The talk is pure hockey. I glance up and notice Donna watching me as I help Conner hold his spoon properly. As Conner climbs back over to his dad, who wipes his son’s face and hands him his sippy cup of milk, I smile at Donna and she smiles back. It’s different than her normal smile. This one is deeper and softer and she almost looks like she might cry. I guess having Luc and Devin play together has got to be overwhelming. I know that Luc has been taking a lot of criticism in the last year or so, being called a failure, and although she never said a word, I think Donna and all the Garrisons were bothered by it as much as Luc was.
“So you’re coming to the game with us tomorrow night?” Rose says, giving me a little hug.
“Of course.”
“We’re bringing Conner too,” Donna tells me.
“It’s a big deal,” I reply and smile.
After dinner the boys head into the living room but Rose, Donna and I stay in the kitchen and finish the wine. I look at Rose and pull the parental role because someone has got to do it. “Have you applied to graduate programs yet?”
“Not yet,” she answers as she refills my wineglass. “I still have time. And now I’m focusing on schools in New York, obviously.”
I give her a cautious glare. She stares back unblinking, not backing down. I sigh.
“Excuse me for a minute. Bathroom break,” Rose announces.
When she’s disappeared down the hall, I look over at Donna. “I love Luc and Rosie together but I worry about her. She’s so caught up in the romance, it’s like she’s willing to throw her own goals away.”
Donna thinks about that for a minute but she shakes her head. “I don’t think you give her enough credit. I know that she’s making her relationship with Luc a priority, but she’s still got her head on her shoulders. She’s just adapting her life to make it all fit.”
I don’t respond to that, but my brow stays furrowed and she sees that. I sip my wine.
“It’s like what you’re doing,” Donna tells me quietly. “You’re adapting your life to fit Conner and Devin into it.”
I am? I wonder silently. Sure, I don’t go out to bars or party as much as I did in Los Angeles, but my job is more strenuous and leaves less time than my other jobs in the past. To be honest, I would rather pick up Conner and hang out with him and Devin than get drunk at one of the local pubs anyway. And, yeah, I don’t eat takeout every night like I used to in L.A. I cook for Devin and Conner, but I worry that if I don’t, they won’t eat properly, and I like cooking and having people to cook for again.
“I appreciate it too, Callie. More than you know,” Donna tells me, and she reaches over and puts her hand on top of mine on the table. “I worry about Devin all the time but it helps to know you’ve been here for him. And Conner.”
“I’m not adapting,” I argue back. “It’s not like it’s a hardship. I love hanging out with Devin and Conner. We have fun. And it feels good for me to have someone here too. I would be all alone in New York if it wasn’t for him.”
I glance at her. Her big blue eyes have that look in them again like she might cry. It makes me nervous. “Conner is pretty much in love with you, Callie.”
“Good, because I love him to bits.”
“And Devin is pretty much in love with you too.”
That statement is like an atomic bomb going off in the middle of the kitchen. My head spins to look at her—glare at her, actually. She squeezes my hand tightly, as if she’s worried I might jump up and run away and she wants to keep me still.
“I know that scares you to death. And I’m fairly certain at this point in his life, with what Devin has gone through, it probably scares him too,” Donna explains to me in a confident, calm voice. “But I can’t take my eyes off you two tonight. You work like a team. A family. It looks so natural. I always saw the struggle with Ashleigh and Devin. Maybe that’s why this looks so breathtaking.”
“Donna…” I swallow down the rest of my wine in one fast gulp and pull my hand from hers. “Please don’t.”
Devin comes walking into the room with Conner, who is in his pajamas holding his daddy’s hand.
“He wants Callie to tuck him in,” Devin announces and smiles at me. “Apparently Daddy doesn’t tell good bedtime stories.”
I try to ignore the smile that spreads across Donna’s face. I know this is proving her point and I want to just get up and walk—or run—away. But I can’t deny the little blond angel. So I stand up and take his hand from Devin’s. I take a deep breath and try not to look as distressed as I feel.
“That’s because you read from books,” I explain to Devin. “I make the stories up.”
“Well, aren’t you little Miss Creativity?” Devin rolls his eyes in mock annoyance. “Thanks for showing me up with my own kid.”
“My pleasure,” I joke back with an easy wink and then stiffen. This is the exact thing Donna was talking about. Without another word, I lead Conner through the house to say his good nights to everyone one by one and then I take him upstairs. I weave a tale about a purple dragon and a green bull who become friends. Before I can get to the part where the dragon and bull meet a giraffe, he’s out cold.
I smooth his wheat-colored hair from his forehead and sneak out of his room. Devin is coming up the stairs as I pull Conner’s door almost closed, leaving it open an inch. I raise my hands to my lips to indicate we have to be quiet.
“He’s out?” Devin whispers.
