Page 21 of Flirting with Forever

“Ohhhh. The one who called you old on your date?”

They stepped out onto the sidewalk and into the sticky air. There were always one or two days in June that portended the dog days of August. When the humidity opened its mouth around you and the cigarette butts and banana peels sweated in the trash cans. Mary picked up her pace, leading Seb to her favorite bar in the neighborhood where they had plenty of cold beer and plenty of A/C.

“How’d you know about that?” she asked with a quirk of her brow and a smile on her face.

“Tyler has a big mouth.” Seb shrugged his big shoulders, towering over Mary as they strode down the sidewalk. “And it really bothered him that someone would say that to you. Especially since you haven’t been dating much since Doug. Or before Doug.”

She felt Seb’s gray eyes on the side of her face. Neither of them had to explain to the other how much time had been required after Cora had died for the two of them to get back on their feet. For a long time, Mary just hadn’t had the energy to date. And then, after the Doug debacle, maybe she’d just realized that she didn’t even know how to go about it without Cora in her corner. Cora had been her true north for so many things. Without her, it had just been easier to stand still instead of trying to regain her bearings.

“Tyler’s worried you took the age comment to heart.”

Mary glanced up. “It’s the kind of thing that gets under your skin, you know? When someone pokes at an insecurity like that.”

“But, Mary, you’re not old. Not by a long shot.”

“Oh, I know.” She waved a hand in the air and smoothed her hair down. “But I’m definitely too old forhim.”

Seb held the door open for her at the bar, and they both sighed into the air-conditioning. At 5:00 p.m., it was still early enough that there were seats at the bar, and they collapsed side by side onto the tall stools.

Mary ordered a shandy and a water, and Seb ordered the same.

“And you’re...bummed to be too old for him?” Seb asked carefully. It wasn’t the first time they’d talked about their dating lives with one another, not by a long shot, but still, Sebastian always dealt with these matters with a ridiculously endearing delicacy.

Mary considered his question with surprise. Was she bummed that John thought she was too old for him to date? “No. Not at all. We’d never have worked out. He’s too judgy. He’s growing on me as a friend, though. I like him.”

“You like everyone, Mary.”

She laughed as she and Sebastian clinked beers. “True.”

“So, if it wasn’t a love connection, then why did you let his comment get to you?”

Mary sighed. “I think it was kind of John in one ear and my mother in the other.”

“Ah. The root of the problem.”

“Exactly. She’s been even more on my case lately. Depressed because my thirties are over.”

Sebastian scoffed. “Over? You’re thirty-seven. My God.” He scowled into his beer. “What a warped sense of reality.”

“Well, that’s my mother. Warped. She still wears her beauty pageant tiara every once in a while.”

“You’re kidding me.”

“I wish I was.”

“Like, around the house?”

“Only in her bedroom with the door closed, but I’ve caught her doing it three separate times.”

“Somehow that’s way, way worse than wearing it where people could see it.”

“I know.”

Sebastian thought for a second. “If she’s so stressed about you being single in your thirties, then shouldn’t she be thrilled that you’re getting back out there and dating again? It’s been a long time since Doug.”

“Shh!” Mary clapped a hand over Sebastian’s mouth. “Don’t say his name in this bar! It’s like Beetlejuice. He lives around the corner and might show up!”

She had less than zero desire to see her cheating ex tonight in this bar. But she also had less than zero desire to let the ghost of his infidelity chase her away from one of her favorite bars in Brooklyn. She made it a point to come here at least once a month.

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