Page 62 of Sycamore Circle

Their sweet girl’s eyes looked from her to Tony and then over to Bo. After that, she turned, picked up her duffle bag that Joy hadn’t noticed until that minute, and walked down the hall.

When the three of them were alone again, Tony folded his hands over his chest. Almost as if he was trying to compare himself to Bo.

It wasn’t nice to think, but Joy felt like chuckling. Tony was a decent-looking guy, but Bo was just so much more. There was a reason that he was some company’s go-to model for the outdoorsy stuff in their catalog.

“What’s going on, Joy?” he asked. “How did the two of you meet?”

Just like Bo wasn’t in the room.

Before she could answer, Bo murmured, “Does your ex interview all your boyfriends, sweetheart?”

Taken aback, she met his gaze. His expression was blank, but his light-blue eyes were bright with amusement. Oh, he knew exactly what he was doing.

“I’m not going to answer either of those questions right now.” It was a cop-out, but she called for Chloe. “Get a move on, Chloe! You’re going to be late.”

Chloe reappeared with her notebook. “I’ve got it!”

“Grab your pack and come on. It’s time to go.”

“Okay.” She looked at Joy. “Should I ride the bus home?”

“No, I’ll pick you up today.” She bent down and kissed her brow. “Have a good day. Love you.”

“Love you too.” Looking up at Bo, she smiled shyly. “Bye.”

“Bye. Nice to meet you, Chloe.” Bo said.

Her smile brightened. “You too.”

“Let’s go,” Tony said. He headed to the door without another word.

After they walked out and Tony’s car pulled out, Joy exhaled. “So that was my daughter and my ex-husband.”

“And I’m guessing that this was the first time you’ve ever had a guy spend the night?”

There were so many things his question made her think about, she felt her cheeks heat. “You guessed right.”

“Tell me if this is none of my business, but why is that? It’s been four years.”

“There are a lot of things I could say to explain but the simple truth is that I haven’t dated anyone.”

“No one since... ah, he left you? Really?”

She kind of loved how incredulous he sounded, even though it didn’t make her feel too proud of herself. “It’s a long story, but no. If you ever wonder why I sometimes act so awkward, it’s because I’m out of practice.”

He flashed a smile. “You’re not out of anything.”

She laughed. “If only that was true. But anyway, I’m sorry about this. I can’t believe Tony acted like such a jerk.”

“Sure you can.”

“It was obvious we hadn’t done anything. I mean other than sleeping. We have our clothes on.”

He laughed. “Come on. First of all, lots of things can happen before sleeping on the couch. Secondly, if he knows you haven’t been out there dating, he’s probably thinking that you’re still his.”

That idea was repulsive. “I sure hope not.”

He shrugged. “Then there’s the part where I didn’t make it too easy.”

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