Page 1 of Say You Remember Me
1
MADDIE
“Is it just me,or are the guys in this club way better looking than everywhere else?” I asked my aunt Sloan as we settled into a corner table on the main level of The Garden, drinks in hand.
It was Friday night, and since I would be moving to the small town of Eden Falls, Connecticut where Sloan lived, in order to start my new job on Monday, she had decided to take me to one of her favorite clubs in the area to celebrate.
“It’s definitely not just you,” she said, a hint of a smile on her lips as she took a sip from her cocktail. “Why do you think I moved back here?”
“I thought it was because you loved teaching drama to rich prep-school kids?” I smirked before taking a sip of my gin and tonic.
“That’s how I keep the lights on,” she said, chuckling. “But living in a place where the men are as gorgeous as they are wealthy? It definitely makes weekends more interesting.”
I glanced over at a group of polished businessmen chatting near the bar, their tailored suits and easy smiles making them look like they’d stepped straight out of a magazine.
“So how many of those guys have you dated?” I asked, nodding toward the men closest to us.
“In that group?” Sloan’s gaze slid over the six men. After a moment of consideration, she said, “Three.”
“Nothing serious, though?” I asked, curious how my gorgeous aunt, who was only eight years my senior and more like a cousin to me, could still be single.
Seriously, what were all these hot men in Eden Falls thinking, leaving a catch like her alone?
“Not really. Not since I broke up with Marcus, anyway.” She shrugged. “I mean, I dated the guy in the gray suit for a few weeks back in March. But when the timeline for when either of us wanted to have kids came up, we realized we probably weren’t actually that great of a fit.” She watched the guy with dark brown hair and glasses for a minute, the faraway look in her eyes telling me she was disappointed things hadn’t worked out. “He’s on more of a five-year plan when it comes to marriage and kids. But I’m already thirty-four, so I can’t really afford to wait that long if I want to have a chance at having biological kids of my own.”
“Dang, that sucks,” I said, knowing just how important being a mom was to Sloan. “He’s cute.”
“He is. But it’s fine.” She waved the thought away, like it was nothing. “Not all of us can be the cool, young mom that you are.”
“Yeah, right…” I chuckled. “Pretty sure having a baby during my senior year of high school isn’t exactly something I’d recommend to most women.”
Nope, getting pregnant in the backseat of a guy’s car had definitely not been on my vision board back in the day.
But when I’d taken a pregnancy test during the spring of my junior year and discovered the upset stomach I’d been dealing with for two weeks was actually morning sickness and not a weird case of the flu, all the dreams I had of attending a collegea few hours from my home in Ridgewater, New York couldn’t be easily realized with a newborn.
Yay for being a dumb, rebellious teen.
Oh well, at least I’d gotten the best son in the world out of it. He was definitely worth all the anxiety his unplanned pregnancy had caused.
“So tell me about your new job.” Sloan shifted in her seat to face me instead of the eye candy standing nearby. “Is it the same position you interviewed for a couple of months ago?”
“No.” I shook my head. “That was a front-desk position. This time I interviewed to be an assistant to one of the senior executives.”
“Oooh, an executive assistant. You’re moving up in the world, I see.”
I nodded. “And the benefits are way better, too,” I said, relieved that Grant and I would have good health insurance once the benefits package kicked in.
Raising a rambunctious eight-year-old kid who loved playing sports had me taking him to Instant Care way more times than I’d like to admit. Thankfully, he’d only actually managed two broken bones so far.
“Cheers to good health insurance.” Sloan chuckled, raising her glass and clinking it against mine. “Geez, since when did we get old enough to get excited about boring things like that?”
“Way too many years ago for me,” I said, thinking about how this was the first time in years that I wouldn’t need to apply for Medicaid, food stamps, or subsidized housing since this new job would actually pay enough for me to fully support my little family.
“Well, I’m proud of you. And I’m glad you’re moving here,” Sloan said, her voice softening with genuine warmth. “It’ll be nice having you and Grant close by.”
“I’m excited too,” I said, glad that I’d put my ego aside and applied for another position at Hastings Industries, even though they’d given the last position I’d interviewed for to someone else. “Now I just need to find a place to live.”
“We’ll figure that out,” Sloan said, covering my hand with hers and giving it a pat. “And until then, you and Grant are more than welcome to stay with me. I didn’t just redecorate my guest bedroom for nothing.”
