“I’m seeing someone.” I plop onto the bed next to her and then I fall back, staring up at the ceiling.
“Oh. My. Gosh! You are! Who is he?”
I turn my head and look at my sister. “The hot coach.”
She squeals.
“Shhhhh!” I shush her. “Mia will be here in a second if she thinks she’s missing out on anything important.”
“You’re dating the hot coach?” Avery says in a stage whisper.
“Let’s call him Greyson,” I say.
“You’re the one who just called him the hot coach.”
“Okay. Fair. But now I wantyouto call him Greyson.”
“Fine. Fine. Whatever.” She’s bouncing in place on the bed. “Tell me everything. When did this start? How? Who started it? Oh my gosh!” Her voice is still a whisper, but she’s so excited, it’s not exactly quiet. “And what happened toHe’s my co-worker and Mia’s coach. And I’m not looking for complications?”
“You remember that, huh?”
“I’m like an elephant. I never forget.”
“Well, we … he … I …”
“You ended up kissing,” she supplies.
“So much more than that. We’re together whenever we can be. Mia still comes first, but mornings, days off when she’s at school, after bedtime …”
“Oh! Hallie! I love this for you.”
I smile at Avery. “I love it for me too. He’s so amazing. So different …”
I don’t finish that thought, but Avery knows very well I’m talking about a man who shows up as opposed to one who leaves after he has a daughter.
“So? When are you telling Mia? She doesn’t know, does she? No. Of course she doesn’t. She would have saidsomething. I would have seen you with him at games. Come to think of it, he does glance your way a lot from the dugout.”
“I know.” I practically groan. “We can’t help ourselves.”
“And that’s a bad thing because?”
“It’s wonderful. I never knew I could feel this way again.”
“Again?”
“Munich.”
“I knew you weren’t talking about the dipstick.” Avery uses her favorite nickname for Danny.
“It’s like Munich on steroids because we’re older and we know what we want. We’ve both lost a lot. And now, we’ve found each other.”
“Still not seeing the problem,” she says, her brows scrunching inward.
“Mia. And she’s not a problem. But I can’t introduce a man into her life right now.”
Avery goes quiet. I can see the argument on her face, but she has the sense not to push me.
She finally says, “Mom’s dating. You’re not traumatized.”
