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“I’m taking my parents over to Harper’s for supper. We thought you and the boys might like to join us.” I don’t answer right away, so he adds, “Liam and Lily have really missed the kids these last few days.”
“I suppose we could …” I know I don’t sound too excited, but the truth is, I’m scared. I’m scared of how Ethan makes me feel, and I’m scared I’m incapable of any kind of casual relationship that includes the kind of kisses we share. Forget the kisses, I’m starting to have real feelings for Ethan and that terrifies the absolute crap out of me.
“Good,” Ethan says. “Meet us up there right after work. I’m hoping you and I can sneak off to the woods for a bit and make up for lost time.” He winks before releasing me from his hold. Then he walks out the door.
My feet feel like they’ve been superglued to the floor. I can’t make them move. I hope Abigail is doing okay out there, because it looks like I might live in the supply closet now. Moments after Ethan leaves, there’s a knock on the door before Isaac walks in.
“Oh, sorry. I thought this was the men’s room. I could have sworn Ethan just came out of here.”
“Next door down the hall,” I tell him.
“That’s the ladies’ room.”
“Across from that.”
“If that’s true, then my son either just walked out of here, or he was in the ladies’ room.”
Good lord, what do I tell him? My eyes shift around hoping to find some reason that it would make sense for Ethan to visit the supply closet. My gaze lands on a large package wrapped in brown paper that’s propped against the wall. Abigail said something about a package arriving for Ethan. I point to it and say, “Ah, yes, well … this package arrived for your son, and he was just checking it out.”
“It’s still wrapped.” Isaac looks confused.Welcome to the club, buddy.
“Oh, yeah, right … I guess he’ll open it later.” I stumble over my words like I’ve been drinking tequila for three days. FYI, I’m a “one tequila, two tequila, three tequila, floor” kind of gal. Although I skip stages two and three and fall over after one.
“What is it?” Isaac asks.
“Ethan said it was something for my son’s baseball raffle.” I’m breaking out into a cold sweat now.
Isaac smiles. “Okay, then. I guess I’ll just head to the little boys’ room.” As he turns to leave, my knees give out from under me, and I crumple to the floor.
Abigail is the next person to join me. She stares at me curled up next to the toilet paper and asks, “Can you throw me a roll?”
I fire one off in her direction, hoping she’ll leave without comment. No such luck. “You’ve been spending so much time in here lately, we should look into getting you a chair or something.”
I grab ahold of the shelving unit next to me and stand up. “I’ll try to remember to bring one in next time.”
I reach behind her for the door handle. I stop short when she says, “You’re allowed to fall in love again, you know?”
I simply nod my head and walk out the door. I know I’m allowed to fall in love again. I also know that I have to be a lot smarter about it the second time around, as it’s not only my life my decision will affect.
I’m stressed to the point of breaking here and I don’t know what to do. Actually, I know what I should do, but I don’t think I have the strength to do it.
Chapter26
Ethan
My dad, who’s decided to eat lunch with the boys, has been giving me the “I know what’s going on here” eyebrow raise ever since he came out of the supply closet. There’s about a fifty-fifty chance he’ll spill the beans to my mom, which means I have to talk to him before that can happen.
Moira is clearly freaking out, which is most likely why she secluded herself in the supply closet in the first place.
Based on how carefully my mom has been observing us, I’m one hundred percent certain she’s also jumping to conclusions. She’s like Miss Marple from those Agatha Christie novels. But not in a sweet, elderly kind of way. More like an edgy Miss Marple who would as soon tie you up and beat a confession out of you than do the leg work of solving the crime on her own.
Meanwhile, I feel like a criminal, but not the cool, mastermind-type. More like the kind who gets handcuffed and dragged off to jail to rot in a cell full of rats.
When lunch is over, the kids stand up and Wyatt tells my dad, “Thanks for eating with us, Isaac. You’re totally cool, like Ethan.”
“Thanks for letting me sit with you boys. That’s the most fun I’ve had in years.” He gets up to return to my booth, while saying, “Before you go, your mom said you’re raising money for your baseball team. Tell me about that.”
Wyatt turns around. “The entire league is selling raffle tickets, and the team that sells the most wins a trip to LA to see the Dodgers. Ethan’s donating a signed LeBron James jersey to my team’s raffle, so I think we may have a shot at it.”
