“Yeah,” she said. “I know we discussed cutting my hours, but I’ll post the ‘how to avoid overindulging on Thanksgiving’ video and the Black Friday stuff we talked about. Shouldn’t take me long.”
“Ellie, I’m not going to cut your hours right before the holidays. Keep the same schedule till the first of the year, and then we’ll talk again about what I can afford.”
“Sounds good. Enjoy the holiday. Talk soon.”
After hanging up with Ellie, Julia recorded the segment about Thanksgiving overindulgence, wrote the content for a couple of social media posts, and sent it all to Ellie.
She had to really focus on extricating Alex from her thoughts. Having sex was supposed to have laid to rest all her lusty feelings, but it was doing just the opposite. A fleeting thought raced through her mind. Perhaps her mother was right, and it really was a bad idea to take love off the table—or if not love, at least good sex. Should she add that to her checklist? Or was that being too greedy?
Either way, Alex wasn’t in the running, so she needed to put some distance between them now. They’d already spent too much time together, and Cal was on the verge of getting too close.
Alex was no doubt fine with that. It was physically impossible to flee any faster than he had the night they’d had sex, so clearly, he’d only been looking to blow off steam too.
With an hour to spare before Calvin came home, she dug into the research she was doing for a video on seed oils and the harm they cause. Her videos weren’t just opinions or hearsay. She always cited scientific studies to support what she preached. If the topic was controversial, she’d fairly present both sides and let people decide for themselves.
Since Julia didn’t have a car, her mom and Joe would usually drive Cal back to the city. Sometimes they’d come in for dinner, but today they were dropping and running.
When her mom called to say they were approaching her building, Julia went down to the lobby. Kenneth was talking with Rudy at the doorman’s station but stopped and approached her as she walked by.
“Good afternoon, Julia,” he said. “How are you today?”
“Great, thanks,” Julia said, passing through with a wave. “Gotta meet Cal out front.”
He looked slightly disappointed, but she didn’t want Joe to have to park for too long. They pulled up right as she exited.
“Perfect timing,” she said.
Joe double-parked, and Cal jumped out of the car and waved. “Bye, Grandma. Bye, Grandpa.”
“Thanks for having him,” Julia said. “See you in a few days.”
“Hey, buddy,” she said, hugging Cal. “Wanna hit the bodega for a treat?”
Cal’s eyes lit up. “Yes!”
The truth was, she wanted to avoid Kenneth. He seemed nice, but she got the impression that he might be into her, and she didn’t want to deal with an awkward conversation on her way back through the lobby.
Cal hoisted his backpack on both shoulders, grabbed her hand, and started to tell her about his weekend. Now, this was something she could do all day. Walk hand in hand with her baby, listening to him jabber away about trying to catch a squirrel in Grandma’s backyard.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
It was Thanksgiving Day, and Alex had just arrived at his mother’s place uptown. His brothers and their wives were already there. That seemed funny to say. Last year, Mitch had been the only one married. But this summer, two more MacDonald brothers fell. In love, that is. Sam and Annie tied the knot in June, and Jake and Hannah, three months later in September. It had been a bumper crop year for his mom, who was dying to marry them all off and get some grandkids coming.
So far, Mitch and Maggie were the only ones to have borne fruit in that regard, but Annie was three months along, cooking up some twins—a boy and a girl due in May of next year.
His mom, Maggie, Annie, and Hannah stood together in the kitchen, supposedly making dinner, but when Alex entered, he saw more wine drinking than baking.
“I didn’t realize cooking dinner was a euphemism for drinking wine and watching TV,” he said with a teasing smile.
“Mine’s juice,” Annie said, rubbing her stomach.
“Mine too.” Maggie clinked glasses with Annie. “Still nursing.”
“Ah. Well, need any help in here?” It was a courtesy offer he prayed they wouldn’t take him up on, but he didn’t want to seem rude.
“Shh, we’re watching a video on how to make a healthy pumpkin pie,” his mom said.
Alex looked at the iPad propped up on the counter and saw Julia staring back at him. “Hey, that’s Julia Knight. I know her. She’s my neighbor.”
