Page 40 of Forgotten Romance

“Uh-huh.” Her harsh black bob looks like a wig when she turns to me, and it sways as one. “Interesting that you’re sighing so heavily after being visited today by a certain someone.”

“Leave it alone,” I say, warning in my tone.

She chews on her lip like she’s debating whether to say anything, then throws her hands up in surrender. “Fine. How are the kids?”

My smile is automatic. “Amazing. They’re loving having Daddy home. We put up the tree yesterday, and it was …” I don’t have the words for how it felt to step foot into the living room, where Davey, Kiera, and Van were waiting, bright red Christmas shirts standing out against all the white. My heart flipped out all over the place, and it was a real effort not to cry.

But trying to explain to Tonya what he did and what it means to me won’t work. Because there are too many details, and I’m worried I won’t be able to hold back that we slept together. That nugget of information is all but bursting from me.

I might need to visit my friends and let it all out because otherwise I’m likely to blurt it to the damn knitting club, and then it’ll be all over town by the time I clock out.

She hums, then carefully asks, “And how is the ex-husband settling back in? Sick of him yet?”

I scowl. “Never. The house doesn’t feel right unless he’s home.”

“So … the winter festival is coming up in a few weeks …”

“Yeah, do you need help, or?”

“No, it’s all organized. I was just going to point out that it’s a magical night, and if you wanted to take a certain someone, I’d be happy to take Kiera and Van around for a few hours.”

“Really?” My heart jumps at the thought of spending that time with Davey. It fits perfectly with my plan of reminding him how perfect home is.

I ignore the little voice telling me to let it go and beam at Tonya instead. “You’re an angel, you know that? I’ll let Davey know.”

She cocks her head. “Davey?”

“Yeah …” My excitement dims. “That we’ll have a few hours to ourselves …”

“Oh.” She tucks her hair behind her ears. “Only, I was sort of thinking it might be a nice date location.”

“Exactly.”

Her eyes almost jump from her head. “For you to go on. Romantically.”

“Right.”

Tonya face-palms. “Sure, yes, with Davey, sounds good.”

I finally catch on to what she was implying. “Wait. With Luke?”

“Well, him or some other guy. It doesn’t matter much to me. You’re a catch, dude. You should be capitalizing on that.”

My whole face goes hot. “No, I … I’m not ready.”

“Will you ever be?” she asks kindly.

“I told you, I want Davey back. No one else.”

She crosses to sit next to me. “And I’m supportive. I really am. I’m here for whatever will make you happy, but, like, I’m just saying … maybe it wouldn’t be the worst thing to have a backup plan?”

“Why would I need one?”

“What’s your ideal outcome?”

“That he quits work and is home full-time. Then we can be together again.”

She’s chewing on her lip again.

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