When all the work is done, Dani puts Sophia in the car seat for Jenna, who’s still watching in awe. “You’re a miracle worker. Can you come to my house every day?”
“Just try that little technique. It feels weird at first, but it’ll work. In a couple of months, the crying nonstop phase will be over and you’ll be on to the next exhausting thing,” Dani says, laughing with ease.
“I know, I know.” Jenna looks back at me. “You gonna lock up, boss?”
“Yeah, I got it.”
After Jenna leaves, Dani and the boys are waiting for me by the back door. “Dani, I’ll take the boys tonight. I’ll start doing four days this week.”
Dani’s just looking blankly at me. “Okay,” she says in a low voice. I know what she’s thinking right now. She’s wondering what she’s going to do with herself and this extra free time.
“Why don’t you take advantage and get some writing in?” I say.
She frowns. “No, I don’t want to work right now.”
“Oh, hold on!” I run back into my office and dig through my desk drawer. A patient had given me a Burke Williams Spa gift card that I was going to give to Jenna, but I’ve decided Dani should have it.
I hand her the gift card. “What’s this?” she says.
“It’s a spa gift card. You can go get a massage or a facial, or whatever.”
She’s staring at it in her hand like it’s a rare gem I just dug out of some dangerous mine in the Congo. She looks up. “Thank you.” For a moment, she’s earnest, and then her mouth breaks into a teasing smile. “This is uncharacteristically thoughtful of you, Alex.”
I roll my eyes. “Dani, just say ‘thank you’ and be done with it.”
“I did,” she whines. “I’m excited. I’m gonna request a male masseuse.” She winks.
“Mom!” Ethan gripes.
“What? They have stronger hands,” she says, batting her eyelashes.
I can’t help but smile.
—
It’s been two months and I’ve been seeing Kate regularly almost every Thursday and Friday.
It’s…nice.
Her kid is starting to treat me like I’m his dad and that’s worrying me, but I let Kate know that she needs to be honest with him. Last night, she asked me what we were to each other and I didn’t know how to answer.
She was naked, standing near her vanity. Tristan was asleep in his room and I was lying on her bed, fully clothed on top of the comforter. I showed up, as I often did, after I knew Tristan would be asleep. My goal was to not confuse him. Kate was just coming out of the shower when I got there. In her room, she dropped her towel unabashedly and was looking for somethingto wear in her dresser drawers, while I just laid there watching her.
“Can I ask you something?” she said. That is my least favorite question. It’s rhetorical and has absolutely no point.
“Of course.”
She was lifting a lace-embellished nightgown over her head to put on. “What are we to each other, Alex? You come over, we eat dinner, or we go to dinner when I can get a sitter, then we have sex. You make breakfast in the morning for Tristan and me sometimes, then you leave. If we’re lucky, you spend the day with us. But we’ve never talked about what we’re doing, exactly.”
She came over and sat on the edge of the bed.
“Do we have to name it?” I ask.
“I’m in love with you, Alex.” My stomach dropped. “Did you hear me?” she presses.
“I heard you.”
“You’re not going to respond?”
