Page 60 of Crashing into Love

Drew practically jumped up from the sofa.

“Let’s go. Are you okay to walk? It’s not too cold. We can drive, though. It’s a few blocks.”

“Walking sounds good to me,” she replied.

About a minute later, they were on the sidewalk, heading toward the first meal they’d share together without her daughter being nearby. While it didn’t have many of the date markers because neither of them had picked the other one up, they hadn’t talked about it being a date, and they were walking down a recently shoveled and salted sidewalk with their hands tucked into their respective pockets instead of looking for chances to touch, strangely, it still felt a little like two nervous people going on their first date together, which it wasn’t, and it couldn’t be.

Selma lived in Vancouver and had a daughter. Drew lived here, likely didn’t want any kids of her own, and seemed more focused on snowboarding than anything else. Besides, Selma had seen Drew with Andy Weinman before, and if that was Drew’s type, Selma was nowhere near in her league. Andy was beautiful in all the typical ways a woman was often defined as beautiful, and Selma was just… Selma. She’d had a kid way too young, and while she was a professional athlete who had been able to get her body back, as they say, she still felt like she showed the obvious signs of a woman who had had a child. She wore those things as badges of honor most of the time, but when it came to dating, she’d always struggled with her baggage.

“So, you and Ruth have always been close?” Drew asked after a few minutes of silence between them.

“Since I was born, yeah. She really is the best grandma in the world. When I found out I was pregnant, I was terrified of telling my parents. I told her first. And I knew she wasn’t exactly proud that it had happened, but she told me she was proud that I’d made my decision.”

“To have Gia?”

“Yes, but she’d said it differently. It wasn’t that she was proud that I’d decided to have her – she would’ve supported me no matter the decision I made. It was that I’d made the decision on my own and had been prepared to deal with the consequences, even though Gia’s dad had made his opinion clear.”

“I always knew I liked that Ruth. She’s a good egg.”

Selma laughed softly.

“She is, yes. I’m so lucky to have her because I don’t know where Gia and I would’ve been without her.”

“I’m pretty sure you and Gia would’ve been fine,” Drew said. “You’re a good egg, too, Selma.”

Selma looked over at her and noticed that Drew’s beanie, which the woman had put on before they left, was riding up over her ears. Without thinking, she reached for it and pulled it down over Drew’s right ear. Drew pulled down on the other side.

“Thanks,” she said.

“Yeah,” Selma replied and looked straight ahead.

CHAPTER 19

“Okay. If you need anything, I’m just on the couch, so yell or something. Oh, and remember the thing about the bathroom. If I walk in, I’m not trying to rob the place. I just need to pee.”

“That’s the second time you’re bringing that up. Did someone think you were a robber before or something?”

“Not here, no, but… Well, when Andy and I lived together, it was a similar bathroom situation, and we were fighting, so I was on the couch one night and had to pee. She forgot, I guess, or was just too asleep to remember, so she kind of threw her phone at my head. I’m trying to avoid another bruise.”

Selma laughed and said, “She didn’t…”

“No, she did. And it wasn’t funny; trust me. I had a cut above my eye, which didn’t need stitches or anything, but head wounds gush blood. Then, the bruise formed, and I had this massive lump. She’s a pro athlete, so she’s strong. It was a hard throw.”

“Jesus, Drew!”

“She didn’t mean to,” Drew explained. “She felt awful after and helped me bandage it up and stuff, but, yeah… Just try not to throw anything at me if I come in.”

“I wouldn’t throw my phone at you anyway. I’d need that to call 911 if someone really was breaking in.”

“Yes!” Drew exclaimed. “That was exactly what I told her when we’d gotten the bleeding under control.”

Selma shook her head and said, “You still have it.”

“What?”

“There’s a little scar at your eyebrow,” Selma noted and reached a finger out to touch it.

“Yeah, it’s gotten smaller, but it’ll probably always be there. That scar has outlasted my relationship,” she said, trying to laugh it off. “Anyway, do you need anything else?”

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