Page 39 of The Ex Next Door
“Honey, are you okay? You’re not just pretending to be okay, are you?” Mom said. “Lou and I can come over this afternoon, bring you some boba tea.”
“You’ve come over every day this week. Look, I’m fine.I talked to the kids yesterday like I’ve talked to them every day. It helps that they’re doing fine. It would be awful if I had to force them to go see Rob.”
“Well, you’ve raised two extremely well-adjusted kids and that’swhythey’re fine. What kind of tea would you like me to bring you?”
Nice as the tea sounded, Amy didn’t have time for her mother today. That sounded awful, but theyhadbeen spending a lot of time together since the separation. Mom had been there for Amy when everything happened. She’d been there when Rob moved out and Amy fell apart—privately. A good mother didn’t let her kids see her depressed. They may have witnessed a tear or two, and they were smarter than Amy sometimes realized. Naturally, her mother worried, and by now Amy understood all too well. Though she was thirty-one and the mother of two, her mom was never going to stop caring and worrying about her only child.
“Actually, I’m kind of busy today. I’m making lots of progress on my certifications with the kids gone, and I’m going to dinner with a friend.” Amy bit her lower lip, hoping against hope Mom wouldn’t ask.
“Sounds wonderful! What friend?”
Amy diverted. “It’s actually dinner with my friend and the family. Not a date or anything.”
“You’re meeting hisfamily?”
“How do you know it’s a him?”
“Isn’t it?”
“Yes,” Amy sighed. “My friend is Declan and it’s not as if I’m meeting his family for the first time.”
“Declan Sheridan?”
“Yes, he’s been really kind and sweet. He’s helping David with baseball and he always mows our lawn along with his own. He got me the job, too, as you know.”
At that moment, the lawn mower roared to life, and Amy stepped to the window to watch Declan’s solid muscular form behind it.
“I suspected he’d come sniffing around again once he realized you were available. That boy has always had the hots for you.”
Amy snort-laughed. “Please. It’s not like that, okay? It was actually Mr. Sheridan who invited me over when I ran into him at David’s practice. So, basically, Declan and I are simply going to the same place at the same time. Nothing more than that.”
“Good, because I think it’s too soon for you to start dating someone.”
“Rob already signed up for one of those dating apps. He’ll be dating someone so I don’t know what I’m waiting for!”
“Rob did? He did not! Of all the nerve.”
“Mom, we’re divorced. He’s moving on and he’s allowed.” Amy’s phone pinged, and she saw it was Rob’s caller ID.“Gotta go. It’s Rob calling.”
“Hey,” Rob said when she clicked over.
“Is everything okay?”
“You’re going to be pissed but I got called into work.”
“Aren’t you onvacation?” He’d taken a week off work and still had the kids for a few more days.
“Yeah, Amy. I’m on vacation. But there’s a problem at the main office and I’m the guy.”
It’s not like she hadn’t heard this one before. “How long will you be gone?”
“The rest of the week. I’ll just add the days to my vacation time next month, and I can have the kids for longer. If that’s okay with you.”
“When should I come pick them up?”
“I’ll bring them to you.” He was quiet for a second andwhen he resumed talking his voice was hushed. “They miss you, anyway. It’s not the same here. They’re good kids, and they’re trying. But this isn’t their home.”
For a moment, Rob sounded so discouraged that Amy felt a stab of sympathy. Clearly, this divorce was hard on him, too. He’d been the one to make the decision to end their marriage, but on some level maybe he finally regretted what it had done to their lives. To the kids.
