“He is.” She beamed at us. “Rob cries like twice a day while looking at him. Don’t tell him I told you.”
I mimed zipping up my lips, but my heart melted at that. Of course he did. I never would’ve guessed, but Rob Thompson, with all his rough edges, was gooey in the middle.
Shar sighed. “I’m just trying to keep up with everything. We both are. My professors are being saints, but I still have performances coming up, and rehearsals, and pumping between classes. It’s a circus.”
“You’re a saint.”
“I’m—” she yawned, rubbing her eyes. “Surviving. So that’s something.”
I breathed in a full whiff of intoxicating baby smell. “You’re keeping a tiny human alive.”
At that, Carter let out a little “ehh” noise that made us both “awww!” Shar reached over and brushed his cheek.
“Okay, Chunk,” she murmured. “Sleep a little longer. It’s not snack time yet.”
We sat there for a moment, just being. Somehow, at home I was always antsy, but I could’ve sat there for hours without moving once.
Shar crossed her legs under her. “So? Any updates for me?”
I tensed, and Carter’s golden brow furrowed. “Not really. Everything’s fine. I’ve been doing more admin work at the gallery, so that’s great.” Where would I even start with the last week? Everything I’d updated her on had to do with the one person I had zero interest in bringing up at this moment.
Her eyebrow arched. “Crystal.”
“Shar.”
She gave me a look, and I gave her a look back, but she already had that mom energy. She won, no contest.
“Fine,” I sighed. “It’s complicated.”
“In what way?”
“Well I’m sure Rob filled you in on what he did at the breakfast.”
She smirked. “Oh he definitely did. Classic Logan.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, he’s all fun and games until someone threatens him or someone he cares about. Once tried to fight a guy in Red Deer because the guy threw a pretzel at Axel. Ooh, and Jake is pissed, by the way. Have you not talked with him since?”
I frowned. Huh. I guess I hadn’t. It took me a moment to respond because I was still hung up on what she’d just said.Someone he cares about?“I didn’t think Jake would want to talk to me. He thinks I’m with Logan.”
She shrugged. “You could still keep your options open. Doesn’t this whole agreement end in December?” I nodded, and she grinned mischievously. “It’ll definitely ramp up the tension.”
I shook my head. “I thought you were a wholesome wife and mother now?”
Shar laughed. “C’mon, I have to live vicariously through you a little. Speaking of which, don’t you have a fancy event coming up?”
I lit up. “The Palliser. I have no idea what I’m going to wear.”
Shar jumped up from the couch with an impressive amount of energy for someone running on less than four hours of sleep every night. “I have the perfect thing.”
She appeared a few seconds later with a straight black off-the-shoulder cocktail dress. “I got it for our quick honeymoon weekend and didn’t get a chance to wear it.”
I shook my head. “I’m not going to wear your dress first!”
“Babe, it’ll be a solid six months before I can fit into this again. Please. Wear the hell out of it.” She draped it over the arm of the couch by my purse and shoes.
Carter seemed to sense his mom’s arrival because he started to squirm. Shar sat beside me and reached for him.
