“And Annelise’s dad—”
“Wait. You’re not going to whistle long and low and say, ‘ten years! Boy that’s a long dry spell’ and stuff like that?”
“Nope. Ten years is like an eyeblink, especially when you’re a single mom and your whiteboard is full. Don’t worry. You’d be amazed at the kinds of things that are just like riding a bike.”
Her jaw dropped open wide.
For several seconds.
It took that long for the little outraged squeak to emerge.
His face was pure deviltry. He wasverypleased with himself.
Shewouldhave laughed.
But then it hit her with the force of a blow: this was it.
She couldn’t dodge the question, because he’d recognize the dodge for what it was, and call her on it. And she couldn’t hesitate, because he would read—and rightly so—something into any undue pause before answering.
Hours of angst-filled, delicate consideration would need to be condensed in a few seconds.
And the kids heading toward them told her she had about a second or two to decide whether the time to divulge something she’d never told another human was now, to Gabe Caldera while he stood outside her daughter’s elementary school in a neon vest. It wasn’t fair.
And in the end, a few seconds just wasn’t enough.
“One-night stand. He’s out of the picture.” Her stock answer, when anyone got bold enough to ask that question. Vague, wry, good-humored, accompanied by a shrug. “Annelise and I are great.”
When he quirked the corner of his mouth ruefully, she felt as guilty and sullied as if she’d cheated on him.
Damn. She’d wanted him to know only her truest self more than she’d wanted that from anyone before. She wanted to live her whole life from that place. Because of him.
And she may have just ruined it all.
Maybe not. Maybe, if and when the time came to tell him the whole truth, he’d understand. Maybe.
Still, she felt rattled and subdued. And just the way he had a moment ago, she was tempted to turn her face away.
But the colorful little torrent of kids was pouring toward them now, and among them the gold and pink flash that was her very heart.
“Out of the picture, huh?” he said. “So when was the last time your heart was bro—”
“Mom, I got an A + on my math test! A PLUS! Right after the A! Check. it. OUT.”
She presented Eden with the evidence. Fluttering a paper into the front seat.
Emotional 180-degree turns were par for the course when you were a mom. Eden often felt as though she’d faceted into parts that could work and think and feel independently of each other. One part of her remained simmering in angst.
She gave her best enthusiasm to Annelise right now.
“All right! Baby, that’sfabulous. I know how hard you worked on that.”
Annelise gave Eden a noisy smacker right on her forehead before hurling herself into the backseat, wearing a smug smile.
“Hey, good job, Annelise,” Gabe said. “I know Mrs. Murphy is tough, but tough teachers are often the best.”
Annelise squinted up a little skeptically about the last part of the sentence. “Okay. Thank you, Mr. Caldera.”
“You’re very polite, Annelise,” he said somberly.