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Sammy appears to be getting nervous by this confrontation because she steps between us. “Thanks for everything, Melissa. Are you good if I come in tomorrow?”
“I thought you were spending the day with me tomorrow,” her dad says. “I took the day off work and everything.”
Sammy touches his arm gently. “I spend every day with you, Dad. I want to be in town as much as possible so I can meet people. Why don’t you take me to lunch?”
It’s clear who rules the roost in their family. “Maybe your mom can come too,” I suggest. I’d like to get a look at the woman who gets to call this grumpy Adonis her husband.
“Sammy’s mom didn’t move to Elk Lake with us,” Jamie says. I cock an eyebrow in question, which prompts him to explain, “Beth is in Germany.”
“She lives there,” Sammy adds.
I open my mouth to say something—anything—but the only sound that comes out is a groan. I try to camouflage the faux pas by clearing my throat and mumbling, “Smart woman.” The look of surprise on Jamie’s face makes it clear he heard me.
Sammy’s sad expression indicates she heard too.Why don’t I just use a megaphone next time I insult somebody?“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean that. I only meant that Germany is nice.”
“I don’t even know Beth. I was just a baby the last time I saw her,” Sammy says.Come again? What in the world happened to cause a woman to leave this lovely child?
I’m completely flabbergasted by this news and am grateful when my mom chimes in. “It’s hard to be a single parent, isn’t it?” For some reason, she decides to share, “My husband left when Missy was ten.”
The topic of conversation is obviously making Jamie uncomfortable because he takes his daughter’s hand and declares, “Time to go, honey.” Smiling at my mom, he adds, “It was nice to meet you, Margie.” He quickly ventures a glance at me before lowering his gaze. “Melissa.”What’s with this guy?
Sammy offers a quick wave. “Thanks for today, Melissa. I had a great time.” She gives my mom a one-armed hug.
Once they’re gone, my mom announces, “Now that’s a good-looking man.”
“If you say so.” I might have said so too, but then I got a load of his personality. Jamie Riordan may be a fine physical specimen, but his disposition leaves a lot to be desired.
With her hands on her hips, she answers, “No red-blooded woman could look at a man like that and not have her pulse quicken. My heartbeat is hammering like I just ran a mile in high heels.”
“There’s more to a man than being nice looking.”
“Calling that man nice looking is like calling the Statue of Liberty a pretty little tchotchke.” She winks broadly. “Also, he’s single …”
“Are you thinking about leaving Howard for a younger man?”Do it, I silently dare her.
She physically startles and takes a step backward. “Don’t be silly. Howard is a prize. I’d never leave him. But you, on the other hand …”
I’d leave Howard in a heartbeat. The only kind of prize I’d liken him to is a plastic ring at the bottom of a box of Cracker Jacks. But I don’t tell my mom that. Instead, I say, “I’m not interested in Jamie Riordan.”
“Why in the world not? He can’t be that much older than you. Maybe six or seven years. And once you hit your thirties that’s no big thing.”
“It’s not that he’s older than me, Mom. He’s ... kinda rude.”
She starts to rehang a pile of veils. “Honey, I think you’re losing it. That man was positively delightful.”
“To you,” I tell her.
She hits me with a dead-eye glare. “I’m starting to think your single status might be your fault.”She’s just starting to think this?Um, hello birth-giver, you pretty much say this to me on the daily.
Luckily, my last appointment of the day walks out of the changing room, which keeps me from giving my mother a piece of my mind. “Where’s Sammy?” Tinley Fields wants to know.
“Her dad just picked her up,” I say.
“You have a beautiful daughter,” she tells me. “I hope I’m that lucky one day.”
“Oh, she’s not my daughter.” I nearly choke on my words.
“Really? What are the chances there would be two of you with such a gorgeous shade of red hair?”
