4. Sarah
SARAH
Ward turned out to be a perfectly nice man.
Like me, he’d been railroaded into coming.
The part about him being divorced and ready to start dating again was true.
So was the fact that he wanted a family and was open to dating a woman who already had kids.
That didn’t mean he wanted friends and family meddling with ham fisted match making attempts any more than I did.
A fact we bonded over when we noticed our hostess seating us at a table that did most assuredly not have four extra seats.
“I think we’ve been had,” he said drily. “Even more than I’d already suspected.”
“I think you’re right.” I took out my phone and called my mother. “Mom, where are you and Dad?”
“We’re at Angelo’s, dear. We’re just about to go in with the Winklemans to have dinner.”
I put her on speakerphone so Wade could hear.
“Angelo’s? Mom, you told me the Olive Garden, and they had a reservation under your name and everything.”
“Yes, well, Phyllis and I knew if we didn’t say we were all going, neither you nor Wade would show up. It was just a little white lie.”
He swiped a hand down his face.
“Grandma, lying is bad!” Lucy said, looking shocked.
“White lies are different, dear.”
“A lie is a lie,” Caleb disagreed, looking affronted at discovering his grandmother could be duplicitous.
“I’ve got to go, dear. We don’t want them to give away our table. You know how hard it is to get one at Angelo’s.” She disconnected the call.
“Can you believe that?” I asked Ward in disbelief.
“It’s a new low in my mother’s matchmaking efforts in the ‘get Ward to meet a woman’ column.
There was also a ‘get Ward to meet a man’ one.
Right after Diane left me, when I told her that I wasn’t interested in meeting any women, she got it in her head that I was coming out of the closet.
I went to lunch with her a week later at the country club only to find she’d invited some friend of hers who’d dragged their gay son along.
He was as mortified to be there as I was and couldn’t believe his mother did that.
We had a laugh about it a few weeks later when I ran into him and his new boyfriend at the grocery store, as he’d ended up getting a phone number from one of the waiters and they became an item. ”
I clapped my hand over my mouth. “Oh no!”
“Oh, yes,” he replied with raised eyebrows. “Now, I’m happy to stay and have dinner with you and your lovely children with no expectations beyond good food and even nicer company, or we can leave and pretend our mothers aren’t two conniving old women who should know better.”
I looked at the faces of my children who were eyeing the food surrounding diners were eating, looking wistful.
“Jimmy Glick has two dads,” Caleb announced, turning his attention back to our table.
“Does he?” Ward asked, turning his attention to Caleb. “Is he a friend of yours at school?”
Caleb nodded. “His dads are really nice.”
“I’m sure they are. There’s nothing wrong with two men or two women getting married as far as I’m concerned, but it was embarrassing because not only was I on a date when I had no idea I was going on a date before getting there.
Plus, I’m not gay, so our mothers put us in an even more awkward position. ”
My phone rang. It was my father.
“Hi, Dad? Mom already told me you guys are at Angelo’s.”
“She asked me to call, as she forgot to tell you to ask the hostess for the gift card we paid for. It’s got enough to pay for you and the kids to have whatever you want for dinner on it.”
I blinked.
“Oh. Thanks. That…that makes things easier.”
“I’m sorry. I had no idea she was doing this. I only knew about Angelo’s. I had to make those reservations a month ago to be able to get a table for four.”
“I understand. So, it was just a convenient day for her to pull this, as I’m also off on Wednesdays.”
“She’s right, though. Since you can’t get Harold back now, you need to find a new husband. You can’t raise three kids by yourself. Love you, honey, but our waiter is here, and I’ve got to order.”
I stared at the phone in disbelief. Sure, our living situation was a bit precarious, but how could he say I couldn’t raise my kids without the help of some man?
“Everything alright?” Ward asked, his tone cautious as he took in my change in demeanor.
“Just peachy. Apparently a woman can’t raise kids by herself or something dire will happen. Also, apparently a gift card was left for me. I’ll be right back. I’m going to go ask the hostess about it.”
I got up to go to the hostess’s station, partly to get said card so I did not disappoint my kids who’d been looking forward to this treat, but also to cool down after hearing what my father had just said.
