Well, that was out there. Piper listened way too closely to our conversations. In her defense, I hadn’t told her not to share that part.
Rob looked at me, his eyes widening. “You’re selling Beautiful Blooms? That’s been your thing for so long. It’s what you replaced me with.”
That wasn’t even a little bit true, but whatever. “A good offer came along.”
“What are you going to do instead?” he asked.
Piper’s lips tightened, and she glanced at me nervously. Isaac and Carmen exchanged looks.
Rob’s gaze moved from face to face. “What? Am I getting competition? You’re going into stand-up or something?” He put his hand on his hip and tilted his head. “My ex-husband lets his dog sleep in his bed and drink out of the toilet.” His imitation of my voice made me sound like a high-pitched southern belle. “How do I know that?” He clutched his chest, visibly upset with his invisible audience. “No, I do not have webcams set up at his house. I am a lady.”
Piper began to giggle, and we joined in. Honestly, it was one of Rob’s better jokes.
“Do you have a dog, Dad?” Piper asked.
“No. I don’t even have a fish. Too much work.”
“You won’t find me on the stand-up circuit,” I assured him. “I’m taking some time to reflect.”
“Ah, taking some time to reflect. I should tell my unemployed friends to use that line. I’m not even joking. That’s gold.” He pulled out his phone and wrote it down.
The buzzer in Carmen’s hand lit up. Thank goodness, they were ready for us.
We followed the hostess to our table. Rob sat next to me, resting his arm around the back of my chair. Piper was on his other side, with Isaac and Carmen across from us. One of these times I’d find a way to put Piper between us, but it was a minor irritation, something that was all about me, and not about Piper, which meant I had to let it go, no matter how much it bothered me to have his hand linger on my shoulder.
Rob kept his head tilted towards Piper, listening to every thought that came into her head. She kept him busy just about every second that wasn’t taken up with ordering drinks and food. I snapped a few pictures and nibbled on chips.
Isaac always watched me carefully on nights like this. I knew he had opinions, especially about Rob and the cavalier way he showed up just to leave again. And yet the only passive-aggressive thing Isaac ever did was steal fries from Rob’s plate like a professional pickpocket.
I had sort of zoned out, reading the captions for the sports highlights when I heard Piper say Dean’s name.
“Who is this?” Rob asked her. “Are you talking about Uncle Isaac’s best friend?”
I exchanged looks with Isaac just as Piper said. “He’s my friend and Mom’s friend, too. He came over, and we had a pajama party and played Chutes and Ladders. I won.”
“A pajama party with Dean Kinney?” Rob’s head swiveled around to me with a look full of insinuation. “Well, that’s interesting.”
Isaac and Carmen both started to speak in my defense at the same time, and something inside me sort of snapped.
I pushed my chair back, letting it scrape across the floor. “Rob, let’s go talk outside.”
He started to protest, but I cut him off. “We’ll be right back. Let’s go. Right now.” I put on what I hoped was a casual expression for the other three. “Why don’t you guys order dessert?”
Carmen grabbed the dessert menu from the end of the table. “We sure will. What do you think, Pipes? I’m feeling like chocolate.”
Piper looked up at me with uncertainty, and I smiled at her, trying to convey that she hadn’t done anything wrong, and I was okay. When Carmen reached out and took her hand, she finally turned and looked at the dessert menu with her.
Rob followed me out, saying nothing except for a disappointed huff that took me back to old times. Usually, the outside bench was occupied with people waiting for a table, but on a Thursday night it was free. I sat down and waited for him to do the same.
I rubbed my hands together, trying to channel all my jumbled feelings into exactly what I needed to say. I never called Rob out anymore. On anything. These nights out to dinner felt like a time warp. No, more like time-lapse photography. The only thing changing was Piper getting older and adding Carmen after she started dating Isaac.
Rob sighed. “Okay, tell me about what’s going on with you and Dean.”
No, that was not how this was going to go. I stared at him until he dropped his gaze. “Piper doesn’t speak innuendo, Rob.Not that you’d know our routine, but she and I are pretty much always in our pajamas after about seven-thirty at night. In her mind, a pajama party is just people in their pajamas having fun. Dean has never slept over, not that it’s any of your business. And even if he did, it would still be none of your business. But he won’t be sleeping over. Ever. But even if he was—”
“It would still be none of my business?” Rob supplied sarcastically.
“I’m sorry I started talking in circles.” I rubbed my forehead.
