Chapter 7
“Girls!You”ll walk to school if you don’t get down here right now!” I shouted from the kitchen, praying my daughters would listen to me for once. I shoved their matching peanut butter and jelly sandwiches into their backpacks because both refused to buy lunch this week. Unbelievable. I never would have invested in their meal plans if I knew they’d flip-flop each week. The best part of the whole lunch tug-of-war game? Peter wanted nothing to do with it and told me to let them figure it out. But if I did that, my kids would probably starve to death.
Amelia watched me out of the corner of her eye, trying not to smile as she sipped a cappuccino at the kitchen table. “This is amazing.” She moved the red lipstick-stained white cup an inch away from her nose to inhale the sharp aroma.
“I’m glad you’re enjoying it. One day, I swear I’ll be able to have a hot drink in this goddamn house.” I shook my head, clutching the counter’s edge, completely out of breath. I peered at the clock, and it was five minutes to eight. If we didn’t leave this house in ten minutes, everyone would be fucking late for the day. “Seriously, where the hell are they?”
“They’ll be down, Jules. Just sit.” Amelia gestured to the empty chair next to her, and I listened. “So, tell me. This movie. Spill it now.” She lifted her chin, signaling for me to start.
“Is that why you came here this morning?”
“Yes,” Amelia admitted shamelessly. “Now, speak.”
I bit the inside of my cheek, figuring out where to start as I watched Amelia almost jump out of her seat. I sighed, taking a quick sip of my cold black coffee, clearing my throat, and began, “Well, it’s complicated.” Filling Amelia in on how Brett and I met and running into him at the movies was easy, but I knew she wanted the juicy details. “We kissed.”
“And how was it?” Amelia was literally about to fall off her chair.
“It was amazing.” I melted in my chair just thinking about Brett’s skilled lips. He might have been younger, but there was nothing inexperienced about his touch.
“Ha! I love it!” Amelia threw herself back in her seat, nearly flipping backward.
“Shh! The girls will hear.” My eyes shot to the staircase, expecting the twins to burst through any second. But, of course, they wouldn’t because that would mean getting to school.
Amelia leaned in, her fiery eyes burning into me. ”So, what”s next? Are you seeing him again? When”s the next date?”
I hesitated, unsure of how to answer. ”I don”t know if we should. I mean, I know he’s younger than me, and... I have trust issues.”
Amelia frowned sympathetically. ”I know, Jules. But you can”t let that hold you back forever. You deserve to be happy, too.”
“I know, I know.” I ran my hand through my hair, exhaling a deep breath. “It’s just I don’t know his age. And this is just me speaking in general, but I don’t think I want any more kids. I’m thirty-seven with two kids who are going to cause me to have a heart attack if they don’t come down in two minutes!” I stuck my head out of the kitchen to scream the last part.
“Hold on.” Amelia held up a finger and walked to the foot of the staircase. “Girls! If you don’t get your butts downstairs now, your mom and her boyfriend are going to come to school and make out in the hallway when they drop you off because you missed the bus!”
“Are you fucking crazy?” I hissed at Amelia, lunging across the kitchen.
“Watch this.” Amelia held her chin high when, seconds later, a stampede of footsteps came storming down the steps.
I grinned, knowing Amelia was one of the few who understood how to get through to my girls.
“Mom, you have a boyfriend?” Zoe’s white, shocked eyes stared at me while Sara rocked on her heels.
“Okay, let’s go! Backpacks!” I shouted as I grabbed my purse and headed for the door.
“Do you really have a boyfriend?” It was Sara’s turn to chime in as everyone followed me to the door, and I just didn’t have the strength for any of it.
“I can’t do this,” I groaned, throwing my head back.
“No, they just broke up, now move.” Amelia snapped her fingers at the girls.
The girls, by some miracle, made it to school on time; I then drove me and Amelia to work. And then my day was just about to officially begin when my obnoxious ring tone cut through the parking lot’s air like a molten sword. I sighed, knowing Peter was probably calling to complain about a problem he could easily solve.
“I gotta go. I’ll see you inside,” said Amelia, running ahead. She had a meeting soon, so I didn’t blame her.
