Page 95 of Forbidden Kisses

"No, not at all. I really love my job."

"Hmm. But you're also looking forward to starting your new job, right?"

I nodded. "Yes, I am very much looking forward to that." I sighed, looking at the pool. "I'm going to miss Jeremy, though."

"And Duncan?" Susan asked, sounding surprisingly sassy.

I swear I blushed from the top of my head to the tips of my toes.

"Of course, although I'm spending most of my time with Jeremy." I wasn't sure what else to say. I didn't want to make things awkward.

"You know, Duncan's different when he's around you."

"What do you mean?" I asked quickly.

"He's relaxed, and even his body language is more open. He was never like that around Jeremy's mother. I was afraid from the very beginning that things wouldn't work out for them, but they did try for his sake. And Jeremy's closer to you than he's been to any of his nannies."

That filled me with so much pride. My face exploded in a grin. "I'm so happy to hear that."

She looked at me with a soft expression on her face. "You love that boy."

I swallowed hard and nodded. "Yes, I do. So very much."

"He likes your company so much, he's even bailing on spending evenings away with me," Susan said.

"Oh, I can't possibly compete with you or Bruce. Jeremy absolutely loves his time with you."

"He does. Bruce is a very good grandfather."

The affection in her voice took me by surprise. Not many people spoke with so much candor about their ex-husband.

"How is seeing him at the store every day?" I asked, then immediately added, "I'm so sorry. I don't know why I asked that. I don't want to pry."

"No, it's fine. Honestly, that's the question on everyone's lips when they find out about it. It's surprisingly easy. We’re living the life we always hoped we would. Each doing our own thing without much monetary pressure." Her eyes clouded as she looked at the pool. "But I will forever be sorry that my boys had to go through our shit-show years with us when they were so young."

"Raising kids is hard.”

She nodded. "We were overwhelmed. Neither of us is originally from California, so our parents couldn’t help with the little ones. That's why I'm so adamant about helping my kids with theirs."

"Oh, that's something my mom would say," I said, putting a hand on my chest.

"Jeremy said she doesn't live nearby, right?"

I shook my head. "Not as close as I want her to. I have big plans, once I start my job, to look after her and my sister."

She snapped her fingers. "That’s right. She’s here."

I nodded. "Yes, she's in college."

"You know, I don't think anyone would mind if she joined our family events," Susan said, winking at me.

"Oh, wow. Th-Thank you," I stammered, because that was a truly lovely offer. Only it seemed like far too much. Duncan had already done a lot to help Paula. That moron of a boss hadn’t bothered her again. But her joining us at things like this… well, Duncan and I weren't there just yet, but I didn't have the heart to tell Susan that.

"All right, I need to put some more sunscreen lotion on," I said because it was blistering hot.

She nodded. "Yeah, me too. I always forget and end up having a sunburn."

I went to the bag of supplies I’d put under an umbrella, and after spreading on lotion, I checked my phone to see if my sister wrote anything.