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Yeah, she got that. When you married your high school crush only to divorce and then buried husbands number twoandthree, it gave you life experience her married forever friends didn't have except by living vicariously through her. "I know. But he doesn't seem too young. He's an old soul."
"Uh-huh. How serious is it between you and this old soul?" MeMe asked.
"We've gone out a few times."
"And you haven't said anything?"
"Why would I when I know just how vocal the Babes will be? Besides, he's a gentleman."
"With a mama fetish."
"I'm notthatmuch older. Thirteen years and...eleven months, give or take."Old enough to be his mama.
And to appreciate that she wasn't.
"How did you meet?"
Carrying two glasses and the now open bottle, Tessa retraced her steps to where Mary Elizabeth sat and handed her a glass. "We met on the boardwalk. He said he saw me and...had to say hello."
Tessa glanced at Mary Elizabeth's face and tried to read her thoughts. "What? First you ask all kinds of questions and now you're quiet? Say something."
"I'm not… I don't know what to say, to be honest. I know you're lonely and have been wanting to meet someone, but that's quite a lot of difference."
Tessa took a sip of the wine and relished the flavor exploding across her tongue. "No one would think twice if I were a man dating a woman that age."
"Because women are more mature."
"It'sbecausethere's such a double standard."
Mary Elizabeth sipped her wine, the water bottle now set aside for something more fortifying. "That may be true. But facts are facts and men mature more slowly than women."
"Well, he's still a grown man. We're not talking teenagers here. Or even twentysomethings."
"That's true. So, when do we get to meet this man? What's his name?"
"Kirk. Kirk Delucca."
"Have you googled him?"
"What? No," Tessa said. "Why would I?"
"Because that's the first thing you do in today's dating world. To make sure he's not a serial killer or something."
"Something you learned from your girls?" Tessa asked.
Mary Elizabeth shrugged. "Sophia has been known to have a good head on her shoulders. If she says it's wise to do, it is. He might have a prison record, be an abuser. You just never know."
"Orhe could just be a nice man who likes older women. As he says, we're...uncomplicated."
"What's that mean?" Mary Elizabeth asked, taking another sip.
Tessa settled into the chair across from her friend and got comfortable since Mary Elizabeth had some time left before she needed to return home. She came to visit every week since Adam had a standing golf game with a judge. "It means we're just dating and having fun."
"Sex?"
Tessa felt her cheeks color like a schoolgirl, but she couldn't help it. "Not just yet. Like I said, he's a gentleman. We're in no rush."
Tessa glanced at her friend and saw her frowning and debated whether she ought to have kept her mouth shut and not revealed her relationship with Kirk just yet. But she'd been dying to talk to someone about it, and it wasn't something she felt comfortable discussing with her adult children.
