AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Hey, beautiful. How was your day?”
Mia laughed softly. “Better now, thank you. How about yours?”
He gave her a very brief, very vague rundown of his travels and dinner with his parents—careful to leave out all references to his vehicle—then shifted the topic back to her. “So, why better now?”
“Well, it’s always good to hear your voice, of course.”
“Of course,” he laughed. “But…”
She sighed. “So, the band concert was tonight.”
“Yes! How did Brooklyn do?”
Alex clicked on his ventless fireplace and dropped into a nearby recliner.
“She did great. Well, at least from what I could tell. She’s the only bassoon, so most of the time I can pick her out from the rest of the band. When I asked her how it went, she just shrugged.”
“Sounds like something she would do,” Alex said. “So, what has you sounding less than happy then?”
There was a pause on the other end of the line. “It’s nothing.”
Alex may have been married for a short period of time, but it’d been more than long enough to know that when a woman said “it’s nothing,” it never really was.
“Tell me.”
“It’s just…so, we ended up sitting by my ex and his new wife and parents.”
“We?”
“Mrs. Harper tagged along. She didn’t want me to go alone. I tried telling her I would be fine, but she insisted.”
Concern niggled at him. What could have gone so wrong at a high school band concert? Had her ex made a scene? Had Margaret done something to draw too much attention to them?
“Anyway, we got there before the other side of the family because Mrs. Harper insists on getting everywhere super early. Fine by me. I hate being late. She, on the other hand, just loves people watching.”
Alex chuckled.
“Yes, shocker, I know. But the real shocker was when Greg and his new wife walked in and she…she had a baby bump, Alex. All those years he told me one daughter was enough, and now he’s starting over with his new young wife and—” She sighed. “It just hurts. I know that probably sounds silly, but I guess I’m struggling to process it all.”
“I’m sorry to hear you’re hurting. And it’s perfectly all right for you to need time to process that. It sounds like something you definitely weren’t expecting.”
She breathed out a huff. “Yeah, those two have beengreatat surprising me with news I wasn’t expecting. Anyway, I congratulated them, of course, but where does that leave Brooklyn? There’s going to be a seventeen-year gap between her and her new half-sibling. Will she become an afterthought? Or get guilted into babysitting all the time? And what will I do if she suddenly wants to spend more time over there playing with the new baby than here with me? I’ve only got a few more years with her before she heads off to college, Alex.”
Alex shifted in his chair, unsure how to answer a single one of those questions. All of this was way outside his area of expertise. This was a hazard that came with dating women with children. Usually, he’d be running in the other direction. But for Mia, he’d find a way to help her work through it. Also, he’d taken a shine to Brooklyn after the Christmas tree incident and the way she laughed at him instead of dissolving into a puddle of tears.
“I think the thing to remember is how close you are with Brooklyn—no matter what changes come both your ways, that bond runs deep. But my guess is, she’ll turn out to be an amazing older sister because of the example you’ve set with your own family.”
A sniffle sounded from Mia’s side of the line. “Thanks, Alex. I needed to hear all of that.”
“Anytime.” And he meant it.
“One funny thing did happen tonight, though. I think Mrs. Harper knew I was struggling with the baby news. So, when the concert was over and we were waiting for Brooklyn to put away her instrument and join us, Mrs. Harper said just loud enough for Greg’s family to hear that it was a good thing my new man had to be away on business, because all the moms would have been watching him instead of the concert.” Mia laughed. “I’m not going to lie, I think she has a bit of a crush on you. And also, the look on Greg’s face was priceless.”
Alex watched the gas flames dancing in the fireplace and grinned. He’d liked Mia’s neighbor from the start. “She’s a firecracker, that one.”
“That she is. Anyway, enough about that. What’s the word on your car?”
Alex grimaced, hating that he wasn’t out from under his Bambi fib just yet. Hopefully, someday they’d look back on Del’s ruse and laugh together about it. For now, he’d just have to craft his answers carefully.
