Chapter Sixteen
PENNY
"Are you sure you want us to head out of the house?
" I asked Spencer the next morning. He was currently pacing the living room and burping the baby.
I could watch him do this all day. "Because I'm happy if we stay in and you continue doing whatever you need to do while I drink you in. Sounds like a fair deal."
"I promised the three of us we’d go out."
The three of us. He made us sound like a family.
You’re having a fling, Penny. Stop thinking you’re a family.
I wanted to jump him when he said things like that, and I yearned to cuddle Ben too.
He was adorable and tiny. Next to Spencer, he seemed so small.
Right now, he was curled on his dad's shoulder, holding his tiny fists under his head.
His legs were bunched up too. He really looked like a small doll while enjoying being carried around. I didn't blame him.
Spencer had already drunk a coffee. I had too, and now we were going out and about in the city. I didn't know sleepovers or spending Saturdays together were part of flings, but I loved it.
Before leaving, I went next door to take Becky for a walk and then fed everyone and cleaned the litter boxes. When I came out of the house, Spencer had already put Ben in the car seat.
"Can I secure him in the back?" I asked, eager to spend more time with him.
"Sure. You know how to do it?"
"Yes," I assured him. Spencer stood one step behind me. He probably wanted to double-check what I did afterwards, but that was just fine. Ben's safety came first.
I leaned over him, securing the seatbelt. Then Ben wrapped his tiny fist around a strand of my hair, tugging a bit, and giggled at me.
"Oh, you're so adorable. I'm melting right here.
Want to let go of my hair? I can give you my finger instead.
" Ben giggled some more but then let go of my hair and grabbed my finger.
He squeezed it with surprising force for such a tiny thing.
I kissed his cheek and then his nose. I wanted to eat him, I swear to God. He was too damn adorable.
Then he let go of my finger, and I straightened up.
"Are you ready to go?" Spencer asked.
"Oh yeah."
“Where do you want to go?”
“Umm, do you like farmers’ markets?”
“Yeah. We can head to one.”
"I reaaaally love farmers' markets," I exclaimed twenty minutes later. We'd picked the one at Copley Square and St. James Street. I usually only came to see the different stands, to check if anyone offered free samples, and to people watch. It was my guilty pleasure on weekends.
"I don't know this place," he said.
"What? Oh, that can't be right. It's wonderful and full of goodies." I loved the contrast of the glass-and-metal buildings behind with the small booths with handmade products. "I'll take you to my favorites."
"Lead the way," he said.
"Are you sure I can't take the baby, just for a bit? You might get back pain or something."
Spencer looked at me with a playful expression. He hadn’t taken a stroller with him, so he snuggled Ben in a baby carrier.
"You just want to hold him. You don’t need an excuse."
I grinned, shifting my weight from one leg to the other. "Yes, I'd like to. He's the quietest baby in the world, I swear. I thought babies were supposed to cry all the time."
"He's pretty good when he doesn’t have stomachaches. Likes to sleep a lot." He immediately put the carrier on me. "Wait, I need to strap it tighter. You're much smaller than me."
I held the baby in my arms while Spencer fiddled with the strap. Feeling the warm, small body against me touched me on a deep level. I'd always loved children and babies. Wally kept postponing having kids. But maybe that had been for the best.
Ben smelled like milk and powder, and I just wanted to jiggle him awake so I could watch his cute expressions.
He didn't resemble Spencer at all. I wondered if he resembled his mom.
Then again, babies usually just looked like…
babies until they were older. He yawned softly, and for a few seconds, I thought he might wake up.
No, false alarm. He resumed his position, putting his hand between my boobs.
"That's it. I just need to fix this one," Spencer said, now fiddling with the strap at my lower back. "Is it comfortable? Is he too heavy?"
"No, he's perfect."
"Oh, you look so gorgeous," a female voice said. Spencer straightened abruptly, letting go of the strap. I put my hand behind my back where it was clasped, just to make sure it was closed. "The baby is lucky to have you two as his parents."
I opened my mouth and closed it again.
"No, he's not… I am…" I was at a loss for words, and the seller immediately got distracted by another customer asking for a jar of honey. I glanced at Spencer, who wore a stern expression. Oh God, what must he be thinking? I couldn’t believe she said that.
At the same time, I loved the sound of it.
And holding Ben. I especially liked that.
