Page 43 of Scoop Me Up
“Yeah. Turns out we knew each other in high school.”
“Are you thinking about moving? Here?”
I held my breath, worried she’d react badly. “I am.”
A smile broke over her face. “That’s amazing. Ellie would love that. So would I.”
“Nothing’s decided yet.”
She mimicked zipping her lips. “I won’t say a word.”
“I’m also thinking about investing in a business here in Maplewood. Really cementing myself in the community.”
“You’ve always wanted to get onto the front lines of a business. I think that’s a great idea.” A few minutes later, she called Ellie for dinner, and we gathered around the table. “How was your day, El?” Jennifer asked.
Ellie shrugged, distracted as she poked at her mashed potatoes with her fork. “Good.”
“That’s all? Anything interesting happen at school?”
Ellie’s eyes lit up. “Mix sent a note. It’s in my bookbag.” She hopped up and ran to get it, returning with an envelope that was addressed to Jennifer.
Jennifer read it quickly. “There’s going to be a read-a-thon?”
Ellie nodded. “Mix said we’re all going to do our best reading and show everyone what we learned.”
I swallowed hard at the mention of Sam, feeling the heat of blush creep up my neck. Jennifer looked at me quizzically but said nothing.
“Daddy, are you going to come?”
“I get to help out,” I said, remembering my promise to Sam. The heat in my cheeks and neck intensified.
Mercifully, Ellie pivoted then, talking about the park and what she wanted to do there after dinner. I managed to keep the conversation away from Sam and school for the rest of dinner, to my relief. As Jennifer and I cleaned up, Ellie watched TV in theliving room, waiting patiently. Jennifer took the chance to zero in on me.
“You doing okay?”
I cleared my throat. “Great, why?”
She chuckled and handed me a plate to load into the dishwasher. “You seem a little… distracted.”
“Distracted?”
She smirked, grabbing a container to fill with leftovers. “When Ellie brought up her teacher, you got kind of jumpy. Are you two not getting along or something?”
I let out a shaky laugh. “It’s not that.”
Jennifer put down the leftovers container. “You know you can tell me anything. I won’t be weird about it. I won’t be mad.”
I dropped a detergent pod into the dishwasher and closed the door. “There’s nothing to tell,” I said, a half-truth.
“I don’t believe that for one second. Don’t forget, we were together for a long time. I know your tells.”
Could she tell I was lying? I glanced in the direction of the living room to be sure Ellie wasn’t going to overhear. “I kissed them.”
Jennifer’s smile widened. “That’s amazing. I had a feeling you were going to say something like that. How did it go?”
I exhaled sharply. “It was great.” The memory of Sam’s touch burned through me. I itched to be close to them again. “But I don’t know. It was probably a bad idea. Right?”
She stopped what she was doing and fixed me with a look, putting a hand on my arm. “You’re allowed to do things that make you happy. As long as they’re on board, it wasn’t a bad idea. How did Sam react?”
