Page 49 of Second Chance for the Single Mom

“Vancouver is a big city. There must be dozens of grocery stores, and you two don’t live anywhere near each other. The odds of you randomly running into each other are minuscule.”

“Just because an event is unlikely doesn’t mean it’s a sign from the love gods. I don’t believe in any of that, Shay. I know you do, and you love horoscopes and all that other nonsense, but I don’t. It wasn’t fate.”

“I’m happy you asked her out,” I said to deflect away from the supernatural subject. “You can tell me all about it when we watch Dune tonight.”

“So you’re in?”

“Assuming the DA doesn’t drop off another truckload of discovery at my office this afternoon.” Julie appeared in my office, tapping her wristwatch. “Hey, I’ve got to run. I’ll see you tonight. Have fun with Haley.”

Julie and I drove to the Clark County courthouse, even though it was almost close enough to walk. I cut an impressive figure in my suit, but sweating through my shirt wouldn’t win me over with a judge.

While circling the parking garage, I thought about Haley. I was certain Lucas had moved back to try and rekindle things with her. I understood why: she was a hell of a woman. I’d never met her before the foursome, but she still lingered on my mind. I’d had a few dreams about that night.

Gripping her by the waist.

Driving into her from behind.

Pushing her head down on Jordan’s hard length.

I shook off the thoughts. Lucas was the one who wanted a relationship with her, even though he wouldn’t admit it. There were a million other women in Vancouver and Portland that I could pursue. I didn’t need to keep thinking about Haley.

With an amount of willpower I had curated in law school, I wrapped all of those thoughts into a trashbag, tied off the top, and put it in the corner of my mind. It was time to focus on today’s hearing at the courthouse. We’d taken a pro-bono case involving a deaf woman who was pulled over for a traffic violation, then arrested when she couldn’t understand what the officer was asking her. It was a straightforward case, a rare easy win.

Julie led the way into the proper courtroom. There were several other cases on the docket, most of them relatively minor since this was traffic court.

I stopped in my tracks.

The blonde woman sitting two rows in front of us was Haley. Even though I could only see half her face, it was unmistakable. I’d never forget those eyes and lips as long as I lived.

Unlike Lucas, I did believe in fate.

And ifthiswasn’t a sign, then nothing was.

26

Haley

I tapped my foot while waiting for the judge to arrive. I’d never actually been in a courtroom before. Even though it was a parking ticket, I was kind of nervous.

While I waited, my mind drifted to the other night.

Jordan was completely different than I expected.

I couldn’t wrap my head around how much he’d changed. The Jordan I remembered from high school blew spitballs and made fart noises. He didn’t take anything seriously, whether it was calculus or gym. He spent the vast majority of his energy trying to make people laugh.

But he was never cruel back then. He broke into the school’s P.A. system to play Lady Gaga on the first day of pride month. When the captain of the football team made fun of another student for being in a wheelchair, Jordanliterallyblew up his locker with firecrackers. The entire football team cornered him in the parking lot after school, which had prompted Jordan to drop his backpack and loudly announce, “In my defense, I didn’t know it was your mom I was fucking. The bathroom stall wasdark.”

Now that I thought about it, I guess it kind of made sense that Jordan would be great with kids. I was more surprised that he’d cleaned up his act enough to become a doctor.

Shit. I really liked him. I couldn’t wait to see him at baseball practice this afternoon.

It was difficult to separate my feelings. Did I really like Jordan, or did I like the way he stepped into a fatherly role with Bran? The latter certainly factored into it, but I wasn’t sure to what degree.

But did it matter? He was great. And, somehow, he was single.

There was just one problem: when I thought about Jordan, I thought about Lucas. There was a complex tangle of feelings there, a knot that I wasn’t sure I could untie even if I wanted to.

Ugh. What a mess. Maybe the foursome was a bad idea after all.

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