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“Welcome home,” she said. “How was your day at work?”
Her bright smile and energy were always refreshing. She was more than twice my age and yet never seemed like she spent the day taking care of an active two-year-old.
“It was good. But I’m glad to be home,” I told her.
“Well, I guess I will head back home myself,” she said, putting the book down on the coffee table.
“Why don’t you stay for a while?” I asked. I held up the pizza box. “I got an extra-large. There’s no way I can eat it all myself. And I’m sure Willa would like to show you her favorite movies.”
Pam was adamant about not letting Willa watch but a very limited amount of TV during the day. Instead, they played games and played with her toys, read books, did crafts, and went on little adventures. It made movie evenings like this even more of a treat.
“Maybe a slice or two,” she said.
“Yay!” Willa gushed, and I grinned.
“Good. I’ll bring this stuff into the kitchen and get plates out.”
Willa ate a sliver of the plain cheese half of the pizza while I ate far more of the onion, mushroom, and black olive half than I was proud to admit. Pam and I talked and laughed throughout dinner, and when we were finished eating, I again extended the invitation for her to stay and enjoy the movies with us. She shook her head.
“I think I’m going to call it a night. It’s almost time to take my pill, and it puts me right to sleep.” She stroked Willa’s face affectionately. “But I will see you in the morning. We’re going to make suncatchers, right?”
Willa nodded, though I was fairly certain she didn’t know what Pam was talking about. We said good night, and I locked the door behind Pam. Scooping Willa up, I brought her into the bathroom for a bath and changed both of us into pajamas. Getting out the sherbet and toppings I’d bought that afternoon, I brought it all into the living room, cued up the movie, and settled onto the couch with Willa to savor some time with my baby.
15
Darren
It really shouldn’t have bothered me so much that Kelly said she couldn’t come to dinner that night. I made sure she knew what we were doing and said she should come, but it wasn’t like I’d asked her out or made any sort of special show out of asking her to come along. She was under no obligation to come with us, and she would have no reason to think it would upset me in any way when she said she couldn’t come because she had plans.
And yet, it did. From the second she said she had plans, it felt like there was a rock sitting in the bottom of my stomach. There weren’t many things I could think of off the top of my head she might mean by having plans. By her own admission, she hadn’t lived in the area for very long and didn’t really know anybody. With the exception of Lindsey at the bar and my brother Nick, I couldn’t think of anybody who I knew she spent any time with when she wasn’t at work. So, I highly doubted she was just going to hang out with friends. But there was one explanation that came full force front and center to my mind that would explain why she didn’t elaborate.
She must have a date. The thought alone made the muscles along the sides of my jaw twitch and my stomach turn slightly. Having a date would explain why she wasn’t able to go out with us, and it also made sense she wouldn’t immediately want to tell me about it. Even though we’d agreed to be friends, there was still a certain level of awkwardness that came with telling someone you knew intimately that you were going out with somebody else.
I fumed the whole way home to change before dinner, hoping a shower and fresh clothes might make me feel better. Sort of like getting rid of the day and starting new for the evening. Only, it didn’t work out that way. I was still pissed off and frustrated when I left my house and drove to the restaurant. Apparently, I’d devoted far more time to getting ready for dinner than the others had because I was the last to arrive. Quentin, Merry, Vince, Greg, and the crew were gathered around to one side of the door, engaged in what sounded like at least four conversations as I walked up to them. My parents usually came to gatherings like this, but Mom mentioned to me on the way out to the driveway that she had a headache, so the two of them were going to sit this one out so they were ready for the race the next day. Race days were always chaotic, exhausting, and hard on everybody, even though they were fun, so I could understand her wanting to get some rest.
