Page 23 of Single Mom's Guide to Love

And make sure there’s cold Diet Coke at the house for whenever the meeting is scheduled.

Talk soon,

Logan

guide to love rule #29

You can never have a private moment when you’re a single mom. So it’s best to keep your mind out of the gutter when possible.

7

maeve

I knowI’m not the only mom in the world who wonders this, but I often think to myself if I’m in the higher or lower percentage who ask themselves, “Am I a bad mom?”

We all think it. I know we do, even if the Taylor Anns and Becky Lynns in the pickup line want to deny it. I have to assume I’m on the higher end of the median line. Mine is at least three times a day with an added one at the end of the night when I remember that he didn’t eat a single vegetable.

Tonight’s bad mom question comes from the front seat of my SUV as I sit in my garage as I suck up the will to exit the car and head back into real life. Don’t get me wrong, I’m tired of traveling and want to snuggle with Jayce and sleep in my own bed. But the second I step out of this vehicle, I know real life is going to smack me on the face. Packing lunches. Holiday shopping and organizing. Basketball practice for six-year-olds, which is pointless but also adorable because they just run around in a pack chasing a ball. Remembering what day of the week it is. And oh yeah, running my own business.

And actively pushing aside thoughts of a certain Brit.

Real life fucking blows.

So in the name of avoidance and procrastination, I’m going to sit here for a few more minutes, clear my head of all thoughts Logan Matthews, and get ready to get back to my life as Maeve Banks, do-it-all extraordinaire.

“Just let go, Maeve. Just let go…”

Why did my brain go back to that moment? Is it because those were the last words he said to me before I came harder than I ever have in my life? Was it because he used my name instead of that damnable nickname? He didn’t do it much, but I feel like when he did, somehow that was more intimate than the pet name.

Or am I now just forever screwed because I screwed Logan Matthews?

“Mommy!”

Jayce’s voice cuts through the quiet as he barrels into the garage. I open my eyes to see him running around to the driver’s side in his Batman footy pajamas.

“Back to reality,” I whisper to myself as I open the door. I barely have a foot out before Jayce is hugging my leg.

“Hey, buddy,” I say as I lean down to hug him. “Did you miss me?”

“So much!”

God, I really am a bad mom. How could I choose a moment for myself over this greeting? I lean down and hug him, which is more like me wrapping my arms around his neck, but it will do.

I’m home. Where I’m supposed to be.

“Jayce, what did I say about letting your mom come into the house before you tackled her?”

Hearing my sister Stella’s words only makes him squeeze my leg harder. “I was waiting forever!”

His response makes me chuckle. “Okay, buddy, how about you loosen the grip just a little so we can go inside? That way I can hug you properly.”

He does the bare minimum of my request as we start walking into my house in Brentwood, a southern suburb of Nashville. I realize I still need to get my bags out of the SUV, but that’s clearly going to be an after-Jayce-goes-to-bed task. Or in reality, a tomorrow morning task, when I realize I need my makeup.

“Thanks again,” I say to Stella as Jayce finally lets go of my leg to run back into the living room. He might be excited to see me, but not excited enough to stay away from his favorite movie of all time,Lego Batman. “This really helped me out.”

Stella waves me off as she starts gathering her things into her white and pink monogrammed tote. “It was no problem. Emmett’s working on a design anyway, and he says I distract him. Which is not my fault.”

I lift an eyebrow at my baby sister. “Really? You don’t doanythingthat your boyfriend would find distracting? It’s all him and his fragile male willpower?”

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