The Friends We Keep

While the chasm wasn’t as obvious as an affair or a gambling problem, it was still building a wall between them. Not what he wanted her to do as much as his inability to truly grasp his part in the problem.

“You said Makayla would help,” she said softly. “It’s not Makayla’s baby and I’m helping her. It’s the other way around. As far as you’re concerned, she’ll give birth, then go back to living her life. Nothing will change for her but everything will change for me. That’s wrong, Andrew. Worse, you can’t see it. That’s what I can’t get over. You not being able to see it at all.”





Chapter Eighteen

Nicole was as ready as she could be. The house was clean, the grill prepped, the food in the refrigerator. She’d gone with steaks because they were easy, along with her tarragon green bean salad that everyone seemed to like. She’d asked her friend Shannon to recommend a nice but not too insanely priced red wine and in case Jairus preferred beer, she had a six-pack of that. She’d stayed up late making brownies the night before.

Maybe she had been punishing herself for the failure of her marriage or maybe she was just emotionally stunted for not having dated before this, but she had to say living with those flaws was a whole lot easier than dealing with the painful writhing of her stomach and the steady hum of nerves through the rest of her body.

How did people do this? Date? Not worry and appear calm? Were they all faking it or was she a freak?

Questions that weren’t going to get an answer, she reminded herself, before heading back to Tyler’s room. Her own issues were one thing, but she also needed to make sure he was okay.

She found him sitting cross-legged on his bed, his Brad the Dragon books spread out around him. He looked up at her and smiled.

“I’m so excited!”

“Me, too,” she admitted as she settled next to him. “Jairus is really nice.”

“Uh-huh.”

“You know he’s busy with his book tour.”

In fact he’d been gone for a couple of weeks and was just now back in LA. She knew because he’d phoned her a couple of times from different cities. The conversations had been relatively short and casual, but still. He’d called her. That had to mean something.

The problem was she didn’t know what that could be, nor did she know what she wanted it to mean. None of which was what she wanted to talk to her son about.

“Jairus is a friend,” she said carefully. “A guy friend, like Adam or Rob.”

“I know.” Tyler’s brown gaze never left her face.

She wanted to say more, like we’re not dating, only didn’t saying that sort of hint at the possibility? Sometimes parenting was hard.

“I’m glad he’s coming over,” Tyler added. “Maybe he’ll tell us about his next Brad the Dragon book.”

“That would be amazing.”

She kissed the top of his head and left him to his books, then spent the next ten minutes pacing her living room and telling herself she didn’t actually care how the afternoon went. She wasn’t really interested in Jairus. He was just a guy who wrote books her kid liked. Nothing more. But the lie sounded feeble, even to her.

Jairus arrived right on time. Nicole answered his knock and found the handsome man standing on her front porch. He had flowers in one hand, a small plastic blue briefcase in the other.

She’d said casual and he’d taken her at her word. His well-worn jeans hugged his narrow hips and long legs and his polo shirt emphasized his broad shoulders. It was a very nice combination.

“Hi,” he said with a smile. “Thanks for having me over.”

“Thanks for coming.”

He handed her the flowers—a large bouquet of mixed blooms—then kissed her cheek. “This,” he said, holding up the plastic case, “is for Tyler.”

“Should I be nervous about what’s inside?”

“Not even a little.”

Tyler came running out of his bedroom.

“Jairus! You’re here.” The boy flung himself at him and wrapped both arms around his waist. “I’ve been waiting and waiting.”

Nicole held in a sigh. So much for convincing her son the visit wasn’t anything special. Jairus was his hero—or at least the author of his favorite character—which was probably the same thing.

“I’ve been waiting, too,” Jairus said as he hugged the boy. “I brought you something.”

Tyler stepped back and smiled shyly. “What is it?”

“Come see.” Jairus pointed to the kitchen table. “May I?”

She nodded, not sure what to expect. Jairus helped Tyler into his seat, then moved another chair close and took it for himself. He set the case on the table and opened it.

Inside the lid were slots filled with pencils, crayons and markers in an array of colors. The rest of the case was filled with pads of paper. Jairus took one out and put it in front of Tyler.

“How would you like to learn how to draw Brad?”

Tyler stared at him, his eyes huge, his lips parted. “For real?” he breathed.

“For real. It’s not hard. You start with a basic shape.”