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Anna scoffs. “You can’t let him date other women and you not be able to date other people as well.”
“I’ll keep looking on Catch to see if someone else looks promising,” I tell her. “But in the meantime, I really am enjoying my time with Tim. He’s a good guy.”
“A good guy who plays around.” She sounds angry on my behalf.
“But doesn’t sleep around,” I tell her. “I wouldn’t keep seeing him if he did that.”
“I guess that’s something,” she says before adding, “I thank God every day that I found Chris. I was getting ready to give up on men altogether before that fateful open house.”
“I’m starting to think the convent life doesn’t look so bad,” I tease. “I mean, free room and board, and uniforms so I wouldn’t need to worry about buying clothes.”
“Yeah, but married to God … how does that work?”
“He’s a decent provider,” I tell her.
“With his own harem of devoted wives. It sounds like a bad television series.”
I laugh out loud at that. “I hope God has a good sense of humor because if He doesn’t, you might be in trouble.”
“He created sloths and star-nosed moles, didn’t He? I think it’s safe to say He’s not going to come gunning for me for one smart-mouth comment.”
“What are you doing tonight?” I ask. “You want to catch a movie or something?”
“Chris’s parents are coming over again. His mother wants to lecture me about the importance of eating vegetables at every meal. And then she’ll sit and watch me consume an entire plateful of them to make sure her grandchild is being properly gestated.”
I redirect the air conditioning vents in the car so they’re all blowing at me. “At least she’s excited about the baby.”
“I’d rather she leave me alone until he or she is born.”
“You should tell her you’re sick and can’t get together tonight.”
“She’d only bring over some weird Japanese tincture to cure me. No, I just need to let her come and hope she doesn’t stay too long. Whoops, I’ve got another call coming in. I’ll talk to you soon.”
After she hangs up, I call Paige, but she doesn’t pick up. I guess I’m going to be on my own tonight. I briefly toy with the idea of going back inside and seeing if Sammy wants to hang out. I know she’s only twelve, but I could teach her some new ways of wearing her hair or something.
I talk myself out of that idea almost immediately. While I know we’d have fun, I do not need to spend any more time in the vicinity of Jamie. And if Sammy came over, I’m guessing he’d join her. If for no other reason than to torment me.
For a guy who claims to want nothing to do with me, he’s sure around a lot.
CHAPTERTWENTY-SIX
JAMIE
Sammy spends the rest of the week meeting up with her new friends at the pool. While this makes me hopeful she’s found her tribe, I’m nervous about history repeating itself.
As per our routine, I drop her off at the country club after breakfast and then pick her up before dinner. Sammy is clearly achieving the independence she’s been striving for, but that alarms me. My whole life to this point has been about her, and I have no idea how to let her pull away.
Standing at the stove, I pour pancake batter onto the hot griddle. Pancakes have been our staple Sunday breakfast since Sammy was two and declared them the “nummiest!” When she walks into the kitchen I ask, “Are we still meeting Melissa at the club today?”
Her confused expression has me adding, “On Monday, you decided we’d meet her and Paige there.”
“I totally forgot about that.” She picks up her phone and starts to type.
“Are you texting Melissa?” I ask.
“Yup.” Her phone promptly beeps in reply. “She says she’ll be there at eleven, but Paige can’t come because she’s behind on getting her room ready for school.”
So much for having a chaperone to keep me on the straight and narrow. Not that I’m going to throw myself at Melissa in a public setting, but I’m sure I’ll be tempted. She affects me in a way that both surprises and scares me. I haven’t felt like this since Beth and I started dating in college.
