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“I got it.” She swiped at it with the Handiwipe, then showed him her face. He shook his head. With a sigh, she handed him the wipe.
“It’s too bad the reporter can’t see us now,” he joked as he dabbed away the mascara. “Modeling platonic grooming between ex-spouses.”
More like, modeling strategic blocking of feelings of attraction, she thought as she held her breath until he was done. That was one of her secret Rules for Divorce. Don’t mingle breath. It was too intimate. Also, smells were very powerful, and one ill-timed inhale could whisk you right back to the danger zone.
As they drove toward the Loon Feather Bistro, considered the nicest restaurant in town, she asked, “Is there anything we should talk about before we meet him? Or is it a woman?”
“All I know is last name Delaney, first name begins with L, but they’re from a women’s magazine. Anyway, does it matter? All we have to do is answer their questions and be ourselves.”
“Oh no. Heck no.” She wagged a finger at him. Of course Billy would take a fly-by-the-seat-of-his-pants approach to this. “We have to be on the same page. We can’t just go in there without a plan.”
“Isn’t the plan to just…be divorced and open with her about how we manage it?”
She rolled her eyes at that optimistic scenario. “What if they ask about…I don’t know, finances, for instance? Some stuff is private. We have to decide what’s off limits.”
He nodded thoughtfully. “How about we just tell them what my last contract was? They probably know anyway. Basic research.”
“How about telling them that I got hired to do the new edition of The Guide to Midwestern Mushrooms?”
“You did? Hey, that’s great news. Congratulations.” His reaction was so genuine that she felt slightly ashamed that she hadn’t told him before now. Why hadn’t she? He always celebrated her good news in a completely wholehearted way.
“Thanks. It’s not quite as prestigious as the Pacific Northwest edition, but it’s pretty cool. And I should clear at least a few thousand dollars.” She made a face at the low rates of pay that went with her field. It was a niche market, for sure. But it meant she could work from home, using samples sent to her by field researchers, and there was something about the precision and tidiness of botanical drawing that really appealed to her.
“To hell with that, Northwest mushrooms are crap compared to our Midwestern ones. We’ve got the grooviest shrooms in the country. I don’t care what they say, you got the better assignment. And you’re going to kill it.” Billy’s staunch loyalty made her feel warm all over. He’d never stopped being her biggest supporter, not even in the middle of divorcing.
“Wait. Stop. We should re-enact this whole thing for the reporter. I tell you some good news, you celebrate with me. She’ll eat it up.”
“Oh, now it’s a she?”
“I hope so. You can flirt with her and I can shine with her.”
He shot her an affronted look. “I’m telling you right now, I will not be flirting with her.”
“Or him?”
“If it’s a him, sure.” As usual, he didn’t miss a beat. “I’ll do a bro-flirt. We’ll go shoot pool or something.”
They grinned at each other. Really, it was too bad the reporter was missing all this. “You know what, I think we’re ready.”
Billy pulled into the Loon Feather parking lot and put the truck in park. The restaurant’s plate-glass windows reflected the midday sun as they looked out over the lake. “Let’s do this.”
She grabbed her coat and stepped out of the car. A pinprick of cold landed on her cheek. She looked up at the sky and caught the first meandering snowflakes of the fall drifting toward the ground.
“It’s snowing.” She put out her hand to catch a flake in her palm. Another followed that one, then another. “The boys will be so excited.”
“Hell, I’m excited. First snow, that’s a good omen. We won our last playoff game right after a flurry.” Billy came around the truck and slung his arm over her shoulders. The familiar weight sent a rush of emotion through her.
“Oh no. No no.” She slipped out from under his arm. “We need clear boundaries for this. No physical contact.”
“It was a friendly gesture. I’d do the same with my brothers.” Shoving his hands in his pockets, he gazed down at her, his blue eyes glinting.
“I’m not your brother, I’m your ex-wife, and it gives mixed signals.”
“Okay.” He dipped his head to acknowledge her point. “Anything else I should avoid? No direct compliments, no physical contact, no discussion of finances…damn, sounds like the last few months of our marriage.”
That made her laugh. As more tiny snowflakes landed on her cheeks, a kind of giddiness came over her. She loved the first snowfall of the winter, the way it covered everything in soft white, like a clean slate. She swatted him lightly on the chest. “Cute, Cooper. Very cute. But you know we had plenty of sex all the way to the end.”
“And a little while after. What’s that called, extra-inning sex?” His eyes were alight with mischief as he teased her. Oh man, why’d he have to remind her of that?
