NORA #2
“Well, then you’re crazy,” I said, laughing again. “Because I’m pretty sure that sounds incredible.”
“Awesome,” he said, his smile broadening as his green eyes met mine. “I’ll have Linda book you a ticket and a room, then.”
“Sounds perfect,” I said, my stomach giving an unexpected flip as I thought about exploring Hawaii. I’d always wanted to go there but hadn’t had the chance to yet.
“Anyway…” He cleared his throat and glanced down at his phone. “According to my calendar, we’d leave on Saturday, July twenty-ninth, and get back Sunday, August sixth.”
“So, we’d be there for just over a week?”
“Yep.”
“Perfect,” I said, pulling out my phone and adding the dates before I could forget. Once I saved it, I looked back up. “Are there any other trips I should know about?”
“That’s the main one,” he said. “I’ll also be heading to the Hamptons for the Fourth of July weekend, but since part of that is for your brother’s party, I’m sure you’ll be there, too, and probably wouldn’t want to take the extra days with Charlotte.”
“Yeah, sorry about that.” I scrunched my nose. “I’ve actually been looking forward to it. I even got invited to the Hastings’s yacht party on the fourth. Finally made the cut.”
He laughed. “Me too.”
But then, his brow furrowed, like he was trying to figure out how he’d make that work.
“Do you think you’ll be able to still go if your nanny isn’t available to watch Charlotte?” I asked, worried that he wouldn’t be able to go now because of me.
“I’m going to try,” he said, biting his lip. “I was thinking about asking Alisha’s parents to take her that weekend. They usually have a big family gathering for the holiday, and I think they’d love having her there.”
“That’s nice they’re still involved in Charlotte’s life,” I said, suddenly curious about how close he was to his in-laws.
Were they still called in-laws when the person who tied you together was gone?
“They’re great.” He nodded. “Alisha was really close with her family, and I know it’s been hard on them not seeing Charlotte every week like they did when Alisha was alive.”
“They live in Manhattan, right?” I asked, remembering that detail from the bits and pieces Lucy had shared with me about her brother through the years.
“Yeah,” he said. “They’re still there.”
I nodded, my mind spinning as I tried to think of what other questions might be appropriate to ask him.
I wanted to ask how they felt about him dating again. If they knew he was even trying. Whether they were supportive or quietly skeptical. People with that kind of wealth and influence usually had opinions about everything.
And most grandparents would want their granddaughter to have a maternal figure they approved of in her life. Someone steady. Someone safe.
From what Lucy had once hinted at, Alisha’s parents could be particular. But Theo wasn’t their son. Surely, they wouldn’t hold him to the same standard.
As long as Charlotte was happy. As long as whoever was around her treated her well.
Right?
The thought slid seamlessly toward Sunday and the double date with Miles and Amanda.
“Are you looking forward to Sunday?” I asked.
“Oh.” He blinked. “The double date thing?”
“Yeah.”
“I guess so.” He shrugged. “I’m still trying to find my footing when it comes to dating. But hopefully, it’ll be fun.”
“You were going on dates last winter, though, right?” I asked, thinking back to a night over winter break when I’d been at The Garden with Lucy and the hockey team and spotted Theo tucked into a quiet corner with a woman.
“A few,” he said with a small chuckle. “Then work picked up, and Charlotte started having some issues at daycare. A couple of potty-training setbacks, too. So, I put dating on the back burner to focus on her.”
“That makes sense.” Dating again after building a life with someone you thought you’d grow old with had to be complicated. Add a kid into the mix, and the stakes would be even higher.
“But Amanda seems cool,” he said. “And we both have kids, so at least there’s some built-in understanding there.”
“Would you say you’re looking to date someone who already has kids?” I asked, trying not to notice the way my stomach tightened with that idea.
“I don’t know.” He shrugged. “There are pros and cons either way. Dating someone with kids means there’s an automatic understanding of how much time and energy parenting takes.
Something to bond over. But…” He shrugged again.
“It’s not really something on my list of requirements for a future partner. ”
“Do you have an actual list, then?” I asked.
His gaze shifted away, like he was suddenly very interested in the bird pecking at the grass a few feet from us.
I smiled. “You totally do.”
“It’s not like a set-in-stone list,” he blurted. “Just things I want. And things I don’t.” He glanced back at me. “Is that bad?”
I laughed. “No. I actually think it’s smart. And very you.”
Very sexy corporate lawyer daddy of him.
“I am who I am,” he said with a grin.
“So, what qualities are on this list of yours?” I asked, genuinely curious. Then, before I could talk myself out of it, I added, “Do you want them to be a lot like Alisha?”
Theo exhaled slowly, gaze dropping to the sandbox for a beat before he looked back at me. “No. Not just like her.” He hesitated, choosing his words carefully. “I loved Alisha, and we were good together. But I’m not looking to marry her clone. That would be weird.”
Still, my mind couldn’t help filling in the blanks, anyway.
Alisha had been tall and slender, with dark brown hair and big brown eyes.
Always polished. Always put together. Lucy had once admitted she hadn’t known what to make of her at first. Alisha had been confident, blunt, not exactly a people-pleaser.
But she’d softened over the years. Especially after Charlotte was born.