Page 33 of Lost in Love

Kate: Fine. Mocha. Extra whip cream.

I can’t believe she’s tracking me on Find Friends. Crazy person. I get our coffees, run by Hazel’s ballet studio to pick up her bag we left last night. That’s when the lady at the counter hands me their expectations sheet.

Who knew ballet for five-year-olds has expectations, but whatever. Mara had been into gymnastics when she was six, and I totally remember everything they required. It’s crazy.

When I get back to the house, Kate’s waiting on the porch with her dog.

“What took you so long?” she asks the moment I’m out of the car.

I hand her the coffee. “I had to run by the ballet studio to get Hazel’s bag.”

Kate takes her coffee from my hand and just about the time she’s going to take a drink, Miley pulls on the leash and she wears most of that drink. By the way, she’s wearing a white shirt, and now it looks like, well, you know. She frowns at the stain. “Damn it. Why do I always wear white? You’d think by now I would have learned my lesson.”

“Apparently not.” I laugh, swinging open the car door to get Fin and Sevi out of the back. They’re both asleep. Sadly, it doesn’t look like a nap is in my future today.

Kate opens our back gate and lets Miley run around in the backyard while I attempt to carry two kids, a coffee, and Hazel’s bag to the house. That is until Sevi hears the dog and practically jumps out of my arms. Instead of helping me, Kate grabs the sheet from my hands that the ballet studio gave me and begins to read it out loud.

“All ballerinas must come with high-performance buns, soft pink ballet tights, pink ballet shoes. Natural, tan, or brown-colored eyes.” Kate frowns. “Doesn’t Hazel have blue eyes? Does that mean they’re gonna kick her out for having blue eyes?”

“I think they’re referring to eye shadow.”

Kate snickers. “Oh.” She continues reading. “Pink lips. Red blush. Black mascara. Extra bobby pins. Hairspray. A hairnet the color of the hair….” She pauses, her eyes wide. “Is she a ballerina or a tiny Chinese hooker?”

“Kate!” I gasp, trying to hold back laughter.

Following me, her eyes cut from the paper to mine before she whispers in a high-pitched voice, “We love you long time.”

Inside the house, Sevi takes off out the back door to play with the dog and I lay Fin down on the couch.

Kate looks around the house, the mess, the dishes still in the sink, and then smiles at me. “So, how’d last night go?”

Sighing, I motion for her to follow me into the kitchen so we don’t wake up Fin. Believe me, she’d sleep through anything, but I don’t want to be talking about my problems around her. If she hears any of this, her first word might be something similar to cock or Viagra or worse… porn.

“It didn’t go as planned,” I tell Kate, sitting at the kitchen island with my coffee. “Noah cut his hand and we had to take him to the ER.” My eyes automatically cut to the portion of the counter where he shoved me up against it and fucked me. I admit, it was hot and reminiscent of that first year of marriage where nothing else mattered but sex and being together.

“Yep. It was crazy. Anyway, we ended the night in the ER. And then Bonner watched the kids. It was a disaster.”

“I’ll say.” Kate laughs, her eyes on the backyard where Sevi is mimicking everything the dog is doing. “You left your children with Bonner. Are they all still alive?”

Pain hits my chest immediately. No, I want to say, but I don’t. I haven’t told anyone here about Mara. I’m just not ready to delve into that part of our lives with anyone. “Yes. He did fine with them. Other than Oliver wanting to move in with him, and Sevi found two best friends. He was literally sleeping on her tits like they were pillows made for him.”

“I’d Lie on her tits too. Have you seen them?”

“Actually, I have. I watched one of her movies.”

Her eyes widen in surprise. “You did? Which one? I watched the one where she let one guy in her ass and the other in the vajayjay, and I keep thinking to myself, whoa, she’s stretched.”

I laugh, shaking my head. “I don’t remember the name, but it wasn’t that one. Then Noah came in and caught me and I panicked and threw the iPad at the wall and broke it.”

“Holy shit.” She slaps her hands down on the counter. “Tell meeverything. In. Detail.”

“Bonner gave him Viagra.” And I leave the sentence there, just to see what Kate’s reaction will be. You never know with her.

With a smirk, she raises an eyebrow. “Whaaaat?”

I tell her everything leading up to the shower and then the kitchen and then seeing Mara’s pediatrician. I tell her all of it because I need to. I need to get it off my chest and telling Journal didn’t do anything this morning so… I don’t know why but I confide in Kate.

“Who’s Mara?” she asks, her voice timid like maybe she knew all along.

---