Total pages in book: 63
Estimated words: 61542 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 308(@200wpm)___ 246(@250wpm)___ 205(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 61542 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 308(@200wpm)___ 246(@250wpm)___ 205(@300wpm)
“But as far as a woman’s heart is concerned . . .” Mom gives me a soft, kind smile. “You’re just going to have to do your best and see how she responds.”
I groan. “What if Katie lets me see William, then she has a new guy so I have to see her with him, too?”
“Well, that’s just what happens when you co-parent with an ex. There’s a ton of people in the same situation, and they survive.”
I remain quiet.
“But . . . Since you two have a child together, you do have an advantage over other guys. And . . . You did it recently, right? Not just when William was conceived?”
“What?” I grimace, sensing the conversation going in the wrong way.
“Sex, of course,” she says in a hushed whisper.
“I don’t want to talk about that with you,” I say quickly.
“It’s an important factor in my assessment of the situation,” Mom says.
“Ha. As if I’m going to fall for that.” I chuckle.
“Can’t blame me for trying.” Mom shrugs.
“What if Katie decides to be with me just because of William, just because she thinks that’s the best way for her to give William what he needs?”
“Do you really think that’s what’s going to happen?” Mom asks, in a serious tone this time.
I pause to think.
“No, she won’t stay with me just for William’s sake.” I shake my head. “She’s too proud for that. She thinks—no, she knows she can handle William on her own.”
“I like her already.” Mom smiles, making fine lines appear on her smooth skin. “That wasn’t my question, but it was good to hear your answer. What I want to know is, do you think she has feelings for you?”
“Yes,” I say confidently.
“Then . . . Go get her, tiger,” Mom says.
Katie
“He what?” Daisy asks.
As I tell Daisy the full account of what happened, I watch William waddle off toward Daisy’s children, three-year-old Grace and one-year-old Gavin.
They don’t get to see one another as often as I’d like. William’s an only child, and due to my physical limitations, he’s unlikely to ever have siblings.
I was hoping Grace and Gavin could play that role in William’s life, but both Daisy and I have been too busy to see much of each other in person, even though we text and talk on the phone all the time.
Daisy’s been busy taking care of her two children and jet-setting all over the world, tagging along on her husband’s business trips. She tells me she’s just trying to use her time well because she’s going back to work once the kids are in school, but how can she go back to work after tasting this sweet, sweet life?
Luckily, though, she’s in town today, just when I need her the most.
Daisy’s stylish Persian rug feels like clouds under my legs. We’re seated along the edges while the kids play with some colorful stuffed animals in the center of the big rug.
“If you only needed William out of the way so you could clean the house, why didn’t you just tell Adam to watch him in one room?” Daisy asks, frowning as she adjusts the position of her folded legs.
“I don’t know.” I sigh. “It seems obvious now, doesn’t it? But Adam just offered to take William out for a short ride; it didn’t seem like a horrible idea to me at the time, and I said okay. I didn’t, like, run through all the possible disaster scenarios and come up with multiple action plans.”
“Okay.” Daisy nods.
“That’s all you have to say?” I narrow my eyes at Daisy.
“Not really . . . I don’t know. It’s just . . .” Daisy dumps her hesitation and says, in one breath, “When you said that Adam had almost killed William, I was thinking of something more sinister.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean . . .” Daisy studies my facial expression with concern. “I don’t know if you want to hear what I think.”
“I do!” I say. “You have to finish your thought. You can’t say something like that and just stop.”
“Okay.” Daisy draws a deep breath. “I just think that maybe it’s possible that you may have overreacted, a little bit.”
“Really? You’re telling me I overreacted?” I stare at her. “You’ve fired so many babysitters for the smallest mistakes. You made that one au pair fly back to Germany.”
“Hey, she didn’t leave because of me. She just realized that maybe being an au pair wasn’t the best job for her if she wanted to party every night,” Daisy says. “Anyway, babysitters and au pairs are different. We’re talking about—” she lowers her voice “—William’s dad here. Does William know, by the way?”
“That Adam got him into an accident?” I stare at her.
“No,” she says, laughing. “Does William know Adam’s his dad?”
“No.” I shake my head. “I’ve been teaching William to just call him Adam. It all happened so fast I didn’t have time to think too much about these things.”