By the time they picked up Will and made it home, Abby had a list of twenty-thousand and one things to do, the most pressing of which was to make dinner since they ate early, around five-thirty, to give her time to play with Will before his bedtime at seven.
Abby stood in front of the open fridge waiting for a package of chicken breast to magically appear. She sighed and closed the door. She’d completely forgotten to go to the store yesterday for the weekly shopping. Sunday was her usual shopping day, but with everything that had happened with Olivia, she’d forgotten all about it.
There were three possible options. Pack the kids back up and go to the store, which was never ideal because Will always asked for extra snacks and she always ended up getting more things than she needed. Ask Olivia to watch Will while she ran to the store—not ideal at all to relegate Olivia to the role of babysitter three days after she joined their family. Or pizza, which was a once in a while treat, but seemed like the best option.
Midway through ordering online, the doorbell rang.
“I get it!” Will called.
Abby chased after him. “Will! Do not open the door by yourself.” She got to the door as Will turned the deadbolt and opened the door. The little escape artist. She reminded herself again to install a lock higher up out of his reach.
She picked him up and set him on her hip. Her eyes widened at the sight of Tinker standing on the threshold holding two paper bags from her favorite barbecue place.
“Piggy!” Will said.
“Tinker.” He pointed at himself.
Abby internally shook herself and tried to scoop up what remaining wits she had. “Hi. What are you doing here?”
“I ran into Katherine and asked how today went. She said it seemed to go well, but you might be a little overwhelmed with all the information you got. I figured I’d take a chance you weren’t up for making dinner.”
He held up the bags from Porky’s Pit Stop, the fat cartoon pig chowing down on a rib. That always struck her as wrong.
“If you’ve already got it covered, it’ll keep in the fridge till tomorrow,” he added.
She shook her head and opened the door wider, sweeping her arm out in invitation. “I was in the middle of ordering pizza, so this is a lot better. Thank you.”
She shut the door, slid the deadbolt, and set Will down. “Go wash your hands for dinner.”
He ran off yelling “piggy” at the top of his lungs. She shook her head and led the way into the kitchen. Every nerve ending in her body seemed to be tuned to his presence at her back. It felt electric, like a current running between them. Which was ridiculous. He was just a guy who happened to make her clit pulse one time.
He set the bags down on the counter and started unpacking them.
“This is a lot of food,” she said.
“I wasn’t sure what you’d like, so I got one of everything.”
Her mouth fell open. There were at least half a dozen options on the menu, and that didn’t include the sandwiches. “You’re staying to help eat this, right? We’ll never be able to get through all this.”
He stopped, arm still in a bag, and looked at her. “You good with that?”
Oh. She’d just invited him to dinner. On one hand, it seemed mean not to invite him when he’d gone out of the way to bring her food, and good food at that. On the other, she wasn’t sure why he’d done it or what he hoped to get out of it. Was there an ulterior motive? Was it an apology for ghosting her before?
“I won’t stay,” he said.
Abby shook her head. “No, stay. It’s fine.”
“You’re thinking about it too hard for it to be fine,” he said.
“I just—” She took a deep breath. “I’m not sure why you’re doing this.”
He stepped closer, crowding her against the counter. “I like you.”
She cocked her head. “Yeah. And? Now I have two kids instead of only one.”
Tinker brushed a strand of hair over her shoulder. The tip of his nail grazed the side of her neck, and all she wanted to do was lean into it. To ask for more. But she had more to think about than just what she wanted.
“I fucked up. I’m sorry. I don’t have an excuse. I don’t get involved with women who have kids. It hasn’t been a great experience. The women want a father figure for the kid, and the kid gets attached. Everyone’s heart gets broken, but especially the kid’s. It’s not fair to the kid.”
