Page 33 of Luck of the Draw

“Yeah,” I sighed, covering my eyes with my hand. “I do now. But it’s too late to do anything about it. He stopped by my house sometime last night.”

“Wait!” she shouted. “Why didn’t you lead with that?”

“Because he didn’t knock on the door, Sam. He just dropped off my shoes. I mean Melinda’s shoes.”

“Could he have done it while you were gone?”

“No. I was home all night.”

“Oh.”

We sat in silence for several seconds before she said, “That’s okay. He was a rebound guy. You never want to hook up permanently with the rebound guy.”

But he hadn’t felt like a rebound guy. He felt like a forever kind of guy, which was ridiculous. He hardly knew anything about me. He didn’t even know I had kids, for heaven’s sake, and most guys his age didn’t want to be saddled with kids.

“Yeah,” I found myself saying. “You’re probably right. I’ll bring Melinda’s shoes when I come over tonight. Now what else can I bring?”

“Bring a bottle of wine. And maybe a dessert.”

“Done,” I said with forced cheerfulness. “We’ll see you at six thirty. And Sam?”

“Yeah?”

“Thanks for everything.”

“That’s what best friends are for.”

I’d taken the day off, not wanting to explain why I was disappearing for hours in nicer than usual clothes, so I headed home and changed into shorts and a short-sleeved T-shirt, then sent an email to my boss saying Friday would be my last day, to which he immediately responded that I shouldn’t bother coming back. He said that I could pick up my personal belongings at the front desk the next day, but it struck me that I hadn’t brought a single thing to make that place mine—not even a picture of my boys—which meant I never had to go back again. The relief that swept through me lifted a fifty-pound weight from my back…until I realized I’d need new work clothes. A trip to the local thrift store was in my immediate future.

Liam came home from school, and Oliver arrived shortly thereafter. I shared my good news with them, and they both seemed excited I’d be home before dinner with my new job. Ollie started on his homework since we were going over to Sam’s, but Liam stayed with me and asked quietly, “Will you be happier, Mom?”

“Yeah,” I said softly. “I think I will.”

“Good.” He glanced down and shuffled his feet before looking up. “You deserve to be happy.”

I pulled him into a tight hug, realizing the top of his head was higher than my chin now. “I love you, Liam. Thanks for that.”

“Love you too, Mom.” Then he pulled away and headed to his room.

I made a cake to take to Sam’s, but it was dry and crumbled to pieces when I tried to frost it. I was never going to be a baker, but I decided that was okay. I’d just have to get my cakes from the bakery section of the grocery store.

The boys finished their homework, and we headed to the store to pick up the cake and a bottle of wine. I grabbed the wine first, a moscato since I was sure Sam would want to drink it with her cake. Then we headed to the bakery section.

“Pick out a cake, boys,” I said, then added, “You know what? Get two. One to take to Sam’s and the other for us.”

“Really?” Ollie asked, sounding surprised and excited.

I smiled. It took so little to make him happy. “Really.”

Liam cocked his head. “Anything we want?”

I studied him, trying to decide if there was some loophole that I’d regret missing, but we’d had few celebrations lately, and I decided it was all fair game. “The only rule is you both have to agree.”

“Done!” they both exclaimed, then raced off to the bakery case.

“No running!” I called after them with a laugh, but my mom tone wasn’t a force to be reckoned with tonight, because it felt like things were looking up for us for the first time in a long time, even before Randy left last fall.

Thoughts of Dylan popped into my head again, although, to be fair, I’d been thinking about him nonstop since I left his house yesterday. My heart was heavy with regret—not because I’d gone home with him, but because I’d left him in such a shitty way after everything we’d shared. I was new to all of this, but I was pretty sure I wasn’t supposed to feel like that after a one-night stand.

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