“Uh, right.” That didn’t offer much of an explanation.
“Listen, why don’t you come to our place for dinner on Saturday?”
“Er, well, okay. Is English going to be there?”
“Yes, but she doesn’t know it yet.”
“Huh?”
“I haven’t asked her, but when I do, she’ll say yes. She always does.”
Perhaps I should run my marriage issue by Beck. If I married English, she and Easton would be better protected than she was now. He might be pleased about that. I had a couple of days to think about it until I actually told him.
“Okay, dinner on Saturday sounds great.”
“I’ll see you tomorrow. Dinner will be at seven. I’ll text you the address.”
“Thanks so much. I look forward to it.”
I made up my mind to talk to him. Afterward, he’d either love me or hate me. As for English, I was sure she’d despise me. Of course, I couldn’t drag her down the aisle kicking and screaming so I had to come up with a way to win her over to my way of thinking. The only way I knew how was through her daughter. It should be easy as I treasured that peanut. God help me, though, this was not going to be easy.
Chapter Twenty-Two
English
Mom called and invited us for dinner on Saturday. She wanted Easton to spend the night too.
“She’ll be so excited, especially after Friday night at Banana and Geepa’s,” I said.
“What’s going on Friday night?”
“Tristian is taking me to dinner.”
Dead silence.
“Mom, you still there?”
“Yeah. I’m here. This is news.”
“Nah, not really. He asked me before the big rescue but I refused because he was such a prick.”
“Tristian?”
“The one and only.”
Mom snorted.
“Mom!”
“I’m sorry, but that reminds me of your father. He was the biggest prick to me at first. Oh, man, I despised him.”
“You did?”
“You remember those stories.”
“I knew you two went at each other for a while, but despised? No.”
“I’ll let your father fill you in on that. Let’s just say his broody manner did nothing for me at the time.”
“I can’t imagine Dad being broody.”
“English, he’s the worst. When he doesn’t get his way—”
“Oh, that. He pouts like a little kid.”
“Exactly. But we had a time of it.”
“How did you manage to break through all that?”
“You.”
“Me?” What the heck had I done?
“Yep. You were the glue that bound us together.”
“I’m glad I was. I don’t know what I would’ve done without you growing up.”
“And honey, I feel exactly the same. It’s still hard to believe my precious daughter is an adult with a child of her own.”
“I can’t believe it either.” I laughed. “Sometimes, I still think I’m that little girl.”
“You’ll always be that to me. So, are you coming on Saturday then?”
“You know I wouldn’t miss it. I haven’t been over in a while.”
“That’s what your father and I were saying, so it’s the reason for the dinner.”
“Okay, I’m looking forward to it. I’ve gotta run, Mom. I have to call about those self-defense classes I promised Dad about. See you on Saturday.”
On the way to pick up Easton, I called several martial arts schools near us, but none of them offered classes for parents and kids together. We would have to take them separately, which I’d have to think about. It wasn’t that I didn’t want Easton taking them. I probably would take them first as a test run.
I picked Easton up and we went home to find Stacey waiting for us. She followed the car into the garage and as I got out she ran toward me.
“Can you believe Reed’s already dating someone?”
It didn’t surprise me. In fact, he’d probably been seeing this person for a while. “How do you know?”
“Social media. There are pictures of them everywhere. She works in the same office. He’s such a fucker.”
“Who’s a fucker, Aunt Stacey Bear?” Easton asked.
Shit, shit, shit. “Easton, forget you heard that word,” I said.
“I heard it before.”
“Where?” I asked, unbuckling her from her booster car seat.
“At school. The mean boys say it all the time but I don’t know what a fucker is. Is it like a sucker?”
“No, honey, it’s not. And please don’t ever say that. Okay?”
“Okay. Aunt Stacey Bear, are you staying to play?”
“I think so. Do you want me to?”
“Yes!” She clapped her hands.
“Easton, you can’t play until you finish your worksheet for school,” I said.
“Aunt Stacey Bear can help. Can’t you?”
“Sure. I love worksheets.”
Easton jumped around like a pogo stick until we got inside. “Mommy, can I have a snack, please?”
I fed her some apples with peanut butter and then the three of us sat at the kitchen table while she completed her worksheet. It was simple math and she finished it in fifteen minutes.
“Can we make some pictures now? I can go get my coloring pencils.”
I knew Stacey would want to talk to me about this situation with her ex-fiancé, so I told Easton to go up to her room and make us a special one.
“But Mommy, I want you to help me.”
“I know, sweetheart, but Aunt Stacey has some things to tell me.”
“Is it about that fucker?”
Stacey sputtered and my eyes widened. “Easton, you promised you wouldn’t say that.”
Easton’s tiny hand covered her mouth. “Oops. I forgot. Am I in trouble?”
“Yes, you are. Now up to your room, young lady.”
“But, Mommy, I didn’t mean to be bad. That ‘fucker’ just slipped out.”
“Go on. And don’t say it again.”
She walked away with her head hanging down and it took everything in me not to laugh. When I heard her hit the top step and continue on, I nearly died.
“Oh, God, that was too funny,” Stacey said.
“I know, but you can’t laugh in front of her.”
“It was hard not to.”
“Right? So tell me the scoop.”
Stacey went from laughing to frowning. “Yeah, that fucker is dating and if I’m right, they’ve been at it for some time. I went to her social media accounts and there were pictures of them from way before we bought the house. What I can’t figure out is why didn’t he just have the balls to tell me?”
This got me thinking. “Stacey, could you sue him?”
“For what?”
“Hear me out. I know you’re the one with the law degree but you’re not thinking clearly where he’s concerned. You bought the house under the false notion that you were going to be married. This woman has pictures of them on social media from before that. He never intended to marry you, so isn’t there some legal issue here? A breaking of a contract?”