“I have to agree with the hot thing.” The newest member of their mom brigade, Sadie, was not actually a mom, but she was awesome enough to join the brigade nonetheless. With a tawny complexion from her mother’s Venezuelan roots, black hair, and a seemingly unflappable warmth in her eyes,Sadie had become a regular at their Sunday morning mom meetings. “You can tell Roman I said that, too. He’ll probably agree if you show him a pic of Travis.”
“Gahhhh!” Rachel tossed her arm over her eyes. “Travis is justTravis. He’s not allowed to be hot Travis.”
Rachel flopped her arm back to the side, staring up at the clouds again.
Sadie appeared in the view above her. “It’s okay if you find a man attractive. You know that, right?”
“Travis is not a man. He’s Travis,” Rachel muttered.
This got her a Sadie smile. “Whatever you need to tell yourself.”
The other moms all allowed a bending of the rules of their Sunday mom group to accommodate Sadie’s attendance because,first of all, they never wrote down any rules. They were all pretty flexible about the whole thing. And second, Sadie was a ton of funandan attorney.
Everyone knew a mom group needed at least one attorney and one medical professional. They were still on the hunt for the medical professional.
Not to be left out, Sadie brought her nephew on Sunday mornings so his parents could have a bit of a break and sleep in, which every mom in the group knew meant Sunday was their morning for a booty call.
Some people went to church, some people…
“Hey ladies.” Kaiya hurried toward their meeting on the blanket. “I brought samples.” Kaiya gave each of them a small gift bag with samples.
“I freaking love your samples.” Molly dove right in to her bag.
Well, if it was sample Sunday, Rachel hoped she’d hit the jackpot with the lavender-scented facial cleanser. She loved that stuff,and the squat purple bottles were so stinkin’ cute.
April gestured to their circle. “Rachel brought margaritas.”
“Oh, I’m so in.” Kaiya looked to where her daughter dangled from the monkey bars, then settled on the blanket next to April. “We need to get together for momtinis soon. Cory’s heading to her dad’s for a few weeks this summer. I’m going to need serious distraction from the quiet that’s about to hit when she leaves.”
Like Molly’s ex, Kaiya’s was not in the picture. Unlike Molly, Rachel had never even seen Kaiya show interest in anyone as a relationship possibility. She seemed more interested in all-natural skincare products.
“It’ll have to be after Rachel gets back from her big summer trip,” Sadie said.
“Shhh,” Rachel said, savoring the unwrapping of her sample. She rarely got gifts that came with wrapping and bows, so she took her time with it. Then she hit pay dirt.
“Lavender.” Rachel held up the bottle like she was on a game show with Pat Sajak.
“Woot.” April gave Rachel a high five.
“Is that Gavin?” Molly asked, shielding her eyes from the sun.
Rachel turned and the excitement from lavender samples disintegrated as a weight seemed to be placed squarely on her shoulders. Yes, that was Gavin. Gavin with their two boys, the two dogs, and a couple duffel bags of stuff.
He was heading straight toward her.
Her limbs seemed to get heavier with each step he took in her direction. Still, Rachel stood. But she didn’t move forward.
“Do you want to take him some moisturizer samples?” Kaiya asked.
Rachel shook her head. “Don’t waste them on him. He doesn’t know how to moisturize.”
“That freaking guy,” Molly said, under her breath. “I don’t like him.”
“I’m reserving judgment.” Sadie had secured her lawyer mask of neutrality in place. She nodded, doing that attorney thing where she focused her entire attention on a situation. She’d make an excellent mom someday,if she decided to have kids. Her children would be just the right amount of terrified when she used that expression on them.
Rachel started toward her kids. They paused only briefly, each letting out an individual, “Hi, Mom,” before letting out awhoopand bolting toward Ollie and the other kids playing on the playground.
A drippy, oozy feeling settled inside Rachel at the expression on Gavin’s face. The boys weren’t due back until the afternoon, but that wasn’t the part that made her feel icky. He looked like he had something to tell her, and that something was not going to be enjoyable.
