Page 33 of April

“I’m not looking for a replacement mom for her. My ex and I share custody. We’ve been divorced officially for over a year and separated for two years before that. We’ve managed to keep things amicable, but I do have primary custody. My daughter is with a sitter right now, but she’s with me all but every other weekend and some holidays.”

“I see,” Asher said.

“I don’t put it in my profile because– Well, maybe I should…” Emily seemed to be considering something. “I don’t want to lie to people, but I might be going about this the wrong way.”

“Meaning, you should put it in your profile?”

“Maybe. I don’t know. I don’t want to attract a woman who’s just looking to be a mom to my kid. I want a relationship and everything that comes with it.”

“I understand.”

“But I feel like when I reveal that I’m a parent and that I have my daughter with me pretty much all the time, that also changes things for my dates.”

“I can see that,” Asher said.

“Has it changed things for you?” Emily asked just as her wine was brought to the table.

“I’m a little surprised, yes. And I probably shouldn’t be. I suppose no one puts every single detail of their life on their profile. I didn’t put that I’d never been on a date with a woman before on mine.”

“How do you feel about things now that you know?”

“Well, I can’t say I plan on being a mom of any kind,” Asher replied.

“That wouldn’t be a need with me,” Emily assured. “Like I said, my ex and I have it pretty well in hand when it comes to our daughter. She’s at that age where she has activities now, and we work out who takes her and picks her up. We have a family calendar, and I have regular babysitters for dates. My ex does, too. When she can, she watches her for me when I have plans. It’s a system, and it works.”

“That’s great that you’ve managed to make things work,” Asher said.

“But you’re no longer interested?”

“I’m so new to all of this,” Asher said. “I wasn’t thinking about meeting a woman who had a child. I don’t know that that’s something I want right now. I’m sure I wouldn’t be meeting her unless something serious were to happen, but it’s just not something I’m interested in.”

“I see,” Emily replied and took a long drink from her wine. “I think I’m going to change my profile.”

“That might be a good idea.”

“Eleven dates, and I’ve only had one second date. That woman wanted to see pictures andonlytalk about my daughter. She hadn’t been able to have kids herself and was planning on adoption before she met me. I got a weird vibe that our possible relationship would be about my daughter.”

“That sucks,” Asher said genuinely.

“Well, we have already ordered. Do you maybe want to see about being friends over dinner instead?”

“Sure,” she replied with a smile.

CHAPTER 10

“How is it going?” Linden asked.

“Not any different than the last time you asked,” Jill replied. “Like, thirty seconds ago.”

“You have a better view.”

“We’re sitting next to each other,” Jill argued.

“Will you leave her alone?” Melinda spoke to Linden. “She’s on a date. Just eat your food. She’ll tell you how it went after.”

“So, this is new, right? Asher dating women?” Monica asked.

“Yes. It kind of came out of the blue,” Linden said.

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