Page 42 of One-Star Romance

“I’ll say the bad word,” Gabby cut in. “Those fuckers are such an old boys’ club. You know what they said to him when the baby was coming?”

“What?” Zuri asked.

“They were like, ‘Congratulations, we can be flexible and give you as much time as you need with your family.’ And then how much time off do you think they offered him?” Rob opened his mouth to make a guess, but Gabby just kept going. “A week and a half.”

“A week and a half,” Angus echoed. “It was not good.”

“His bosses think that’s generous because they all have stay-at-home wives plus multiple nannies, and can barely remember their own children’s names.”

“Shh, some of them are here.” At that, Angus turned around and waved at a cluster of men, all of them smooth, besuited, and bored-looking. As the men nodded back, Angus puffed his chest out in a way that seemed unnatural on him.

Gabby pursed her lips, steam practically coming out her ears. But then she noticed someone walking up behind Rob, and her scowl melted away, replaced by a relieved joy. Her shoulders loosened, her eyes brightened. Natalie, Rob thought, before he even turned around. That was the kind of look reserved for Natalie.

Sure enough, there she was, waving and smiling at Gabby. She wore a simple dark green dress made out of some sort of sweater-like material. Formfitting. She looked more put-together, somehow less wild, than the young woman she’d been the last time they’d been together, nail polish slightly chipped and dresses wrinkled, all impulse and need, untamed.

A broad-shouldered blond man followed a step behind her. All-American and hearty, a Boy Scout all grown up. Something about him communicated that he was capable and could easily build a fire in the woods. This must be the Jeff Angus had talked about. Not the kind of man Rob would have pictured Natalie with.

What kind of man did he picture her with? This question was difficult to answer. Her dress really was about as formfitting as it could be without veering into inappropriate, an impressive balance to strike.

Natalie’s smile faltered just a moment when she saw Rob, and Zuri standing next to him. She and Rob caught each other’s gazes. Color flooded into her cheeks. His own face felt hot. And then the two of them exchanged a silent agreement: Enough. They were adults in serious relationships with other people. They didn’t have to be the best of friends, but they could grit their teeth and be perfectly pleasant.

“Hello, so nice to see everyone!” Natalie said to them all, and after the necessary introductions, she held out her arms for Christina. “It’s the love of my life! Come here.” As Natalie took Christina into her arms, bouncing and twirling her around, an image of her as she’d been in that lake house bed with him flashed into Rob’s mind, causing an uncomfortable prickle down his spine. He swallowed and squared his shoulders, then felt someone’s eyes on him. Gabby was giving him a look, different from the distant fondness with which she usually regarded him. Like she knew something. Like if he stepped out of line, she might defenestrate him. Rob made his expression blank, and moved a few inches farther away from the nearest window.

Angus put a hand on Gabby’s arm. “I think it’s almost time.”

“Right, we should go prepare. And, shoot, we have to track down Melinda. Christina needs a godmother.” Gabby took Christina back from Natalie. “Not too late for you to convert to Catholicism and take it on instead.” Natalie grimaced. “Sorry, was that inappropriate?”

“Yes.”

“I’m kidding. Mostly.”

As Gabby and Angus headed off, the awkward foursome turned back to one another. Natalie took a breath, ready to make an excuse and move on, but Jeff leapt in.

“Rob and Zuri! Tell me all about yourselves. Where do you live? What do you do? How did you meet?”

His eyes were bright, full of energy. Not a Boy Scout but a Scout leader, ready to take them through a round of icebreakers.

Zuri gave him the summary—Arizona, academia in linguistics for Rob and postcolonial art for her, they’d sat next to each other at a lecture on the role of the humanities in higher education.

“And did you know right away, when you met each other?” Jeff went on. “Or was it more of a slow burn?”

What kind of a question was that to ask strangers?

“Hm,” Zuri said carefully. “Somewhere in between. I was interested in him when we met, but you want to get to know someone and make sure you’re compatible, of course. And how about you two? What do you—”

“Oh, love at first sight for me,” Jeff said.

“Sorry, no, I was going to ask what you two do?”

Natalie turned to Jeff and lifted her eyebrows, indicating that he should go first. He enthusiastically took the hint. “I work with the New York City Parks Department, helping with their education programming. So there’s a lot of coordinating with the public schools around the city, bringing the kids in to explore the parks and learn about nature.”

“It’s extremely cute,” Natalie said.

“That sounds fascinating,” Zuri said, and Rob nodded in agreement.

“It is!” Jeff answered. Then he proceeded to talk about it until Rob didn’t find it fascinating any longer. Natalie nodded thoughtfully as Jeff went on, adding the occasional supportive comment. Smiling at his jokes, even though she must have heard this job spiel many, many times. Avoiding Rob’s eyes or (and he didn’t know why this alternative bothered him) not concerned with his reaction to Jeff at all.

How serious was this relationship? Not that it mattered to Rob if Jeff and Natalie were about to elope or about to break up. He just liked to have all the information.

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