Chapter Forty-Two
CHAPTER FORTY-TWO
Wednesday evening around five, Beth had just opened the refrigerator and was staring at the contents, hoping to be inspired about what to make for dinner. Riley was at the kitchen table tapping away on her laptop as she worked on Sean’s project. Her cell phone rang and she saw that it was Donna. She closed the refrigerator door and answered the call.
“What are you up to?” Donna asked.
“I was just thinking about what to make for dinner.”
“Good, I caught you in time then. Hubby is out of town this week and I’ve had a day—want to meet me at the Squire for a quiet drink and a bite? Bring Riley if she’s around, too.”
Beth turned to Riley, “Do you want to come with me to grab dinner at the Squire with Donna?”
Riley closed the laptop. “Sure. I’m ready to go.”
“We’ll see you there in fifteen minutes,” Beth said.
The Squire was busy for a Wednesday night. The week between Christmas and New Year’s Eve tended to be somewhat busy in general as quite a few people had the week off and schools were closed. Donna was waiting for them at the bar and there were two open seats, one on each side of her with glasses of water in front of them.
“I told the bartender you’d be right in, so he was okay with saving the seats for a few minutes,” Donna said.
The bartender came right over and Beth and Riley both ordered a glass of wine—Cabernet for Riley and Pinot Grigio for Beth. Donna was drinking a hot and spicy martini, straight up with a blue cheese–stuffed olive floating in it. She fished the olive out and popped it in her mouth.
“That looks intriguing,” Riley said. “How spicy is it?”
Donna laughed and pushed the glass toward her. “Try it. Take a sip.”
Riley did and Beth laughed at the expression on her face. She didn’t think Riley would be ordering that drink.
“It’s actually pretty good, but a little too spicy for me to have more than a sip.”
“Well, your timing was perfect, because I had no idea what to make for dinner. I really wasn’t in the mood to cook,” Beth admitted.
They decided to share a few appetizers instead of full meals and ordered loaded chicken nachos, coconut shrimp with a raspberry sauce, and barbeque chicken wings. It didn’t take long for their food and as they waited, Donna made them laugh with details of her day.
“I swear you can’t make this stuff up. Some of the things clients say to me or do, it’s insane. Especially when they are getting a divorce. It makes me wonder how these people ever got married in the first place.”
After they finished eating, they ordered another round of drinks and by then the bar was crowded and all the seats were filled.
“When are you seeing Sean again?” Donna asked.
“He’s having me over for dinner tomorrow night and he mentioned something about New Year’s Eve, but we don’t have any definite plans yet,” Beth said.
“It sounds like things are going well then?” Donna said.
“I think so. I really like him,” Beth admitted. It was still going so well that she didn’t quite trust it and was waiting for a red flag to pop up, but so far her relationship with Sean had just been so easy.
Donna turned her attention to Riley for a minute. “I meant to tell you earlier that your blog posts seem to be working. We’ve had a few new potential clients call this week that said they found us by searching on the web.”
“Oh, that’s great!” Riley said.
“She’s doing something similar for Sean’s website,” Beth said proudly.
An attractive blond woman with an enviable figure and what Beth assumed had to be a spray tan came up next to her at the bar and tried to get the bartender’s attention. She was standing with a friend who was searching the bar looking for empty seats, but there were none.
“I’m pretty sure that woman standing next to you is Sean’s ex—Marcy,” Donna whispered just loudly enough that only Beth and Riley could hear. They all stopped talking for a moment when they heard her say Sean’s name.
Beth wasn’t entirely sure but she also thought that Marcy glanced her way first. But that probably didn’t mean anything. She was sure Marcy had no idea who she was.
“Yeah, so I saw him Christmas night,” Marcy said. “It was great seeing him again. He did say he’s been dating someone but it’s not serious. And we know he’s not going to get serious with anyone. I told him I miss him and that I’m really okay just taking things slow and hanging out now and then.”
“And he’s okay with that?” The other woman sounded surprised.
“Well, he didn’t say no.” Marcy laughed. “I didn’t really give him a chance to say anything!” They got their drinks and walked off but not before Marcy shot another look Beth’s way and this time there was no question that she knew who Beth was. Beth felt sick to her stomach. Had Sean really seen Marcy on Christmas night? She hadn’t heard from him until the next day when he suggested dinner at his house on Thursday.
“Mom, I think she’s full of it,” Riley said.
“I would talk to Sean. You don’t want to get in much deeper if he really is open to seeing her again. But I think I’m with Riley. She knew who you were and maybe was just trying to scare you off,” Donna said, then added, “but you never know. Talk to him.”
Beth felt miserable at the thought that Sean might want to revisit his relationship with Marcy. Her mind started spinning. Surely Marcy wouldn’t make up that she’d seen him on Christmas? So if that was true—what else was true? Maybe they missed each other. Maybe now that he’d spent time with Beth, he realized that Marcy was the one that he really wanted. The thought made her eyes water.
It was the red flag she’d been dreading. She knew things were too good to be true. Now she had to talk to Sean and she dreaded that, too—especially if Marcy was telling the truth. Where did that leave her? She was not going to continue dating Sean if he thought he could also see Marcy. That didn’t work for her at all. But Sean did say he wasn’t keen on getting married again or getting too serious too soon. She’d thought they were on the same page. But maybe they were reading a very different book.