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Why do I feel like I should be taking offense to that?
Meg:Me dating Tyler is only a tricky situation if my boss finds out.
Tessa:Okay!
I throw my phone on my bed. I don’t know what Tessa’s trying to prove. This is fine. Everything will be fine.
CHAPTER27
TYLER
“Ithink I’m going to tell Anna Mae I love her,” Paul says. I was happy to see him here next to Marilyn’s grave when I pulled up to the cemetery this afternoon.
“Wow. Telling her you love her. That’s big.” I open my baseball glove, catching the ball Krew throws at me. “Don’t drop your elbow,” I correct, then turn to Paul as I throw the ball back.
“It is big, but when you know, you know.”
I nod, waiting for Krew to throw the ball back. I’m happy for Paul, but I know this new development in his relationship with Anna Mae is going to kill Meg. “How do your daughters feel about it?”
“Tessa and Brooke seem to be doing okay. They’re always asking about her and giving me dating advice.”
“And Meg?”
Paul draws in a deep breath. “She’s not as enthusiastic. She thinks I’m replacing her mom, and she’s not happy about it.”
That’s the feeling I’m getting from her too.
“She doesn’t understand that a man can love two women.”
I understand him completely. I love two women. I’m here at Kristen’s grave. I miss her all the time. Whenever Krew says something cute or passes off a new milestone, my heart breaks because she isn’t here to share it with me. I love Kristen.
But I also love Meg. It’s a different kind of love. It’s new and fragile, and it’s the kind of thing that makes my heart beat out of control while also driving me crazy at the same time. I’m constantly thinking about her, wondering when I’m going to see her next or what she’ll say when she texts me.
In a way, both loves are painful.
They both break my heart and make me feel uncomfortable, but I wouldn’t trade the feelings for anything.
“I just wish Meg could see that me loving Anna Mae doesn’t take away from anything I had with her mom. I’m not replacing Marilyn. I’m adding Anna Mae to my life. There’s a big difference.”
I wonder what Meg thinks about Kristen. We’ve never talked about her in that way. So she must be fine about everything.
“Paul, you’re a good guy,” I say, swiping him on the shoulder with my mitt. “I hope everything works out for you and Anna Mae.”
“And what about you?”
“What about me?” I throw the ball back to Krew. It hits the edge of his glove and rolls back behind him.
“What about you and that woman you’re interested in? Last we talked, you said you ate takeout at her house.”
I nod. “Things have progressed a little bit.”
“How?”
I told Meg that I wouldn’t tell anyone about us dating, but Paul’s her dad. If I’m going to tell anyone, he seems as safe a bet as any—as long as I don’t tell him I’m talking about his daughter.
“We kissed Friday night.” I eye him. “Severaltimes.”
“Giddy up!” Paul chuckles.
