“Now you go.”
He grunts.“I’ll share something about my priorities, too, then.I love fast cars, and I own three.”
I thought he had an Audi, and I noticed this was a Mercedes when I got in earlier.Now that makes sense.“You clearly haven’t spent the past few years paying for kids’ gymnastics and horseback lessons.”
“Definitely not,” he says.“Haven’t paid for a single one of either thing.”
“Alright, my turn again?”
“You’ve seen my Audi, and now you’ve seen this one, but you didn’t even ask what my third car is,” he says.“Which tells me something else.”
I scrunch my nose.“Yeah, I’m not much of a car person, I’m afraid.I mean, I want my car to fit everyone and to run, and I want it to be comfortable, but I don’t really care about anything else.”
“Noted.”He’s half-smiling, but he also looks a little confused.
“If we’re confessing where we waste money, I definitely spend way too much money on horse tack and gear.Buying saddle pads with matching bonnets makes me happy.Buying saddle pads with matching bonnets that are theperfectcolor for my horse’s coat makes me even happier.”
“Do you have your own horse?”His head snaps my way.
“It was never in the budget for a big family, so...”I shake my head.“I just have the ones we got from your Aunt Clara.”
“You remembered her name.”He’s smiling that hopeful smile.
“It’s my oldest daughter’s name,” I remind him.“So that’s an easy one to recall.”
“Oh, right.”But he doesn’t look like he did remember.When I told him that, I’m guessing he still liked Sam.I bet he wasn’t paying much attention to anything I said, much less the names of my kids.
“It’s fine.I do have a lot of them.”
“Five, right?”
I laugh.“Good job.”
He stops the car.“We’re here.”
When I glance out my window, I’mnotexpecting to see Frank’s Fryer.“Wait, really?”
He’s beaming.“I love pizza.Can that be my second thing?Loveit, and this is the best pizza in Lismore, in my opinion.Since you didn’t have time for a date tonight at first, I figured driving all the way to Waterford or Cork would be a bummer.”
Whereas, for him, driving that far sounds like it would be fun.He loves cars, and he has no kids.
We live very different lives.
“It can be your second thing,” I say.“Sure.”
“What’s yours?”
“Umm, the saddle pad confession.Weren’t you listening?”
He rolls his eyes.“That hardly counts.I already knew you were horse-obsessed.”
“How’s this?For the first time in decades, I’m planning to show on a horse again at a local show, at the Ballinamona Equestrian center.Sam’s our trainer, and two of my daughters are showing with me.”I frown.“Maybe against me.I’m not quite sure.”
His eyebrows rise.“Well, that’s great news.You’re finally putting yourself first.”
I don’t argue, but my girls come first.They always will.I am finally putting myself second or third, after the hotel, at least.It’s an improvement over the past.
As he hops out of the car, I climb out too, and I can’t help saying, “I’ll never put myself first, you know.”
