Page 12 of Play For Keeps

“Fine.” She digs her phone out of her purse, unlocks it and hands it over to me, watching me with her eyebrows pulled together.

I nod. Friends. It’s certainly not what I actually have in mind, but I’m hoping with some time I can change Everly’s mind.

When I’ve finished adding myself to her contacts, I hand the device back to her and then send her a quick message from my phone. Her phone chimes in her hand.

“I’m not sure how you got me to say yes to this,” she says, shaking her head as Birdie skips over to us and grabs Everly’s hand.

“Maybe we’ll see you again,” Birdie says to me. “Maybe we can have ice cream next week.”

Everly clears her throat. “Okay, Birdie. Time to go.”

As Everly and Birdie head for the door, I can’t stop the smile that spreads over my face. I’m not exactly sure what I want to happen next, but I do know I want more time with her. Maybe if I’m lucky she’ll give me the chance.

“Bye, Everly. Bye, Birdie.” I raise my hand in a wave.

Everly pulls the door open, then stops and looks at me over her shoulder. “Bye, Jake.”

I follow them outside, watching as Everly puts her arm around Birdie’s shoulders and they walk down the street to her car. They turn the corner and are gone.

Adrenaline pumps through my veins. I tell myself to keep my hopes in check, but I can’t help but feel excited.

After all, I got her number.

This isn’t over yet.

FIVE

ALL NIGHT SEX FESTS

Everly

As I pour myself a glass of wine, I wonder what the hell I just got myself into. Was it a mistake, agreeing to this friendship with Jake? Honestly, I’m not sure.

He wore me down. The truth is, he caught me when I wasn’t quite thinking straight. Watching him be so sweet with Birdie, it caught me off guard.

He didn’t seem at all nervous to talk to her, which surprised me. He’s a single guy in his twenties, I assume he doesn’t spend much time around children. Flirting with hot girls and taking them back to his place for all-night sex fests, sure. Swapping cat facts with a 7-year-old? Now that I didn’t see coming. But I have to give Jake credit—he definitely made an impression on Birdie. She couldn’t stop talking about him the entire car ride home.

Watching a gorgeous guy like Jake be so adorable with my daughter seemed to immediately melt whatever resistance I had built up to letting him in my life, even if it’s just as a friend. I’m beginning to think I have Jake pegged all wrong. Maybe he isn’t some young, hot, immature player. He isn’t my ex and watching him with Birdie proved that. It was kind of hot watching him with her. Damn Jake Matthews for being so sweet.

But it doesn’t matter. Birdie gets attached to people, and I can’t have her heart broken when he stops coming around. Sure, it was only an unplanned run-in, but 10 minutes is all my daughter needs to form a bond with someone. Aside from that, I also don’t need the stress and total mind fuck that comes along with dating. I’ve been down that road before and it left me broken. The overwhelming feeling of rejection is still fresh in my mind. So, for now I need to keep our circle small. I have enough on my plate without the distraction of a relationship that will only lead to disappointment in the end.

Leaving Brookmont after building a life there—going to college, getting married and having Birdie—has been the biggest and hardest decision I’ve ever made. It’s one that I never saw coming.

Prior to that, Grant had announced that he was relocating to North Carolina for work. For an entire year. When I got upset and told him I was worried how it would affect Birdie, he grumbled that she’d get over it. Then he told me I needed to get over it too. That was finally it for me, the last straw. I began looking for apartments in Reed Point the next day.

Even after our split, I stayed living in the house with Grant. I divorced my husband, but I never moved out. Instead, I moved to another wing, so I didn’t have to see him. It was the last place I wanted to be, but my only focus was Birdie. It was hard enough that her parents were breaking up, I wanted there to be as little disruption to her life as possible. And I didn’t want her relationship with her dad to suffer.

But here was Grant, moving four states away without even a discussion. Without a second thought about our daughter.

That’s when I decided to finally take my mom’s advice and move back to Reed Point. Grant said he didn’t care what I did when he was gone, so I put the move in motion. I found the little apartment, enrolled Birdie in summer school to keep her busy, got a job. We were finally getting settled when Grant called a couple of months later and told me his plans had changed and he was returning to Brookmont early. He didn’t offer any more explanation than that, but of course he expected Birdie and I to come running back too. I tried to explain that it wasn’t that easy—I signed a one-year lease, and Birdie had made new friends and was excited about school. When Grant realized that I wasn’t going to come back just because he told me to, he cut me off financially before I had even gotten the last box unpacked. That didn’t shock me. He could throw a fit bigger than Birdie. As it turns out, there’s nothing he wants more than the thing he can’t have. It's been years since he has shown either Birdie or me this much attention.

Grant rarely showed any interest in our daughter when we were a family. He regularly skipped dance recitals for late night meetings at the office and traded bedtime stories for drinks at the country club, but all of a sudden, he seems to have remembered that he’s a father.

At first it was text messages asking us to come home, trying to persuade me to return to Brookmont. When that didn’t work, the pleading turned to outrage. He left voicemail after voicemail demanding that I terminate my lease and accused me of having a boyfriend. I didn’t, but the fact that he could bring that up after all his years of cheating and all of the countless women he’s hooked up with since our split blew my mind. He threatened to sue me for full custody of Birdie and warned me that he’d spend every cent he has to force me to come back home.

Home? What home? I didn’t have one.

Eventually, I will go back to Brookmont, but for now I need space.

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