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“I’ll get him packed.”
He slides his card back in his wallet, along with the receipt the waitress gives him. “I’m not sure what Mancini has that I don’t, but good luck figuring out whatever it is that you have to figure out.”
I could list a whole spreadsheet of reasons why Dom is a better man than Max, but he’s doing me a favor, so I’ll play nice. “Thanks, Max.”
“Sure. Never say I’m not a nice guy.”
We leave the restaurant, and he puts me in a taxi. I was terrified to tell Ryder, so this buys me time. By the time he returns Dom and I will have moved forward with the annulment and there won’t be anything to tell Ryder—except maybe a lesson as to the perils of drinking too much.
* * *
“Sweetie!”I walk into my condo to the sound of music blaring from Ryder’s room.
He doesn’t answer, so I drop my purse onto a kitchen chair and walk down the hall, where I knock on Ryder’s door. The music quiets and he opens the door. He’s dressed in sweats and a T-shirt, freshly showered after being out with his friends.
“What’s for dinner?” he asks.
“I’ve eaten, but I have something in the fridge for you. How was your day?” I try to peek into his room, but he steps out into the hall and shuts the door, blocking my view.
I’ll just go in later when he’s not home.
He shrugs as an answer to my question.
“I’m assuming your dad called you?”
“Yeah. Thanks for letting me go, Mom.” He puts his arms around my neck as we walk down the hall. He’s been taller than me since the eighth grade.
I nod. “Well, make the most of it.”
I dig Anna Mancini’s meatballs and pasta with chicken marsala out of the fridge. Thanks to that horrible dinner yesterday, my son can eat tonight.
“Will you be okay here?” Ryder asks with real concern in his voice.
The poor boy always feels responsible for me. The first weekend he left me to go to his dad’s after the divorce, he kept thinking of reasons he couldn’t go. He’ll be going off to college soon, and the last thing I want is for him to stay close on account of me.
I glance over my shoulder after placing a plate in the microwave. “I’ll be fine.”
“Dad said we could go to…” Ryder continues to tell me about all the promises Max made.
For my son’s sake, I hope his dad does spend the six weeks getting to know Ryder better and not finding exotic women to sleep with. I nod and smile and encourage him while my insides ball up into a big messy knot. While he’s gallivanting around Europe, I’ll be moving in with Dom.
Once Ryder’s busy eating his dinner, I shoot a text to Dom.
Me: Ryder is going to Europe with Max for six weeks. I’ll move into your place since you have an extra bedroom. After Luca’s wedding, we say it doesn’t work and I’m back home before Ryder returns. And he never finds out what I did.
The three dots appear.
Dom: You sure you don’t want to share my bed, WIFE?
I roll my eyes but school myself before Ryder senses anything is amiss.
Me: Positive.
Not really. My body is like a magnet to Dom’s. Just because we live together doesn’t mean I have to be there all the time. I’ll sleep there and that’s it.
Easy peasy.