I pulled my phone out of my purse and saw Brett”s name splashed across the screen. We hadn’t spoken since the movie a few days ago, and I was the one who ignored all his messages. Honestly, I wasn’t sure if I was ready for this. I was unsure if I ever would be, but as Amelia said, I deserved happiness, too. My heart skipped a beat as I pressed the green dot.
”Hey,” I said casually, trying to play it cool.
”Hey, yourself.” Brett”s voice was low and smooth, sending shivers down my spine. ”Sorry to bother you so early in the morning.”
”No, it”s fine. What”s up?” I asked, trying not to sound too eager, leaning against my car, forgetting how to breathe.
”Well, I just wanted to see if you were free tonight. I thought maybe we could grab dinner or something.”
“Tonight?” I already knew it wasn’t possible because I didn’t have coverage for the girls, and it wasn’t Peter’s night. “I can’t tonight. I don’t have anyone to watch the girls.”
“That’s okay. What if I came over and barbecued? It’s a nice night. And you really need to learn how to use your grill.” The confidence rolling off Brett’s tongue almost left me unsettled. How did he make this sound so easy?
“I, uh…” I stared at my feet, kicking around a black pebble off the asphalt. “I don’t think that’s a good idea. Not that it wouldn’t be at some point, but not yet.”
“I get it, no worries.” Brett’s cool yet reassuring tone coated my ear. “When are you free next?”
My lungs inflated. He wasn”t pushy; he was understanding. Something I wasn”t used to in a man. ”How about Saturday? The girls will be at their father’s, so I won’t have to worry about getting home at a certain time.”
“Oh, were you planning on staying out late?” Brett teased.
Heat flooded my cheeks. Oh, this guy was fun. “Yeah. I’m a big girl.”
“Relax. I’m just playing.” Brett laughed. “You’re really fucking cute. Did anyone ever tell you that?”
I pictured Brett’s strong form leaning against a wall, with his hands stuffed in his pockets. Always so casual and calm. And to answer his question about me being cute? No. No one had ever called me cute. I was probably the last cute thing on earth, according to Peter. “I’m not sure. Probably not.”
“We’ll fix that. Anyway, what would you like to do? Go out? What kind of food do you like?” A smile laced through Brett’s deep voice.
“You’re a planner, I see. You do know that nothing ever goes according to plan.” It was my turn to tease.
“Not if I’m in control.”
Feisty. I was starting to like this. “I’ll eat whatever. Go wherever. I’m really not picky.”
“There must be someplace you’d like to go.”
I couldn’t believe I was about to suggest this, but something about Brett tugged at my gut, telling it to let go and do the opposite of what I had been doing all along. “In all honesty? I want you to show me how to use my grill. Come over Saturday night.” I swallowed, waiting for him to say okay, but when I was met with silence, I immediately assumed I had gone too far. “If you want to go out, that’s fine too.”
“No. Sorry, I’m just surprised.”
I wanted to see Brett’s face so badly. There was only so much I could decipher from a tone. “Seriously, we can go out.”
“Julia. This is going to be the best date of your life.”
I smiled. “And what about you?”
“Oh, I already know this will be the best official first date.”
And then it hit me. Were we going to have sex? If Brett was going to accept me, he needed to get to know and appreciate my extremely forward nature. “Look, I know you’re coming to my house, but I don’t want you to get the wrong idea.”
“And I don’t want you to get the wrong idea from me,” Brett said. “I just want us to get to know each other. And for you to not kill burgers going forward. That’s all I expect from Saturday night.”
This. Man. How could one person carry so much energy my soul had been craving? “Okay, sounds good.”
“Sounds great, you mean.”
My face had a full-blown blush simmering across my flesh, and I leaned against my car for support. “Sounds great. I’ll see you Saturday night.”
“Send me your address before we hang up. Got it, beautiful?”
I collared my neck with my hand, wondering what I had just agreed to. Whatever it was, I couldn’t wait. “You’ve got this whole thing figured out, don’t you?”
“Think whatever you might, but I can’t fucking wait to see you again. Address, please.”