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Heath spreads the sauce over the pizza bases. "You haven't traveled?" he asks, surprised.
“It’s hard with the kids. We have gone on a few shorter trips but nothing on a plane. I do have a pretty exciting work trip coming up in a couple of weeks, though." I place the chopped pineapple in a bowl, then get started on the green pepper.
"Oh yeah, where are you going?" With the job I assigned him done, he leans back on the counter and picks up his drink, taking a swig.
"Paris." I sigh, still in shock I'm actually doing something so thrilling. "I have a meeting with a big fashion house. I don't quite know how it all happened, but one day, Summer, my assistant, just got a call saying they had heard about me, and they wanted to talk. It's all really exciting."
"That is exciting. Sounds like a great opportunity for you."
"I think so. It's all moving so fast since I had that Instagram post blow up. It's hard to know what direction to go in now."
"How do you manage running a fashion house and being a single mom? It sounds like a lot."
"It is. But I'm lucky, I have good kids and an amazing assistant who I would be lost without. I just take it one day at a time, and somehow, I manage to make it through."
"It must be really hard, though," he pushes. I wonder if he's trying to make me cry again, because I'm pretty sure I have done that every other time I’ve seen him this week, and if he keeps on with that, it'll happen again.
I take a sip of my beer, giving myself a second. "Sometimes it can be. But it's worth it. Hopefully my kids can see the value of hard work, and one day, they will not only understand but thank me for showing them what you can achieve when you have a dream."
He smiles, liking the sound of that answer. "I'm sure they will. If they turn out half as amazing as their mother, they will be wonderful humans. You're incredible, Millie."
I don't know why but every time he's nice to me my heart beats a little faster. He makes me feel like I'm someone special, and it's nice. "Thank you. But I'm just doing what I have to."
"Is Declan part of their lives at all?" he asks, and I can tell by the tension in his shoulders as he says my ex-husband’s name that he doesn't like the sound of that.
"No, he hasn't been back since he left," I say without any emotion to the situation at all. I'm resigned to the fact we will probably never see him again. We're all better off without him.
"What an asshole. How could he just walk out on his family?" he says so angrily it surprises me. But then I remember his dad did the same to them, that's why they moved here. Even though he’s an adult, I'm sure it still stings.
"He had another one to go to. I was always just an inconvenience to him. Plus, I think he is too shit scared of my dad to ever set foot back in this town after what he did. And he probably should be."
"Good, someone should sort him out for what he did to you."
"It doesn't matter anymore. I'm happier without him. I was able to start my business and really make a go of it without him in my ear telling me I couldn't do it. It's just the kids I feel for."
He gives me a sympathetic smile; he gets it. "Do you mind if I go and try to talk to Connor?"
"Not at all. Just remember he’s shy, so if he ignores you, he's not being rude, he just doesn't cope well with new people."
"Got it." He takes his drink and heads for the living room where Connor is playing a video game.
That was a little like an interview, but I guess he has had a couple of days to think over everything, and he has questions. It's weird having him here in my space with the kids. I never saw myself dating anyone because I couldn't imagine how I could make it work with the kids as well. It's not that I haven't wanted a special person in my life, I just already feel like my bucket it so full. But for the first time in four years, having a man in my house makes me think of what it could be like if I let myself open up to the idea. Maybe I could see myself with someone again, if he was the right person.
HEATH
Iwalkintotheliving room, not really sure how I should broach this with Connor but wanting to find a connection with him somehow. "Hey, bud, mind if I join you?"
Connor takes his eyes off the game for just a second to glance at me. "Yeah, okay," he says, like he couldn’t care either way, as long as I don't disturb his game too much.
I go to sit beside him, checking out the television and seeing what looks to be a soccer game, one team in red, the other green. "What's this game?"
"FIFA World Cup," he says like I should have known already.
"You any good at it?"
A little smirk plays on his face. "Yeah." He shoots and scores a goal, taking the score to three-zero. Looks like he is. The time on the game runs out, and he turns to me, looking me over, like he’s trying to work me out. "You want to play me?" he asks.
"All right." I take the second controller with a smile; maybe I can do this. I just have to remember what it was like to be a kid and how to play soccer.
