Page 94 of Legal

“No, you’re right. It’s not. Tell me what else you and Mike have in common then.” I opened my mouth. “And you can’t say Daniel or age.” I shut it again.

“Oh, okay, I know,” I said. “We both have successful careers, and we can both understand what it’s like to work long hard hours.”

“Yeah, no. I’m vetoing that one. Unless you have a business together, working all the time is something you’d spend doing apart. Not exactly intimate. What else you got?”

She tapped her fingers on the table. This was stupid. “All right then, why don’t you tell me what Chase and I have in common besides attraction?”

“Music.”

“Everyone likes music. Mike likes music.”

She sighed loudly. “I’m not talking about just listening to it, but living it. I’m talking about feeling it. You know exactly what I mean. You and Chase have it coursing through your blood. In fact, I can guarantee that if you were with Chase back in college, you would have never dropped out and—”

I held up my hand. “I do not want to go there, Perry.”

“Okay, then what about having similar values? Knowing what it’s like to grow up too fast? Actually talking and listening to each other like it means something? Hmm… Eating food that would burn a hole through a normal human?”

“That’s like saying Mike and I are destined to be together because we both drink coffee. Spicy food is a superficial trait to have in common.”

“Maybe so, but it all adds up.”

“You’re forgetting the one thing we don’t have in common, Perry. The thing that trumps everything else we do have. Our age difference. It’s too great, and he’s too young.”

“No, Jills. You’re forgetting the one thing that can override your age difference.”

“And what’s that?” Fucking all night, barely coming up for air? Losing ourselves in each other’s bodies for days on end? Having so many orgasms it felt like I was going blind?

“Love.”

“Did you give any more thought to what we discussed?”

I was at the sink scrubbing dishes when Mike came up behind me. He’d only asked me that a dozen times since our initial conversation, and every time I told him the same thing. “Yes, but I’m still undecided,” I said, shifting aside.

It all felt so clinical, like we were negotiating a business contract. In a way, I guess that wasn’t too far off. I was trying to figure out the best course of action while leaving my emotions out of it. On the one hand, I’d be closing myself off to any future relationships, but that was furthest from my mind. On the other, I’d be reuniting our family and settling into a simple life free from drama.

I’d asked him about Candace, but all he’d say was that he was more convinced than ever that she wasn’t the one he wanted to be with—I was. And even if nothing worked out between us, he wasn’t going back to her. I felt like that should somehow mean something to me, but it just didn’t.

“Hey, we should plan something special for Christmas this year.”

“That’s three months away, Mike.”And that’s assuming we’d be together.

“Yeah, but our son will be home. That’s reason to celebrate, right? I know he’s all grown up now, but maybe we could go downtown and check out the square for old times’ sake.”

I smiled. “Okay.”

It didn’t matter how far off I wandered; he could always bring me back with Daniel.

Ineed to do this more often.It was nice to spend some alone time with just my mom. Frank was out golfing for the day, and I had a client meeting in the area. It’d all just fell together.

We were sitting at the kitchen table, chitchatting and drinking coffee, when she brought up Mike. At recent family meals, I’d nonchalantly mentioned that he was staying there for a while, and besides Perry, no one had made an issue of it.

“How long is he staying, dear?”

“I’m not sure… We’re talking some things over.” I fiddled with my cup, wondering how much to get into. My mom wasn’t one to make her opinions boldly known, but I know she didn’t feel that Mike and I were well-suited for each other as marriage partners.

“And what about that nice boy who accompanied you to the engagement party?”

“What about him, Mom?”

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