Page 43 of The Weekend Crashers
He shakes his head. “Blind date? Ever hear the phrase ‘just say no’?”
She gives a little laugh. “I should have. Believe me. I left before we ordered and ended up eating dinner with Piper.”
Now he’s the one to laugh.
They continue pushing log-like tree branches into place. Maggie is tired, but doesn’t want to give Aidan the satisfactionof admitting that. She takes on the job of dragging branches from the pile over to Aidan so he can lift them and prop them up. She’s not sure she’s helping so much as adding an unnecessary step.
“Well, it looks like our kids hit it off. Not only that, seems we’re late to the party,” he says.
“I know.” She wonders why Piper didn’t mention that she met someone from the bachelor party.
“You sure she’s got a boyfriend?” he says.
“Yes. A serious one, unfortunately.”
He looks at her sharply.“You don’t like the guy?”
Maggie really just wants one sliver of the weekend where she doesn’t have to think about this. But she’s the one who brought it up. “I do. But I also think she’s too young to settle down.”
“You couldn’t have been much older when you settled down.”
“There was nothing ‘settled’ about my life at that age. I was alone with a toddler and terrified. I want more for Piper. I want her to have all the freedom and opportunity I missed out on.”
“Understandable,” he says. “That’s probably a universal parenting feeling. We all want better for our kids. Or at least for them to be as happy as possible.”
She nods. It feels good to have her feelings validated.
Sometimes, Maggie misses having a co-parent—not just as a father figure for Piper, someone not only for Piper’s sake, but for her own. Someone who understands the roller coaster of parenthood—someone to share the good times and the bad. Sure, she can talk to her friends and to Elaine. But that’s far fromsharingthe experience with someone.
“Yes, we do,” she says.
“So, I have to admit I wish Piper wasn’t taken.”
“That’s sweet, but she is,” Maggie says. “In fact, right before the weekend, he told me he wants to propose to her.”
“Maggie, that’s a big deal. Congratulations. To you and to her.”
She wishes she could accept the congratulations and move on, but now she’s stricken with guilt. She couldn’t talk to Piper about this last night, but now’s a chance to confess to someone impartial. After all, she’ll never see him again after the weekend. She has nothing to lose.
“Well, I might have accidentally screwed it up.”
Aidan stops stacking branches and turns to her. “I find that hard to believe.”
Here it goes. “Well, he came to me in a sort of ‘can I have your blessing?’ way. And I discouraged him. Well, I should say Iencouragedhim to wait.”
“Oh. Can I ask... why?”
“What I was saying before—about her being so young. I just think she needs to be focused on work right now. I know it sounds bad. Admittedly, it was the wrong thing to do. But honestly, my intentions were good.”
Aidan nods and continues with the branches. “I know I joked—well, half joked—about fixing Cole up. But the truth is, I stay out of that part of his life. He’s private, I’m private—it’s for the best. I don’t mean to overstep here, but maybe you need to distance yourself a little. Know what I mean?”
No, she doesn’t. Distance herself? From Piper? Never. It feels like she and Cole have been gone a while. She texts Piper:
You doing okay? Coming back soon?
But the text doesn’t go through. Her battery probably died.
“Can you text Cole? I can’t reach Piper,” she says.
