“I can hardly blame you since I’m the one who took off my clothes. But I don’t actually mind that you saw me that way.”
“No?”
“No.” She patted the bed beside her, inviting him to stretch out on top of the covers. Since she was under them, it felt friendly rather than intimate. “I know I’m safe with you.”
“You are. I want you to trust me.”
“I do.”
“You remember about Scott and Amber, right?” he asked softly in a different tone.
“Yeah. I remember.”
“How are you feeling about that today?”
“I feel...” She paused to assess her emotions. “I feel fine. Kind of distanced now, if you want to know the truth. I still feel stupid about falling in love with him, but it doesn’t feel so intense. I’m not sure why I got so upset about it yesterday. Sorry if I was a mess.”
“You weren’t a mess.”
“It’s nice of you to say that, but I kind of was.”
He reached out to take her hand, which was lying on top of her covers. “Well, you’re my mess, so I like it.”
She giggled again, although she was ridiculously touched. She lifted his hand to her mouth so she could kiss his knuckles. “I really appreciate you being so careful and patient and knowing I need to go slow, but if anything is bothering you or not working for you, I want you to tell me. I don’t want this relationship to be just you taking care of me. I want it to be... reciprocal.”
“It is reciprocal.” He turned his head so he could meet her eyes. “I’ve been living with these feelings a lot longer than you. It’s newer to you, so it takes more time for you to process. And you’re the one with the previous marriage to deal with. You’ve taken care of me most of my life. There’s nothing one-sided about this.”
She nodded, thinking—hoping—he was right. “Okay. Because... because I might have fallen apart a little yesterday, but I really like where this thing between us is going.”
“Yeah?” Just one word with a faint rasp in the tone, and it spoke volumes about hope and joy and tenderness.
“Yeah.” She kissed his hand again. This time on the palm.
“It’s probably no surprise to you, but I like it too.”
THEY HUNG OUT THAT morning, watching TV in bed and then making a late breakfast of eggs and pancakes. By the time she was taking a shower at about two in the afternoon, her headache was completely gone and a shuddering excitement had taken its place.
It felt like something was going to happen soon.
Something really good.
And for some reason, her long-held fear that one step over the line would tumble the whole precarious house of cards had completely disappeared.
So at four o’clock, she and Keith drove over to her mother’s small brick ranch house. It was a nice older neighborhood, but not anything like the wealthy suburb where Weston Academy was located. When she was younger, Serena had felt awkward about the difference in lifestyle between her own family and the families of her friends. But now she loved her mother’s house—her mother’s neighborhood—and would much rather live there than in the big, pretentious, soulless house she’d lived in when she was married to Scott.
She and Keith went inside to say hi to her mother and help Eva get her stuff ready to leave. While Keith and Eva hunted through the backyard to collect all her scattered dolls (they’d all been stranded on a deserted island and had to establish a new civilization), Serena and her mom watched from inside the house.
Serena was laughing at Keith, who was hamming up his surprise and awe at all the different houses Eva had built for her dolls.
Her mom said, “Something has changed.”
“What’s changed?” Serena’s confusion was genuine until she got a look at her mother’s face.
“With Keith. Something has changed.”
Her cheeks warming, she murmured, “Yes. But we’re not sure where it’s going, so we’re not making a big deal about it yet.”
“Okay. It took longer than I thought it would, but I’m glad it’s finally happening now.”
“You thought something would happen?” Serena’s eyes widened.
Her mother laughed and gave her a half hug. “Honey, I thought it would happen back in high school! But I was a little premature. Better late than never.”
Serena wasn’t sure what to make of that, but it didn’t bother her or embarrass her. In fact, she kind of liked the sound of it.
THEY WENT OUT TO EAT an early dinner at Eva’s favorite pizza place. Eva was in one of her bright, uproarious moods—the one that often preceded a crash—but they made it the whole meal without any meltdowns, and all three of them enjoyed it.
They’d had to park a few blocks away, so Serena and Eva waited in front of the restaurant with the box of leftover pizza while Keith went to get the car.
“That was fun,” Serena said, reaching down to give one of Eva’s ponytails a tug.
“Yes. It was nice of Uncle Keith to pay for it.” Eva’s eyes were sober. She had long experience of knowing they couldn’t always go out to eat or get every dress or toy she wanted because of how much things cost. Only her dad could buy expensive things.
“Yes. He was nice to do that for us.”
“Uncle Keith is always nice.”
“Yes, he is.” Serena could see a thought working on her daughter’s face, but she couldn’t figure out what it was. She waited for a minute for the girl to get her thoughts together. Then she asked, “What is it, sweetheart? If you have a question, you can ask me.”
“Are you going to get married to Uncle Keith?” Eva’s eyes were round but not upset. Mostly just curious.
Serena grew still for a moment before she answered gently, “I don’t know. Why do you ask that?”
“Well, he’s your boyfriend—like Amber is Daddy’s girlfriend. And Daddy and Amber are going to get married and I get to be a flower girl. So I wondered if you and Uncle Keith would get married. Was that wrong?”
“No, it’s not wrong. But why do you think Uncle Keith is my boyfriend now?”
Eva frowned. “He’s always been your boyfriend. Hasn’t he, Mommy?”
Serena didn’t know whether to laugh or cry at the innocent question, but she settled with stroking her daughter’s head. “I don’t actually know what he is right now. And I don’t know what will happen. We’ll have to wait and see. Is that okay with you?”
“Yes. It’s okay.” Eva perked up as she saw Keith driving up to the curb in front of them. “Uncle Keith makes everything good.”
“Yes. He really does.”
Eva was already moving toward the car, but she asked over her shoulder, “If you get married, can I be your flower girl too?”
“Yes. Of course you can. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves.”
“Okay.” When Serena and Eva had gotten settled in the car, Eva announced in a proud voice to Keith, “We aren’t supposed to get ahead of ourselves, but I get to be the flower girl when you and Mommy get married.”