Reegan nodded, swallowing thickly.“That’s why I needed to tell you I don’t want kids.I know this is… temporary, but I also want you to know me.”
I cupped her jaw, and she nuzzled against my hand, as if she was desperate for a connection but not allowing herself to ask for it.“I’m forty-six years old.My daughter is about to leave for college.Having more kids hasn’t been something I’ve thought about for a long time.”
“I don’t want you to regret?—”
I stopped her protest with a hard kiss.I banded my arm around her body and held her against me until she was soft and pliable in my arms.
Then I carried her to my bed and showed her how few regrets I had when it came to meeting her.
And how much I loved her, even though I couldn’t say the words.
The two weeksbetween Evie and Reegan meeting and taking Evie to college went by in the blink of an eye.I worked both weeks, and so did Evie, but when we weren’t working, we were picking up things she needed and hadn’t gotten.
Finding time to see Reegan had proved just as challenging as getting Evie ready to leave.I brought Reegan coffee every morning, and the four of us had dinner together a couple of times, but that was about it.The few nights Evie was with her mom, Reegan had plans with Ashlyn.We both understood the other was busy, but I missed Reegan.And I felt like an ass for not being around more.
That was going to change, though.Hannah demanded Evie spend her last night before college at her house, leaving me with an empty house and big plans to invite Reegan over for dinner and convince her to spend the night in my bed.
Those plans were dashed when I walked in the door and heard a persistent beeping.
I followed the sound to the laundry room.I’d tossed a load of clothes in the dryer before I left for work.They were still wet.The beeping stopped when I opened the door, but the code on the front of the machine did not go away.
“Dammit.”I thought the issues I had with my dryer at the beginning of summer were over.It had been working fine since then.A quick search on my phone showed the error had something to do with a circuit board.Not within my area of expertise.At all.
I tapped Oscar’s name on my phone and started unloading wet clothes from the dryer.
“Hey,” Oscar said.
“Hey, can you come look at my dryer?”
“What’s wrong with it?”
I told him the error code, and he said he’d be over soon.I hoped he’d have the right thing to fix it, but if not, I was going to need to call someone.I could only hang clothes to dry for so long before I got sick of it and needed it fixed or replaced.Winter would be here before I knew it, and I definitely couldn’t last through the cold weather without a working dryer.
Fifteen minutes later, Oscar was pulling my dryer apart and assuring me he knew what he was doing.
I left him to it as I draped wet clothes over every surface in my house.If I was lucky, I would have my dryer back before the end of the night and could put everything back in the machine.
I was not lucky.
Two hours later, Oscar cursed and gave up.“I don’t know what the hell is going on with this thing.”
“Shit.”
“Sorry.I’ve replaced the same thing on my own machine, but it’s not working.There are two boards, and usually the issue is the cheaper one.I replaced that, and it still didn’t fix it.I replaced the other one, and it’s not working.Something might be fried, or it could be something else entirely.I don’t know.”
I shook my head.“Thanks for looking at it.At least I can tell a repair person what’s already been done.”
“Yeah, but still.You might need a new one.How old is this?”
I shrugged.“I think I bought it when I moved in here.”
Oscar chuckled.“Yeah, you probably need a new one.It’s possible someone can fix it, but fifteen years is getting to the end of life for one of these.”
“I guess I’m lucky it’s summer and I can hang things up for now.”
“True.”Oscar stretched and rubbed his stomach.“So, what are you making me for dinner?”
I snorted and motioned for him to follow me to the kitchen.So much for dinner with Reegan.
