Page 48 of My Song for You
“Any big plans for tonight?” Beckie asked, even though she already knew the answer. In the years she’d known me, I never had big plans for the night. The only exception was when I’d celebrated mine or Logan’s birthday with pizza and cake.
“Logan’s taking Jared to visit Nolan Kincaid and his girlfriend’s puppy. So I’m watching a movie till they get back.” And eating a container of ice cream.
Ice cream was supposed to be great if you were dealing with a broken heart because a boyfriend dumped you or had been caught cheating on you. What about when the guy you loved discovered your son was really his, and decided that you no longer fit in his son’s life the way you used to? Would ice cream fix that kind of broken heart too?
As luck would have it, I’d bought a container of triple fudge chocolate supreme the other day. I was all set for a fun-filled night.
“You really need to get out more,” Beckie said. When I opened my mouth to argue, she rushed out with, “I mean date. You need to find a great guy who makes you happy.”
“I’m happy.” This would’ve sounded more convincing if I hadn’t grumbled it. “I am, really.”
She shook her head. “No, what you are is overworked. You work here full-time, you take classes online, you work as a graphic designer on the side, you’re taking a sign language class, and you have a son. You need more fun in your life.”
“Logan and I do lots of fun things together.” Just not as much as we would have liked. Even the trip to Disneyland, which I’d idiotically blurted out that he and I would do last weekend, had been postponed indefinitely. But now that Jared planned to take Logan from me, “indefinitely” had become “permanently.”
From the way Beckie sadly shook her head, I had a feeling that either she disagreed with me or my interpretation of her words wasn’t quite what she’d meant—or a combination of the two.
Before she had a chance to list all the fun things missing from my life, I grabbed my backpack and hightailed it from the staff room.
The door of the diner hadn’t even shut behind me when an enthusiastic Logan came racing at me from nowhere and hugged me. “Hey, what are you doing here? Weren’t you guys going to see the puppy?”
“We are,” Logan said. “You said you come with us.”
He was right, Ihadsaid that, but after everything that had happened between me and Jared last night, I figured I was uninvited.
Or maybe I had just hoped I was, because the idea of spending the afternoon with Jared sounded like the worst possible idea in the arena of bad ideas.
My mouth twitched with the urge to tell him I couldn’t, but then I realized I needed to make the most of the few precious moments I had left with Logan. Soon I’d be nothing more than Auntie Callie, and I didn’t know if that meant I’d still have visitation rights.
I probably should hire a lawyer to find out.
I let Logan lead me to Jared’s car. The booster seat was a different model than the one in my car. He must have bought one. I looked at Jared, eyes wide.
Understanding where my thoughts were, Jared answered, voice low so that Logan would be less likely to overhear him, “I haven’t told him yet.”
I nodded. It was up to Jared as to when he wanted to break the news to Logan. He was on his own for that. I’d be there for Logan, of course, but that was about it.
The car ride over to Nolan and his girlfriend’s home was quiet, if you could call an excited four-year-old who was about to play with a puppy quiet. The journey couldn’t end soon enough for him.
At the lead singer’s house, a modest two-story home in a decent neighborhood, we parked on the street and climbed out. Jared let Logan ring the doorbell, and a small barking noise greeted us.
Logan pointed at the door, a huge grin on his face. “Puppy!”
The smile on my face at seeing him this happy was as wide as his.
The door opened a moment later to reveal the hottest guy I’d ever seen. Well, second-hottest after Jared, but considering how mad I was at him, he didn’t count.
“You have to excuse Rocky,” Nolan said. “We’re still training him.” He crouched to Logan’s height and held up his hand for Logan to high-five. “You ready to meet him?”
It was a good thing Logan’s head was securely attached to his neck, otherwise it might’ve fallen off from how fast he was nodding.
Nolan opened the door wider to reveal a beautiful woman with long dark hair in jeans and a purple Pushing Limits T-shirt. She was kneeling and trying to restrain an excited fluffball from charging at us. One hand was gripping his collar, the other held against his chest.
My heart melted at the sight of the puppy. It hadn’t stood a chance, if truth be told.
“Hi, Logan.” The woman smiled in a way that told me the two were already acquainted. “You want to pet Rocky?”
I knelt next to Logan and held out my hand, showing him how to approach a dog. The little furball sniffed and licked my knuckles. Logan giggled.
