“Yes. I missed the last two visits and still feel terrible about it. I want to make it up to her.” He paused. “Is that okay?”
“It’s okay with me.” Maggie looked at her daughter. “Would you like to ask Emily?”
“Please.”
Maggie handed the phone to her daughter with a smile. “It’s Daddy.”
“Daddy!” Emily grabbed the phone and started talking about how much she’d missed him, and Frank was so furry, and Nadia had amazing braids, and Sherry had milky burps, and Reggie had bandaged a broken ankle and brought pizza and cupcakes and root beer.
Reggie.
Oh boy. Maggie had no idea how Stephen might react to Reggie. Then again, Emily only knew him as a friend. Heck, for that matter, Stephen had no idea Maggie had broken her arm. Though they’d been divorced for three years, they remained friends. At first, the breakup had been tough, but as the months went by, both realized it had been for the best.
Stephen now pursued his dreams, and she raised Emily while doing what she wanted with her life.
“Frankenstein is his whole name. He’s so cute, Daddy.” Emily pulled the phone away. “Say hi to Daddy, Frank.” The puppy sniffed the phone.
“Emily, Frank can’t talk, but you can. Talk to your father.”
She put the phone back to her ear. “Huh? Reggie? He’s the EMT who does BLS and puts out fires. He has big muscles and plants baby seeds when it’s summer.”
Maggie groaned.
“With Mommy? No. He’s my friend first. He was at the library then in the ambulance.”
Before Stephen got any more vaguely troublesome details, Maggie plucked the phone from her daughter.
Emily frowned. “Hey.”
“Stephen? It’s me. Two weeks ago, Emily spotted Frank in the middle of the street near the grocery store. I went to scoop him up and got hit by a car.”
“Holy shit.Are you okay? Why didn’t you tell me?”
“You were in Denmark. What could you have done?”
“I’d have flown back,” he blustered.
But he wouldn’t have. Stephen was all about his job, and he didn’t owe her anything. Not anymore. “I’m fine. I have a cool cast. Emily got a puppy. And our new friend Reggie was the EMT on duty. He helped me, and he taught a class at the library a week before that, which is how Emily first met him. He’s a firefighter. A genuinely nice man who also helps with a pet charity, so he’s been helping with Frank.” She didn’t know why she felt uncomfortable about Stephen knowing she might be interested in Reggie.Might be? Ha.
Then again, it was no one’s business but her own. And Emily had no idea.
“And baby seeds?” Stephen asked. “What the hell is that about?” He paused. “Are you pregnant?”
She burst out laughing. “You’re kidding, right?”
“Oh.”
“You sound relieved. Don’t worry. It’s not yours.” She laughed again, because that was damn funny. “Emily’s been harping about baby seeds and baby pills since her friend, Sherry, got a little brother. Emily wanted a turtle, you’ll remember.”
“That I remember. She still talks about the turtle.”
“She ended up with a puppy instead, which she absolutely loves. And now she thinks if someone gives me baby seeds, I’ll have a baby. Since Reggie is a medically trained professional, our astute daughter guessed he could help me out.”
“If he’s seen you, he no doubt wants to,” Stephen muttered.
Flattered, she nonetheless ignored the remark. “Right. Well, to recap, Reggie is a good guy. Doug and Benny helped out when I was down, and Emily’s doing just fine. She’s super excited to visit.”
“But what about Frank?” Emily cried.
