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Noelle’s phone buzzed, and she looked down.
“Is that Jason?”
“Yeah.” She declined the call. “I’ll call him back when I get inside.”
That was a rude awakening about the reality of this situation—she belonged to someone else. I’d been conveniently putting that out of my mind.
“I’d better go,” she said. “Thank you again for tonight.”
“Anytime.”
I wanted to hug her goodbye, but I refrained, instead keeping my hands firmly on the steering wheel. This day had been a lot. If I hugged her right now, I wouldn’t want to let go.
• • •
We were one week away from our next IUI appointment, and Noelle had been taking the usual preparatory hormones. It was a Saturday, and I wanted to check on her before I had to get to work. After spending the morning with Clancy, I decided to go by Mom’s old house on my way to the restaurant.
The first mistake I made was popping over unannounced. Always call first.
When she opened the door, there was a man standing in the living room behind her. He was talking to Roz. It had to be Jason.
Her fucking boyfriend is here? Adrenaline pumped through me.
Noelle looked briefly back at him. “Archie, I didn’t know you were stopping by.”
“What’s going on?” My eyes darted to the guy as I entered the house.
Noelle let out a shaky breath. “Jason surprised me with a visit.”
Before I had a chance to introduce myself, he walked over and held out his hand. “You must be Archie.”
“I am.”
We shook. It was as firm as a handshake could get. I had no idea what I was supposed to say to the guy. It was as if jealousy had shut down my voice box. Then when I did finally manage to speak, I got diarrhea of the mouth.
“Well, this is awkward,” I blurted.
Jason’s fake smile faded. “I suppose it is, a little. But it’s good to finally meet you.”
It was clear who the mature one in this situation was.
Roz was sitting on the couch, listening in. I needed to be careful since Noelle hadn’t told her about our baby-making plans—at least I didn’t think so. This must have been quite a show.
“I was just dropping by to see how the sink was working,” I told Noelle. “You mentioned the other day that it was clogging.”
Noelle seemed confused. Probably because she’d already told me the problem had been resolved. She squinted a little. “It’s working just fine.”
“Good.” I exhaled. “What are you guys up to?”
“Jason just arrived about an hour ago. So we were gonna make some dinner here. I figured tomorrow I’d show him around.”
“I’m only here until Monday,” Jason added.
“Ah.” I nodded.
Now I was down to only grunting monosyllabically.
“Why don’t you join us for a drink?” he said.
“Actually, I’m on my way to work. My shift at the restaurant starts soon.” If this were anyone else, I might’ve invited them to dinner there tonight. But no, thanks. “Anyway… Enjoy your evening,” I managed to say.
“Again, it was nice meeting you,” Jason said. “Long overdue.”
Bullshit. He had to have despised me deep down. If he didn’t, there was something fucking wrong with him.
“You guys have a good night.” My eyes lingered on Noelle’s.
Despite the somewhat apologetic look on her face, I doubted she understood the magnitude of my feelings. Especially since I don’t think I’d understood them until this moment.
Once I got to work, I found myself completely discombobulated. It wasn’t like I hadn’t known she had a boyfriend, but seeing him in the flesh had gotten to me. And I knew exactly why.
I need to talk to her.
After nearly chopping off my finger while dicing garlic, I turned to my sous chef.
“I might need you to cover for me for about an hour.”
He wiped his hands on a towel. “Everything okay?”
“There’s a bit of a family emergency,” I lied. “Nothing too terrible, but I might need to handle it.”
“Whatever you need,” he said, looking concerned.
I pulled out my phone and sent her a text.
Archie: I know you’re with Jason, but there’s something important I need to talk to you about. I don’t think it can wait. Is there a way you could make up a story and meet me for like a half hour? I can come to someplace nearby to pick you up.
The dots moved around as she typed.
Noelle: You’re scaring me. What’s wrong?
Archie: It’s nothing bad, just something that can’t wait. And I don’t want to have the conversation over text.
Noelle: I suppose I could tell Jason I need to run to the store for something. He has a rental car, so I can take that.
Archie: That would be great. I’m at the restaurant right now. Just tell me where to meet you.
She texted a few minutes later, asking to meet at Tim’s Coffee, which was right in the middle of our two locations.
