Page 40 of The Manny

She nodded. “Of course.”

Whatever preconceived ideas I might have had about Barb before meeting her, she’d gone up about a thousand points in my book just then. I wouldn’t soon forget her kindness toward Mia.

After Mia’s little meltdown, she seemed in much better spirits. She giggled and helped Percy tear the wrapping paper off his gifts. I’d always liked Percy, but now I appreciated the little boy even more. I was astounded at how sweet and caring he was to Mia, considering he was so young himself.

Aiden was busy serving the cake and ice cream, and corralling his son, when Barb wandered over to stand beside me. I smiled at her and she smiled back, but there was something inscrutable deep in her pretty blue eyes.

“Are you enjoying the party?” she asked.

“Absolutely. I’m looking forward to cake.” I grinned.

She gave a husky laugh. “Me too. I never get to eat sweets.”

“No?”

She sighed. “I’m a model. Cake is fattening. But today I’m going to splurge.”

“I see.” It made sense she was a model. She was gorgeous.

“Can’t live on water alone.”

“No. I wouldn’t think so.” An awkward silence fell. We were being very polite with each other, but something felt off. “Do you live in Glenwood?” I asked.

“I do now. I was living in New York, but I just moved back. I missed my California ocean.”

Not your son?

As if she’d read my mind, she said, “Most importantly, I wanted to be closer to Percy.”

“Of course.”

She faced me, her jaw set with determination. “And Aiden too. He’s still a very important person to me.”

There it is.

“I would think so.” My face felt stiff as I smiled.

“We have a lot of history together. I’ve known him such a long time.” Her laugh was brittle. “We practically grew up together.”

I nodded. “Yes. You know him far better than me.”

She seemed to approve of my response because some tension left her face. She sighed and went back to watching Aiden and Percy. There were a few more awkward minutes of silence and then she asked softly, “So, are you sleeping with Aiden?”

I grunted in shock at her blunt question. “Uh… no.”

She narrowed her eyes. “But you’d like to?”

My face warmed at her accusing tone because I did find him attractive. I had no actual plans to sleep with him, but the thought had crossed my mind. “We don’t know each other that well yet.”

“I’m not sure that answered my question,” she murmured.

I grimaced. “Look, I really appreciate how sweet you were earlier with Mia, but I’m not sure I’m comfortable with this conversation.”

“Why not? We’re both adults.”

“True. Still, I think you should ask Aiden these things, not me.”

She pressed her lips tight. “He won’t tell me the truth. He won’t want to upset me.”

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