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“Um…” She eyed Jeff. Did he want to stay? “If he wants to, he can.”
“What are you having?” He cocked his eyebrow and looked at her. “It’s got to be something with vegetables, right?”
“Ha-ha, but yes, I’m making a stir-fry.”
“Can I go play with Marco?” Max asked.
“Let me check with his mom and make sure they’re home.” Kia grabbed her phone and quickly fired off a text to Miriam.
“Who’s Marco?” Jeff asked.
“He’s the little boy next door.”
“Nice. I didn’t know you had a friend next door. That’s cool.”
“Yeah.” Max bounced on his feet. “So can I go over?”
Kia glanced at her phone and saw the three little dots that showed Miriam was replying. When the text popped through, she fired off a quick reply, then said, “Yep, looks like you’re ready. I’ll walk you over.”
“Can Dad do it?”
A jolt of annoyance slashed through her before she quickly masked it. It wasn’t Jeff’s fault that he was the shiny new parent. “Of course.” She glanced at Jeff. “They live right next door.” She pointed to the left side of the house. “Marco’s mom is Miriam. I texted her we’d be right over, so she’ll be waiting.”
Jeff stared at her for several seconds, then his eyes warmed with sympathy. Somehow, he saw through the mask that most people didn’t see.
“Alright, you got everything you need?” Jeff asked.
“Yeah.” Max dropped onto the floor and slid his feet into his sneakers, then hopped back up.
She crouched so she was eye level with Max. “We’re eating soon, so when I say it’s time to come home, it’s time to come home. No arguments. Deal?”
“Yeah.” Max nodded in agreement.
“I mean it, Max.” There was nothing worse than having the whiny kid who didn’t listen. She’d learned how much she hated that when Max was little and had quickly learned if she set the stage ahead of time, she could usually avoid most of the conflict.
“I know, Mom,” he groaned. Reaching up, he grabbed Jeff’s hand. “Come on, Dad.”
The two walked out the front door hand in hand. Weird emotions collided in her ribs. Jealousy, warmth, fear, happiness. How could she be feeling all of these things at once? Why did she feel threatened by Jeff’s relationship with Max? That didn’t make sense. She loved the idea of Max having a solid relationship with Jeff. Of Max having a strong male role model, he could turn to. From everything she’d seen from Jeff so far, Max was lucky to have him in his life, so why did she have this little niggle of jealousy? What kind of mother was jealous of the other parent? If this was happening to one of her friends, she’d say what she was feeling was normal, understandable even. But it didn’t feel normal. It felt awful.
A few minutes later, Jeff lightly rapped on the screen door just before he pushed it open. He wandered into the kitchen and leaned against the kitchen counter. “Your neighbors seem nice.”
“Yeah, Miriam is a good mom. I don’t know how she does it with four kids. I struggle with just having Max.”
“She’s got four kids. By herself?”
She nodded. “I can’t imagine. Her ex left before we moved in, so I never knew him.”
“He doesn’t see the kids?”
“Not that I’m aware of. From my understanding, he just decided one day he was done and walked out, never to be heard from again.”
“Jesus,” he muttered. “That’s rough. Sounds like she’s better off without him. Her kids deserve better than an asshole like that in their life.”
“Yeah, they do.” Guilt dragged across her chest. He was right. Kids deserved everything, and so far, that’s what Jeff was trying to do with Max. He was the exact opposite of Miriam’s ex. How Jeff was with Max was exactly what she’d always dreamed about for him.
“Can I help with anything?” He eyed the stack of vegetables she’d set on the kitchen counter.
“No, I’m good. You want a drink or anything?”
