“Go ahead, ask your questions,” I sigh, rolling my eyes and sitting back in the chair fully. “I know you all want to.”
“Is this new?”
“Why are we just finding out about this?”
“He has kids, Lou— are you sure this is a good idea?”
“What’s his backstory? Do you even know anything about this guy? We know you tend to jump into things with rose colored glasses…”
“Holy shit you guys, maybe fire off questions one at a time,” I mutter, adjusting myself in the seat so I can sit cross legged in the bottom of the wide chair. I sigh. “Kind of new. We’ve been flirting since I moved in. But things just started shifting a couple weeks ago. I don’t tell you about guys I’m talking to because nine times out of ten it doesn’t last longer than a week or two, and I hate that look on your faces. The ‘I told you so’ look.”
I look pointedly at Darci, who throws her hands up in defense. “What?! I don’t give you that look!”
“You so do,” Tessa mumbles out of the corner of her mouth, and Darci kicks at her.
“We just want you to know your own worth,” Mom says gently. “You have such a big heart, and the way you care about people…you do it with your whole self. But not everyone deserves that from you.”
“I know that,” I say, exhaling heavily.
“We’re not trying to talk you out of this,” Sienna says, reaching out to touch my arm. “I think he’s really sweet to you. It looks like it, anyway.”
“We just want you to take your time getting to know someone before you jump in headfirst,” Darci murmurs. “We hate seeing you hurt is all.”
“I’m not jumping in. We’ve talked about this a lot. Once his divorce is finalized—”
“He’s still married?!”
“Lou!” “Ohmygod.”
I jump out of my chair and set my barely touched cider on the armrest, waving my hands in front of me in an X. “And this is why I don’t tell y’all anything—”
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry. Please sit down, don’t go—” Tess says, reaching out to take my hand in hers. “Please tell us. We’ll be good.”
I stare down at my older sister and chew on the inside of my lips. “I don’t need you all to be judgy about this. Please.”
“You’re right, we’re sorry,” Sienna agrees, nodding. “That was just a bomb we weren’t exactly expecting—”
I blow out my breath, letting my cheeks puff out with the expulsion. “I mean, that’s fair, because same.” Sinking back into the chair, I pick up my glass and cradle it in my lap. “Look, I get that it’s not ideal.” I glance at Grandma Jude and then at Mom. “This onefeelsdifferent, you guys. I can’t explain it. Yes, I’m guarded. And yes, I know I was supposed to be on a man hiatus… but it’s not like I went looking for this one. It wasn’t a dating app or a blind date set up or like I was searching for him in a bar somewhere…” I shrug. “I think I really like this one. And his girls are so amazing, you guys. They’re so funny andohmygod, Chloejust cracks me up, and Bailey is so incredibly sassy, and Abigail issosmart and her heart is so big, too—”
I take a gulp of my cider, looking from each of my sisters, to our mother, to our grandma.
“I know it all sounds insane,” I whisper. “We know it might not be the smoothest of roads ahead. But, I’d like to try, at least. And I think he does, too.”
Grandma Jude leans over the arm of her chair next to me and whispers loudly, “Does that mean we have to put the sugar daddy hunt on the backburner?”
“Ohmygod, Grandma,” I laugh, shaking my head. The girls laugh next to us. “No sugar daddies!”
Tessa snorts and says, “Speak for yourself, Lou. Grandma Jude, count me in.”
“That’s my girl,” Grandma says to Tess, then winks over at me. She takes my hand in hers, giving it a squeeze. Gosh I love this woman so much. “I heard we have a new job to celebrate.”
I glare over at Sienna. “You told everyone already?”
“No! Andi called and told me, and I only told Grandma—”
“Who told Mom and Darci and me,” Tessa snorts. I roll my eyes. The work of a grapevine.
“You girls should know better than to tell me anything at this point,” Grandma Jude titters. “I can’t keep track of what I’m not supposed to talk about anymore.”