I put a hand on the baby's back, rubbing him up and down slowly. I liked how peaceful he was. His calmness seeped into me.
Then the seller focused on us again. "So, what can I get you?"
"Can we get those miniature marmalade jars you have?" I asked.
"Yes. Would you like a collection of six or twelve?"
I glanced at the price tag and swallowed hard. Why didn't I check them before saying what I wanted?
"Six will do."
"We'll take twelve. Two of them."
I turned to Spencer, gasping. "What?"
He smiled again. "One for me and one for you."
"Spencer, really, we can split one package."
"You’ve been eyeing them the whole time we’ve been standing in line. You definitely don’t want to split."
"True."
The seller immediately put two bags on the counter.
I made to reach for my wallet, but Spencer said, "No."
"But I wanted the jars."
"No way." His voice was stronger than usual and cutting.
Well, if he wanted to treat me to this, I wouldn't say no.
It wasn't an exorbitant gift. For most people, it was probably a necessity in their grocery shopping.
I was just extra careful these days. After he paid, we moved to my next favorite stand.
They had various fruits, all locally grown.
Not many were in season right now, but they did have berries.
"What do you want?" I asked Spencer. “The berries are amazing.”
"Penny, I can't believe this."
I stilled. Oh God, this couldn't be. I turned around and nearly stumbled backward. What was Wally doing here? And to make matters worse, he wasn't alone. He was with a woman who looked vaguely familiar. My body tightened up. My throat closed in. Nausea formed at the back of my throat.
"Hi, Wally," I said, keeping my voice as steady as possible.
He glanced down at the baby and then at Spencer.
"Honey, I'm going to the booth on the other side, okay? And line up for coffee," the woman said. She avoided my eyes and scurried away.
"What are you doing here?" I asked him.
"I came shopping with Sasha. She likes farmers’ markets."
"I like farmers’ markets, and you always hated coming with me."
He rolled his eyes. "Give it a rest. We're divorced. You can stop keeping pro-and-con lists of all the things I did or didn’t do."
"There was never a pro column. It was just a long line of cons." I couldn’t help it, I had to get my dig in.
"And who is this?"
"I'm Spencer Whitley." Spencer spoke through gritted teeth.
"Whitley as in Whitley Industries?" Wally asked.
"Yes," Spencer said, clearly disliking where the conversation was going.
Wally burst out laughing, then turned to me. "What did you do? Tell Taylor to find you a rich man? Spencer, I hope you can keep up with her. Not easy to please her."
The fucker! How dare he? The nausea subsided, giving way to pure anger.
"Because she has good standards, and you are just…" Spencer looked him up and down. "Obviously substandard."
"Who the fuck do you think you are?"
"Someone who can appreciate her when you didn't know how to."
"You want to hang around this stick-in-the-mud, that's your business. I'm glad to be rid of her. Now I can make sure Sasha gets all she needs."
It took me a few seconds to realize what he was saying.
"You were seeing her when we were still married." And then I realized why she seemed familiar. “She’s a colleague from work.” I blinked rapidly, trying to ignore that my eyes were burning. Another memory floated in. “When my work event ended early that time, and I joined you at Steve’s grill, she wasn’t there for business talk, was she?
You went to our friends’ house with her. ”
Oh my God. I felt so small. And so stupid.
Steve and Emily had been our closest friends.
And none of them told me. I remembered that Saturday, crystal clear.
I’d gone from work directly to their home.
I hadn’t bothered announcing myself because initially they’d invited both me and Wally to the grill party.
When I arrived, Sasha was there. Steve said he’d asked her over because she was the sales director in Wally’s company, and he was interested in acquiring their product.
They both worked in IT, so I hadn’t questioned it. Sasha had left minutes after I arrived.
All our friends knew.
He rolled his eyes. "You didn't put out for six months. What—"
He swallowed his next words because Spencer grabbed him by the collar. "Don't finish that sentence. Apologize now and fucking leave."
"Whatever, man. Just be prepared for her to be all nutso on you."
I was shaking. Thank God the baby was sleeping.
"Then again, maybe you just need a free babysitter, by the looks of it."
"Just fuck off, Wally. I don’t need any more of your bullshit," I spat.
Wally didn't pay me any attention, but the second Spencer let go of him, he scurried backward, then turned around, rejoining his precious Sasha.
I pressed my palms to my eyes.