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I turned back to Kyle, but he was looking anywhere but at me, jaw locked and his hands clenching at his sides. Didhethink he was spending the night too? Because that was not where my mind was.
“Yeah, it’s late. I should go.” His tone was clipped, and he still wouldn’t look at me. “Your mom’s probably sick of me,” he directed at Teddy.
Shit. Now Teddy’s gaze was bouncing back and forth between us, looking for the answer to his simple question.
“Uh—” I wanted to tell Kyle that he didn’t have to leave.
He’d spent all day with my kids, and I wanted a little time to ourselves,but another glance at Callie had my brain freezing. Squinting, she scrutinized me, waiting for my response. All eyes were on me, and I had no idea how to respond. I wanted him here, but I hadn’t considered how the kids would feel about it. How had a simple question spiraled so out of control?
“Okay, then.” Kyle stepped around the armchairs that faced the sofa and headed for the front door. “I had fun today. Thanks for letting me tag along.” He glanced at each of the kids, then finally,finallylooked at me. Jaw tense, he dipped his chin. “Good night.”
The kids echoed agood night, and I offered a smile that I hoped saidsorry, I suck.
With a slight nod, he was gone, the door clicking shut behind him.
I was still beating myself up about how I’d handled that interaction when I stepped from Teddy’s room a half hour later and into Callie’s. She sat in her bed, a book in her lap.
“I’m surprised you’re not asleep already.” I plopped down on the edge of her mattress. “You must be tired after today.”
“Yeah, a little.” She kept her face lowered and fidgeted with the pages of her book.
“You okay?”
She snapped up straight, frowning. “Are you going to marry Kyle?”
My lungs seized. With a hand to my chest, I forced myself to inhale once and let the breath out slowly. “What?”
Kyle and I had been discreet, but, of course, Callie had caught on. She didn’t miss anything. Truthfully, it was why I’d handled everything so badly tonight.
“My friend Ava. She has a stepdad. So I thought…I don’t know. Maybe…” She trailed off, focusing on her book again, her hair falling like a curtain around her face.
My stomach tied itself into knots as I scrambled for the best way to approach this. Honesty had always been my policy. It was important that she understood, but I had to be careful to protect her feelings and to not cause her to worry.
“Callie, one day I might decide to get married again.”
When she lifted her gaze to meet mine again, I shook my head.
“But not right now.”
“To Kyle?”
“Probably not.” The reminder that Kyle and I couldn’t have anything more sat weird in my stomach. “He’s moving to New York.”
Her mouth turned down into a frown, like she didn’t like that answer, and her eyes slanted together. “But you like him?”
I smiled. “Yeah, I do. He’s pretty great, isn’t he?”
She shrugged. “Yeah, he’s okay.”
“How about this? If and when I decide I like someone enough to want to marry them, I’ll let you know, and we can talk about it.”
“Okay.”
Her easy agreement drained some of the tension from my body.
She went back to her book, reading in earnest now, effectively ending our conversation. So with a squeeze to her leg and a kiss to her forehead, I left the room. Now that I’d dealt with that problem, it was time to fix the way I’d left things with Kyle.
I wandered to the kitchen in search of my phone. When I found it on the counter, I typed out a message.
