“Tomorrow.” His tone is definitive. He thanks everyone for the dinner, bends down and gives Lily a kiss, straightens and pecks Miss Margaret’s cheek, and then turns and gives me hug. Is it more of a hug than usual, or am I imagining things? “We’ll talk tomorrow,” he repeats in my ear. I blink back the tears that suddenly pool in my eyes.
—
LILY RUNS BACKupstairs to play with the other children.
“His wife is back?” Annie murmurs to me as she helps carry empty dessert plates from the table into the kitchen.
“Yes.”
Her eyes are concerned as she scrapes them over the garbage disposal. “Don’t tell me she’s changed her mind about the divorce!”
I blow out a sigh. “I’m not sure what’s going on. Yesterday we were talking, and I told him I was glad Margaret had found him. He said he was, too. I asked, ‘Even if it cost you your marriage?’ and he said, ‘It didn’t.’”
“That probably just means there were other problems in paradise.” She hands me a scraped plate.
“That’s what I thought at first, but later, he told me Jessica was coming to town and he had to leave the party early to meet her.”
“This late?”
I lift my shoulders. “She wanted to have dinner with him, but he didn’t want to miss this.”
“That’s a good sign.”
“I need to stop looking for good signs.” The plate clatters as I place it in the dishwasher.
“What do you mean?”
“Oh, Annie—I’m in over my head with Zack.”
“That seems pretty natural under the circumstances.”
“Yes, but I don’t think it’s healthy. And I’m completely at odds with myself on this. The commonsense side of me says we’ll be sharing these children for the rest of our lives and they need parents who have a comfortable, friendly, non–emotionally fraught relationship. On the other hand, I’ve already fallen hard, and I’m afraid it’s one-sided.”
“Not a chance. I saw the way he looked at you at dinner.” She hands me another plate.
Her words make my heart soar. I try to rein it in.This is exactlythe sort of thing you can’t let yourself read things into, I tell myself. “He’s still married, and Jessica came back to talk to him.” I put the plate in the dishwasher.
“She filed for divorce, Quinn.”
“People can change their minds. Even if this visit changes nothing and the divorce goes through, I don’t want to be a rebound.”
She passes me another dish. “He doesn’t seem like the type to do that.”
“Above all, I don’t want to start something that won’t last. I don’t want Lily or the baby to get hurt.” I put the plate in the dishwasher.
“I don’t think he does, either, Quinn. He’s a great guy.”
She goes into the dining room to gather more dishes. She’s right. Zack is a good man—a wonderful man, exactly the kind of man I’ve always dreamed of finding.
Which is why I need to be careful. He’s the kind of man who might think getting involved with the mother of his children is the right thing to do, even if he doesn’t love me. I want to be loved, just for me. I don’t want to repeat my past mistakes; I always wind up in relationships where I’m way more emotionally invested than my partner. Brooke thought it started with my father, and she’s probably right.
Case in point: tonight. I’m falling in love, and what is Zack doing? Having drinks with his wife.
Annie comes back into the kitchen carrying more dishes.
“If he gets back with Jessica, will he move to Seattle, or will he convince her to move back here?” I wonder aloud. I don’t know which option would be worse.
“Quinn, you’re getting all worked up over things that are unlikely to happen.”
