Page 71 of Second Dance
“I would be too,” Esme said.
“Alex will take care of it. One way or another.”
“I certainly hope so. Isn’t it just like that type of cockroach of a man to show up when no one needs him whatsoever, especially after all those years they looked for him.”
“I know. It’s terrible.” I tilted my head, taking a good look at my friend. In the bright light I could see that her eyes were red and puffy. “How are you? Everything okay?”
Esme blew on the steam from her coffee mug before answering. “The truth? I’m tired. And broke.” She gave a rueful laugh. “My ex hasn’t sent child support in six months. I keep thinking maybe this week he’ll get his act together, but then it’s just another excuse. I’m running out of patience. I’ve had to dip into my savings the last few months to keep food on the table.”
“I’m so sorry, Esme. Do you need a loan?”
She shrugged, but her eyes shimmered. “Not yet. But thank you. I’ll figure it out. I always do. But it feels good to talk about it. Pretending I’m fine for the kids all the time is exhausting.”
I reached over, squeezing her hand. “You don’t have to pretend with me.”
Her smile wobbled, then steadied. “Without my friends, I don’t know what I’d do.”
“I feel like that pretty much every day,” I said.
Esme blew out a long breath, cradling her mug in both hands. “Some days I feel like I’m trying to tread water but there are bricks tied to my ankles. Between the shop and the kids and worrying about money, I don’t have much left over for myself.” She gave a small, humorless laugh. “When I think about all the years I wasted trying to make my marriage work—only to have it end in such an ugly way—the bitterness almost overwhelms me. I don’t know if I can trust anyone again. Not that there’s a line of eligible men waiting for me anyway.”
“You deserve a great man, Esme,” I said. “Someone worthy of you.” I thought about Grady and Esme. Would their friendship ever lead to more? I’d caught him looking at her a few times during gatherings over the last few months. The look in his eyes made me think he cared deeply for her. But he wasn’t really a good choice for a woman with two children. Except he was one of the nicest men I knew. However, his surf shack didn’t exactly bring in enough money to help raise a family. And there was his apparent refusal to grow up and realize that there was more to life than riding the next wave and the latest bikini-clad beach girl. As much as I liked him, he would not be the one I chose for her. Yet, I’d suspected she might wish for more than just friendship with Grady Nash.
Her eyes softened. “So do you. Do you think Alex could be the one for you?”
“He was once. For one perfect summer, he was my everything. Then life happened.”
“But he’s here now. That must mean something.”
“Maybe so. I just don’t know what exactly.”
We shared a laugh, but her eyes were serious as she gazed toward the rose bushes. “I hope you’ll be open to love again. You should be happy.”
“We all should,” I said.
Esme smiled, dipping her head for a moment. “You’ll laugh at this. I opened up that dating app the kids put us on—just to see for myself what it’s all about. Before I had Robbie turn off my profile, I had a few suggested matches. One of them was Grady.”
“I thought he was seeing someone?”
“They broke up. He said she was too young for him,” Esme said.
“Well, she kind of was.”
“It’s what he does, though. Gets involved too quickly and then gets cold feet.”
“Did he see your profile on there?” I asked.
“No, I asked him about it and he said he hadn’t known I was on there. I told him what the kids did, and he laughed so hard I thought he was going to choke.”
I chuckled, shaking my head. “It wasn’t so funny to us.”
Esme rolled her eyes. “Right? Robbie showed me his original profile before the others made him change it. That was a good laugh.”
“I can only imagine,” I said.
“These kids keep us on our toes, that’s for certain,” Esme said.
“They really do.”
