idiot. I'd done a little bit of digging into Drew's reputation since we started dating, and I knew he was a bit of a ladies' man, to say the least.
I hadn't seen any real evidence of that in the short amount of time we had been dating, but our time had been exactly that. Short. If he was going to start getting bored, it would probably be around now, now that he'd gotten what he wanted from me a couple of times and the novelty of it had worn off.
All of these thoughts would occupy my mind later, but not while on our picnic. It was one of our favorite holidays and favorite traditions. There was no way I was going to let anything ruin that, not even Drew.
“You know,” Sophie said in an offhand, casual way. “I’m not even sure this guy is real, big sister. For all I know, he’s a figment of your imagination.”
“Um, what?” I asked, turning to her. Her expression was unreadable. “Are you joking? I can’t tell if you’re joking. Are you calling me crazy?”
"Calm down,” she said, a hint of a smile on her lips. “Nobody said that. Still, it's not like I've ever seen this ‘Drew' character. What about you, Emma? Have you seen this guy?"
“Nope. Never seen him before.”
“That doesn’t mean he’s not real!” I laughed and swatted at my two best girls affectionately. “Believe me, he’s real. He’s just...”
“Just what, Mama? You never talk about him, except for when you told us he was alive.”
“Yeah, Jess. Your daughter is amazingly astute. You haven’t told us much about him, except for the fact that he exists, supposedly. And the fact that he canceled on the most amazing Fourth of July picnic ever. Not a lot to go on, I’ve gotta say. What do you think, Emma?”
“I think what you just said!” Emma said.
“Okay guys, I get it. I haven’t told you much about him. That’s because it’s not that easy. Dating is harder when you get older. Once you have people other than yourself involved, it’s not the same as when you were younger. I didn’t want to talk about him until I knew that there was a reason to.”
