Page 21 of Why Not Us?

“This is going to be great,” she says as she steps back, grinning. “I have to get back to work. I’ll see you next Thursday.”

She backs away toward the door, bumping into the frame, then turns to head out.

I move forward, catching her hand before she can leave.

“Hey.” She stops, looking first at where I’m touching her, then up to my face. I so badly want to kiss her, but she said we can’t do that anymore, and she made a good point as to why. “Happy birthday, Adalie. I wish I’d known. I would have told Taylor to stop for a cake when he got the pizza.”

The smile she gives me now makes me feel ten feet tall, like just the idea of me doing something nice has made her happier. What would happen if I actuallydidsomething nice for her?

“Thank you, Nate. And don’t worry about the cake. Lis will make one for me on Monday.”

“What about your parents?”

She shrugs. “Possibly.”

I hate that for her. She should be confident that her family is going to be there for her, celebrate her the way she should be. How are her friends better than her family?

“I’ll see you later, Adalie. Have fun tonight.”

She looks down at where I’m still holding her hand, taking it back slowly, as though she doesn’t want to let go any more than I do.

Chapter 8

Nate

I’d put off talking to Katie about the art lessons partly because we generally see each other on Mondays after school when Dani switches houses. But also because I haven’t been sure of what to say. How do I explain the situation?

I’d had a practice run earlier today when I’d asked Taylor if he had Adalie’s phone number. I’d been so distracted by my desire to kiss her again, I hadn’t even thought about exchanging numbers if we’re going to be doing things together. Taylor had demanded to know why I needed it. After I’d explained—poorly—he’d told me he didn’t have it, so I have to call Derek to ask him instead.

But first, I need to talk to Katie.

After I’m done with work, I drop Taylor off at home and swing by the babysitter’s house to pick up Dani. When we get to Katie’s house, I tell her to go in and grab what she needs and that I need to talk to her mom, so Dani rushes in—because she rushes everywhere—and I find Katie in the living room, curled up on the couch with a blanket and the TV on. She has dark hair and pale skin, just like Dani. She’s a tall woman and has always been very confident about what she wants. And what she doesn’t.

“Hey,” I say. “Is David home?”

David is Katie’s husband, but she shakes her head. “It’s tax season, Nate. He’ll be working late for the next few weeks.”

“Right. Can we talk for a minute?” I ask, sitting down.

“Sure.” She pauses her show and turns to me. “What’s up?”

“I wanted to run something by you. I know someone who’s offered Dani art lessons. It’ll only be on my weeks, so it won’t interrupt anything with you. Thursdays, probably for about an hour or so.”

“Dani would love that. Did you need me to help pay for it?” She picks up a steaming mug, probably decaf coffee, and takes a sip.

“No, actually,” I say, glancing down at my hands where I’ve folded them between my knees. “She’s offered to do the lessons for free.”

I don’t really need to explain all this to Katie, but we’d promised each other when Dani was born that we wouldn’t keep secrets from each other. If it affects Dani in any way, we would be open and trust each other.

“I see,” she says slowly. “So a woman has offered free lessons to our daughter.”

I look up at her again. “It’s not weird,” I say, even though it is. “She needs my help with something. We’re kind of doing a barter thing.”

“All right. How do you know her?”

What she’s really asking is: am I seeing this woman? Another agreement we’d had was not to introduce Dani to significant others unless it’s serious. The only person Katie ever introduced her to was David. I’ve never introduced Dani to anyone.

“You remember the paint night I took Dani to a week and a half ago? At Blue Vista. Adalie was the host there.”

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