He braces his arms on the table and meets my gaze. “It’s hard admitting my father’s an asshole. Always was, always willbe. Yes, he had an epiphany and knows he didn’t do right by me, but it hasn’t changed who he is deep down. And that’s tough to swallow.”
I reach across the table and put my hand in his. “I’m really sorry.”
“Thank you.” He nods, stroking his thumb over my skin. “The thing is, I’d made my peace with who he is. I just hated having it thrown in my face again.”
I bite down on my lower lip. “Do you want to talk about it?” I offer.
He answers with an abrupt shake of his head. “It’s fine. I’ll eat a good lunch with fabulous company and put it behind me.”
His more relaxed grin puts me at ease. “Sounds like a good plan to me.”
I pick up my drink to take a sip just as my phone chimes, and I recognize the sound. “Sorry, it’s L.J. on FaceTime.” I hate to ever not accept my son’s call.
“Take it,” he says. “And maybe you could introduce me? As your friend?”
He sounds eager to meet my son, and a warm feeling wraps around my heart. I hit the accept button and my little boy’s face shows on the screen.
“Mom! We went to the Statue of Liberty!”
I grin at his excitement. “That’s so cool. Did you see the whole city?”
“It was amazing.”
“Are you going to the beach this weekend?” Carrie and Samuel have been taking him to the Hamptons on the weekends to a house they rented for the summer, and during the week, they are staying with Landon and touring Manhattan.
“Probably. I hope my friend Andrew is there. He’s from a place called Long Island.”
“That sounds great, honey.” I glance across the table at Shane, my heart in my throat.
I’ve never had reason to introduce a man I am seeing to my son. For one thing, I’ve been careful before bringing someone into his life who would only disappear a few weeks or months later, and for another, no man has been that interested.
Swallowing hard, I gesture for Shane to sit in the chair beside me. “Speaking of friends, I want you to meet a friend of mine. This is Shane Warden, honey. I met him this summer.” No reason to explain to my ten-year-old that Shane is my professor.
I turn the phone so Shane can see my brown-haired little boy. “Hi, L.J. I’m Shane. Your mom has told me so much about you.”
He lifts his hand in a shy wave.
“Say hi to Mr. Warden, honey. I mean, Professor Warden.”
“Shane is fine. I hear you’re having fun with your grandparents in New York.”
L.J. nods. “Next week we’re going to a Yankee game!”
Shane grins. “I also heard you love baseball. Maybe we could play some catch when you get home. I could dust off my catching mitt.”
An excited light hits my son’s brown eyes. “That would be awesome!”
“I’ll look forward to it. Here’s your mom.” He fully turns the phone back to me.
I have to fight back the lump in my throat and the tears forming in my eyes. This man, he’s barreled into my life or I’ve barreled into his and turned my world upside down. He makes me feel things long forgotten, and now he is including my son.
I swallow hard. “Hi, honey. I need to go. I’m sitting in a restaurant.” At least no one is around us, or I wouldn’t have taken the call and disturbed other guests’ lunch.
“Okay. I love you, Mom.”
“Love you, too, baby.”
“I’m not—”
