Page 16 of Go Away, Darling

I licked my lips and stared at my silverware. “You remember Olivia?”

Using my excellent peripheral vision, I watched Scott frown, think, and then jerk. “Saldana? No!”

I nodded. “Yes.”

“No!”

“Yes.”

“Still?”

I laughed. “I’m as surprised as you are.”

“And she...reciprocated these feelings?”

I didn’t blame him for being skeptical. Twenty years ago a five year age gap was laughable. But now? It was still a small stretch. “I...I think so. Like I said, thisjusthappened.”

Scott demanded to know everything. Every detail. And over the course of dinner I actually enjoyed reliving the experience and getting someone else’s perspective. He whistled low. “Divorced with a kid? You’re sure you want to sign up for that?”

I thought about it a lot over the last week. All the “what ifs.”What ifwe go on a few dates and it turns out it was just infatuation?What ifwe date over the off season and then everything goes to shit when baseball starts up again?What ifwe date and fall in love and I have to grapple with an ex and a child who isn’t biologically mine?

A vision of making dinner with Linc flashed through my mind and I smiled.

“Yeah. I do. If she’s interested. Linc is a great kid. I have to believe a child who talks about his parents the way he did has to be in a good situation. And I can’t explain it, but I kind of fell in love with him just as fast as I fell for Liv.”

“Dude, you just saidlove.”

I backtracked over my own words and realized it was true. And ridiculous. And right somehow. “I don’t know what this is, but I do know I want to find out and I’m in for all of it.”

Scott studied me again, his eyes focused and serious, and then unfocused as his mind went somewhere else entirely. “I wish I had your confidence. Would you mind teaching me your ways?”

Scott definitely had something going on. Something that had him messed up and deeply unhappy. “I can try.”

5

No one looks good with bangs

Olivia

“Hey mom?”

“Yeah?” I yelled from the kitchen where I had just finished cleaning up and was now making some tea.

“Is that Chris?”

My heart stopped for a split second before I heard the roar of a crowd and realized he must be on the television. I picked up my mug and moved to the living room where I found Linc standing a foot from the screen, practically nose-to-nose with Chris before the screen flashed to a commercial.

“Yes. That’s Chris. Was he just called in to pitch?”

“Yep! They said ‘it’s an unusual move’ and then everyone got really excited.” Linc grabbed a few couch cushions and set up a cocoon on the floor under the TV just like he did when Beau was playing.

My kid thought it was perfectly normal for the people in his life to appear on television. Go figure. Watching football and your dad has a closeup? Just another Sunday afternoon. Baseball is on and your next door neighbor is about to pitch? Pass the popcorn.

We always had baseball on these days, usually to watch the Mantas, but we occasionally went crazy and watched the Waves. It was nice background noise since there was a game everyday for months at a time. Plus I thought Linc might have a natural gift for the sport and wanted to sign him up for fall ball, which I knew would go a lot better if he already understood the sport.

I had not planned on an expert moving in next door.

And I couldn’t help wondering how Chris Kaine was going to fit into our lives. Friendly neighbor? Absolutely. Baseball mentor? Possibly. Kissing partner? A shiver raced down my spine and I was suddenly very hot.

---