Page 48 of Irresistible Second Chance

“So just like that, you’re ready to move on?”

I paused, deep in thought, and then shook my head, “No, I’m not ready to move on, but I’ve already moved on. Life is funny that way.”

He looked upset, “Does this have anything to do with Chris?” He put his hands on his hips and frowned at me like he was a displeased teacher, and I was his errant student. “I stopped by the house the other day and your dad was there. He told me to get lost and that you had moved on with Chris.”

I sputtered. This was the first time I was hearing this. “You stopped by my house?”

“Well, you weren’t answering my calls.”

“Mark, this needs to stop. You’re giving off stalker-ish vibes and we both know you’re too soft for prison so please don’t make me have you arrested.”

“You wouldn’t.”

“I would.”

We stared at each other for a moment and then he sighed and stuck his hand in his pockets. “You’re right, I’m behaving like a crazy person. I just didn’t think that you would move on so quickly.”

“You cheated on me, Mark. What did you want me to do? Sit around and wait until you figured your life out while sleeping with and living with another woman.”

He looked away guiltily not able to meet my eyes. “I made a big mistake. “

“Yeah, you did.”

“And now, I’ve lost you,” he started to tear up.

I felt bad for him, but not enough to forgive him. Then he surprised me by saying, “Can I at least get my toaster oven back?”

I looked at him as if he had lost his mind, but his tone was serious. I sighed. Maybe getting divorced had been the best thing Mark had ever done for me. “I’ll leave it on the doorstep for you.”

“Thanks, Syd. You’re the best.”

I turned away and yelled back to him, “Text me when you’re on your way!”

“Ok! Will do!”

As I walked away from him, I was strangely happy that after the toaster oven, Mark would be out of my life...forever, I hoped.

Chapter 13

Starr sat next to me on the couch as we continued our rom-com weekend. It was something new we were trying out. Dad agreed to watch the girls, when he didn’t have a date, and Starr and I would get together on a Saturday or Friday and just hang out. Mostly, we spent that time watching rom-coms on TV so it was now known as rom-com weekend even though we had only started our tradition a few weeks ago.

As one of the movies was ending, Starr sighed, grabbed the remote and said, “I wish I had experienced romance like that. Johnny was never romantic.”

“You should get out there. Go out on a date. Like a real one.”

She shrugged her shoulders, “I’m just so busy with the girls, and my clients, and creating content--”

“Yada yada yada,” I said, “Everyone in the world has a million things to do, you can’t use that as an excuse to be lonely.”

“Hey! I’m not using it as an excuse.”

I shrugged, “If you say so,” and reached for the caramel popcorn I had made. It was decadent and delicious, and probably way too many calories. But who cared? Life was too short to not enjoy a guilty pleasure or two.

She continued as if I hadn’t spoken, “You know that guy Max, Robin’s husband?”

I nodded, “What about him?”

“Well, Robin told me he has a friend who sometimes volunteers at the shelter that I might be interested in getting to know.”

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