“Hi, sorry, my father just called and said they left a gift card for me here?”
“Your name?”
“Sarah Bennet.”
“Oh! Yes, sorry. Your reservation was under Kildare, so it didn’t clock.”
“That’s my parents’ last name. They made the reservation.”
She handed it over to me.
“Any idea how much is on it?” I asked.
“I can check for you,” she replied brightly, holding her hand out to take it back. I handed it to her, and she walked over to the register to do her thing. She returned a few moments later. “There’s two hundred on it,” she replied brightly, handing it back.
Holy shit balls! How much did she expect us to eat? Maybe it’s to pay for Ward’s dinner too.”
I walked back to the table, waving the card about gaily. “They left us two hundred bucks to enjoy ourselves,” I told Ward.
Emma gasped. “Two hundred whole dollars?”
“Wow, Grandma and Grandpa are rich,” Caleb commented. “We used to be rich.”
“We weren’t rich. Rich people live in mansions,” Emma corrected him. “We didn’t live in a mansion.”
“Grandma and Grandpa don’t live in a mansion,” Lucy reminded her.
“Yeah, but they’re retired. Retired people move to smaller houses,” Emma replied as if this made sense as to why my parents didn’t live in a mansion.
“So, are we staying? I’ll pay for my own meal, so you can treat the children another time as well.”
“We’re staying, and you can pay for the drinks. They’ll pay for the food.”
We shared a bottle of fairly decent wine, and the kids each got soft drinks, so the drinks total wasn’t terrible. Ward and I decided against dessert, but I ordered a chocolate lasagne to take home to share with the kids tomorrow when we’d celebrate us getting our colony spot after my test.
“Listen, I had a great time, and it seemed like you all did too. But I think I speak for both of us when I say I don’t think I’m what you’re looking for.”
He was right. Any other time, I’d have thought maybe after a one on one, kid free date, we’d find a spark and suggest we give things a try.
But I had the test and was really hooked on the idea of getting to run my own inn with that start up money.
Besides, there was the extra cash incentive, and I really wanted to give it to Grammie as thanks for giving me the push I’d needed to consider the whole idea.
She could add it to her retirement nest egg, and I’d feel much better knowing that she was thirty grand better off.
That kind of money would make a big difference to her, as all she had was her Social Security and a modest pension from the local school district.
Unlike my parents, she and Gramps had not been extremely well off.
I smiled and nodded. “You’re a great guy and a very handsome one too.”
“Why, thank you, ma’am,” he replied as he walked us outside. Both of us ignored Caleb’s muttered “Gross” at my comment. He glanced around. “Where are you parked?”
“We took the bus,” I admitted.
“We don’t have a car,” Lucy piped up.
“Please, let me drive you home. Or if you’re not comfortable with that, call you an Uber or a Lyft.”
It was dark and cold, and the bus stop was three blocks from our home. It would be nice to not have to take two different buses and then walk, so I caved.
“Well, everyone knows we were with you, so I reckon we’re safe accepting a ride.”
“I promise I’m good to drive.”
It had been a small bottle of wine, and we’d followed it up with ice water, plus we’d had a large meal with plenty of carbs, and had been there nearly two hours thanks to how slowly Caleb and Lucy ate, so I was certain he probably was.
“I trust you,” I replied.
“Mom, there’s no seat for Lucy,” Emma reminded me.
“Oh, she’s right. Um, we best not then.”
“I’ll call you an Uber then,” he smiled, pulling out his phone.
“There’s a car seat option. I’ll have them provide her a booster seat.
There you go. It’s a guest ride, so just count it as part of my share for tonight.
It says it’s fifteen minutes out. Let’s go wait in my car so we’re out of the cold. ”
“Thank you.”
He really was a nice man. It wasn’t meant to be between us, but it gave me hope.
Somewhere, some day, I’d meet another nice guy, and he’d be the one.
Maybe he’d be someone who came to visit the colony for work even some kind of space trucker delivering goods.
I inwardly smiled at the thought. It didn’t matter, anyway.
Soon, I’d have a paid-for home and business, securing our futures, no man required.
I just had to show up and take that test tomorrow.