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“Couldn’t you call someone, you know, last-minute?”
“Pull out the little black book, you mean?” He gave her a lopsided smile. “No. I couldn’t.”
She wondered what he meant with that very definitive “I couldn’t.” That was different than saying, “I won’t.” “Why not?”
“Because I don’t have one.” His tone of voice told her they’d reached the end of that topic. “You could come to Minneapolis and skip the dinner,” he suggested.
“So it doesn’t look like we’re back together?”
“Right. You said that was what upset you about the profile. I wouldn’t want to make it worse. But if you come, I’ll try to keep you out of photos. And I’ll make it clear that we’re simply supporting the cause as a united family.”
“So you want me to come, even though it’s just us?”
A flash of surprise crossed his face. “Of course I do. If nothing else, it’ll be a lot more fun if you’re with me. You have no idea how tedious these dinners can be.”
She smiled despite her better judgment. “I’m not sure you’re supposed to have fun hanging out with your ex-wife.”
“Sorry, is that specifically against one of your divorce rules?”
“I don’t believe it’s mentioned.”
“Then as far as I’m concerned, we can do whatever we want. So are you in or out?”
She was in.
“I didn’t buy a new dress—with your money—for nothing. You realize it cost more than my prom slash wedding dress? Prices sure have gone up.”
They grabbed their things and headed into the terminal.
“You got that dress at the thrift store,” said Billy. “That’s not a good comparison. But it sure was beautiful.”
“If you liked that one, wait’ll you see the one I just bought.” She winked at him as they hurried through the softly falling snow. “It’s to die for, and not just for the price tag. Which might actually and literally induce a heart attack, so consider yourself warned.”
“I don’t care how much it cost. Hey, you know if this new contract works out, you can buy a dress like that every week.”
As if that was what she’d spend that money on. Besides, Billy always left one very important thing out of calculations like that.
What if he remarried and started a new family?
Or rather, another family? She knew that he would never disappear from their family, but he was free to have more children some day. If he did, even his abundant resources would be stretched more thin. Why did he never raise that possibility?
Billy was a catch, after all. Two points for a baseball reference. Or is that a fishing reference? She shrugged, continuing her line of thought. Not only was he a ballplayer, but he was one of the good-looking ones who got their photos used on BookTok and Instagram thirst posts. He was fit, strong, smart…and that was just on the surface.
Not many knew about the layers underneath, his struggles, the money he sent to his mother, the way he always came through when anyone needed something from him. He was a jewel. He’d always been a jewel, but in a rough and gnarly state when she’d met him. Now he’d been polished by the tumbling stream of life and his underlying good nature shone bright—at least to her. Ever since he’d stopped drinking she’d begun to see him differently. Before that, she’d been able to dismiss him as Billy Club, the reckless party boy. Not anymore.
On the plane, she pretended to fall asleep, and then actually did sleep. By the time they made it to the suite that he’d booked in the hotel where the dinner was being held, she was wide awake again.
“It’s just for changing,” he assured her. “I thought there were going to be more of us.”
“Good thinking.” She ignored the luxurious bed peeking through the open door to the bedroom.
“But as you’ll notice, there are two bedrooms, so even if we get stuck here overnight, you won’t be stuck with me.”
His smile was rueful. Her heart was a jackrabbit. You traitor, she lectured it. Get a grip.
“I’ll take the big one,” she told him. “I have more stuff.”
“No argument. We should head downstairs in about an hour.” He checked his phone. “Oh shit. They finally got Thomas’ truck out of the ditch, but there’s a solid six inches of snow already. And it’s not slowing down. There might be two feet before it’s done.”
