Chapter 9 Surprise Guest
Surprise Guest
“You should call him.”
Abby sighed and shifted the phone to her other ear. “It’s been an entire week. I’m not calling him.”
“Maybe he’s had a crazy week at work.”
“Naomi, I love you, but please let this go.” She’d accepted that Christian wasn’t going to call. “He doesn’t want to be involved with a single mother, and that’s fine. It’s a lot to take on. I get it.”
“I know. I’m just disappointed for you.”
She set the basket full of dirty laundry on top of the dryer and switched the phone to speaker so both her hands were free.
“Well, don’t be. I have a coffee date this afternoon.
If nothing else, he showed me I am ready to get back out there.
But I’m being upfront about having a son, and hopefully any prospects will weed themselves out. ”
“Your mom taking Will?” Naomi asked.
“Yes. They’re going to the aquarium.”
Naomi laughed. Will always wanted to go to the aquarium. If he could live there, he would.
“Want me to call during your date so you have a reason to leave if it sucks?”
“No, I’ll be fine.” She finished loading the washer and set the basket in front of the dryer.
“Okay. On another note, are you sure you don’t want to go to Colorado with me and Lizzie next week?”
She took her phone off speaker. “I would love to go spend a week in Colorado with you, but not in April. It still snows in April. I am not prepared for that.”
“Believe me, I’m right there with you, but her grandparents want more than a long weekend with her. They asked to take her to Alaska with them this summer, but she’s not on board with six full weeks in a camper with them.”
“Can’t say I blame her. That wouldn’t have been my idea of fun as a ten-year-old either.”
She checked the clock on the wall. “I need to get Will up and to my mom’s. I’m taking Lindsey to the airport before my coffee date.”
“Do you think we should put a tracker on her? If anyone was going to end up the basis for a CSI episode, it would be her,” Naomi said.
“She’ll be fine. It’s a week in Vegas for her cousin’s wedding—her whole family will be there. How much trouble can she get in?”
There was a moment of silence.
“Maybe slip it in her purse,” Naomi said.
“I’ll see if it will fit in her phone case,” Abby said.
Abby sighed and walked into the aquarium.
Her mom and Will would either be at the touch tank or the ocean tank.
They could spend all day in the aquarium, and they’d go back and forth between those two exhibits.
She waved to Frank, one of the employees, and he pointed in the direction of the touch tank.
Yeah, they were regulars. Sure enough, Will was bent over the short wall, elbow deep in the water.
She kissed her mom on the cheek. “Been here the whole time?”
“Pretty much. They have a new starfish.”
Abby squatted next to Will. “Hey, Buddy.”
He popped his head up and grinned. “Look. A new sta’ fish.”
“Maw Maw told me. Does it have a name yet?”
He shook his head.
“Maybe we can think of one tonight. About fifteen minutes and then home, okay?”
She kissed him on the head and stood, joining her mom at the bench around the pool.
“How was your coffee date?” her mom asked.
“It was good.”
Alan, her date, had been perfectly lovely. Attractive, polite, humorous, asked her questions about herself, her family, and her job. He was also a single parent, divorced, and spoke kindly about his ex.
“Are you going out with him again?”
“He invited me to dinner next week. I said I’d check with you to see when you’re available to watch Will, if you don’t mind.”
She’d accepted, willing to give it another chance, but she knew it wouldn’t lead to anything. He was too nice of a guy to cross off after a single coffee date.
“I never mind,” her mom said. “Tuesday or Thursday work best. I have wine night on Wednesday and Mahjong on Friday.”
“Book club, Mom. It’s book club, not wine night.”
She waved a hand. “Whatever. We never talk about the book we’re supposed to have read. Half of us have given up the pretense and don’t even bother. We’re there for wine and to gossip about our kids. I’m excited to finally have something to contribute.”
Abby rolled her eyes. Her mom had been a major proponent of the Abby should get out and date movement. “What about Monday?”
“You can’t go out with him on Monday.”
She frowned. “Why not?”
“Because it’s only two days from now. Going to dinner with him on Monday denotes an eagerness you don’t feel,” her mom said.
“I’m not uneager,” Abby said defensively.
“You’re ambivalent at best.”
Abby groaned and rubbed her fingers across her forehead. She hated when her mom was insightful and right. “He’s a genuinely nice guy. Smart, attractive, talked well about his ex. Why wasn’t there a spark?”
Alan had everything that should have attracted her to him, but there was no tingle. No whoosh. No flight of butterflies in her stomach.
Her mom patted her arm. “You’re not a spark plug, sweetie—it’s not going to happen with everyone. No matter how perfect they seem.”
Abby put the car in park and shut off the engine.
In the rearview mirror, she could see Will had fallen asleep.
Naps were hit or miss recently, but an afternoon at the aquarium usually tired him out.
The trick now was to get him out of the car, into the house, and into his bed without waking him up.
She managed the first part and was attempting the second, trying to isolate the house key without dropping the entire ring.
“Excuse me.”
Abby turned and found a young girl standing behind her. She looked familiar—probably one of the neighbor kids selling something for a school fundraiser.
“Hi. Can you come back later this afternoon?” she asked in a hushed tone.
The girl stepped closer. “Are you Abigail Day?”
That got her attention. “Why are you asking?”
“I’m Anthony Messina’s daughter.”
Abby’s mind blanked. “Tony doesn’t have a daughter.”
“He does.” She shrugged her shoulders and toed a pebble. “He just doesn’t admit it to anyone.”
Abby struggled for breath. Will was getting heavy and sweat beaded at the base of her spine. She couldn’t come up with a single reason why a girl claiming to be her ex’s daughter would be on her doorstep.
“Why are you here?”
“I need your help.”
Abby pulled Will’s door closed but left it cracked. She’d managed the third part of getting him out of the car, despite her pounding heart.
Tony had a daughter she knew nothing about. They’d been together three years, and he’d never breathed a word about her existence. He’d gone out of his way to make sure Abby understood they would be child-free, and the whole time he had a living, breathing child he’d never even mentioned.
She clenched her fists. That. Asshole.
Taking a steady breath, she shook her hands and went back to the living room.
The girl sat on the edge of the couch with a glass of water. She raised it. “I hope you don’t mind.”
“No.” Abby sat on the love seat perpendicular to the couch. “What’s your name?”
“Olivia. Livie.”
“Olivia Messina?”
She shook her head. “Holder. My mom changed my name when her and Tony divorced.”
“How old are you?
“Twelve.”
She would have been six when Abby married Tony. “How—?” Abby rubbed her palms on her jeans. “How did I not know about you?”
Olivia nodded. “I guess that answers that.”
“Answers what?”
“When I was little, I thought he left because of you.”
Abby shook her head. “Olivia, I didn’t—”
“I know. My mom always said it was all him. She said we should feel bad for you since you were married to him.”
Abby wanted to defend herself, but she felt a level of sympathy for the next woman Tony married, so she understood.
“Does your mom know you’re here?”
Olivia looked down at the glass in her hand. “She died. Six months ago.” A tear dripped down her cheek, and she wiped it away.
“I’m so sorry,” Abby said.
Olivia nodded.
“Are you living with Tony?”
She shook her head. “I was staying with my mom’s half-sister and her husband, but I can’t live there anymore.”
Abby was at a loss. “Olivia, why are you here?”
Tears streamed down her face. “I want to live with you.”