Page 78 of Mr. Infuriating (Mister #1)

Gretchen

A box of pancake mix was included in the Instacart delivery that Gabe had sent over. I guess he wanted to make sure Jake got pancakes in the morning, even if he wasn’t going to be the one to make them.

After tossing and turning all night, in between bouts of tears, I finally gave up on sleep and got up before the alarm. Jake’s breakfast routine was going to be continued.

Except my pancakes didn’t taste the same as Gabe’s, and Jake only ate half of his.

Nothing was the same.

Instead of sleeping soundly all night, I hardly slept at all. Jake didn’t dance happily in his chair as he munched on his pancake. I didn’t leave the house relaxed, with plenty of time to spare because I had someone helping me.

In fact, I was late for work and forgot my damn lunch, and I probably passed my stressful mood onto my kid and students.

I was grateful to Gabe, though.

He’d shown me what life with a good partner could be like. Now I just needed to find said partner.

I knew that was going to be easier said than done. The Gabe Mitchells of the world were a rare breed. I had a feeling I was going to have to settle for close enough.

Jake was quiet in the backseat as I drove home from daycare. I knew he missed Gabe as much as I did.

“Hey, baby…” I said as I looked at him in my rearview mirror. “What do you say we get McDonald’s for dinner tonight? You can have a Happy Meal! ”

Yeah, I was bribing my kid to be happy with a Happy Meal.

I know, cliché.

If only they had Happy Meals for adults.

“They do,” Laura said with a laugh when I lamented my pathetic life observation to her on the phone after Jake went to bed. “It’s called wine.”

“I think it’s going to take a lot of wine to get over Gabe. And tissues.”

“Lucky for you I have a Wine Depot membership. But the tissues you’ll have to get on your own.”

On my own . Story of my life.

~~

I woke up exhausted Wednesday morning and it hit me why I’d been able to sleep so soundly at Gabe’s. As a single mom, I could never fully let my guard down. Even in my own home. I felt like I had to be on high alert all the time.

I always made sure to check all the locks on the doors and windows every night before bed and would wake to the slightest creak the house made.

With Gabe, I hadn’t had to do that. He’d made me feel safe and protected. Kind of like how I’d felt growing up. I’d never worried as a kid because I thought there wasn’t anything my dad couldn’t handle.

That’s what being with Gabe felt like. There wasn’t anything he couldn’t handle.

I don’t think I’d ever felt that sense of peace with Troy. Which meant Jake probably hadn’t either. He’d had that with Gabe .

Annnnd I was crying again.

****

Gabe

When you’re thirty-nine, you don’t spring out of bed and head to work after a night of drinking like you did when you’re in your early twenties.

Something I learned the hard way—two mornings in a row.

But getting drunk was the only way I could tolerate sitting in the quiet of my big, empty house all alone.

Fortunately, I got to see Gretchen and Jake that night. I was going on forty-eight hours of no contact with her, and I’d fucking hated every second.

Then I received a text from Britt.

Britt: Brayden’s staying home from school. He has a fever and was throwing up all night.

Fuck.

Me: How are you feeling?

Britt: Fine so far. Mom is busy disinfecting the house.

I should probably have my housekeeper do the same to mine. I also needed to let Gretchen know Brayden wouldn’t be coming to tutoring tonight.

I wondered if she’d be okay if I still came.

Me: Fingers crossed you don’t get sick, too.

Britt: Should I stay home tonight? I don’t want to get Jake sick .

Oh, yeah. I hadn’t told the kids yet that Gretchen and Jake were gone.

Time to rip the band-aid off.

Me: Gretchen’s water was fixed. They were able to go back home.

Britt sent back a string of crying emojis.

Me: We’ll still be able to see them when Brayden goes to tutoring.

Britt: That’s like once a week for a few hours and every other weekend, Dad! Not to mention summer is coming, and Brayden won’t get tutored at all!!

Tell me something I don’t know, kid.

Me: Well, next fall, Brayden won’t have lacrosse, so it will be twice a week and every other weekend.

Britt: Big whoop.

Me: It’s the best I can do, kiddo.

She didn’t respond.

I fired off a text to Gretchen, hoping she’d get it during her lunch hour.

Me: Hey. I hope all is well in your world.

I wrote out “I miss you,” then erased it before continuing.

Brayden is sick with a stomach bug, so we’ll have to cancel tutoring tonight.

She replied right away.

Gretchen: Yeah, that’s going around right now. I hope he’s okay!

Me: I think he will be once it runs its course.

Gretchen: Thanks for letting me know. Please tell him I hope he feels better soon. We can have extra sessions next week to help get him caught up on his missed work and prepare for finals.

Me: I can still come by tonight though and finish the kitchen.

The dots indicating she was replying started and stopped, started and stopped, and finally her message came.

Gretchen: Let’s just wait until next week.

I was afraid she’d say that.

Didn’t she know I needed to see her and Jake?

Me: It’s no problem for me to come. I hate the idea of your kitchen not being perfect. We guarantee perfect.

No, we didn’t. But she didn’t know that.

Me: Plus, I’d love to see you and Jake.

Again, with the dots starting and stopping.

Gretchen: I think we should wait. I don’t want to confuse Jake any more than he probably already is.

It felt like all the air left my lungs, but I managed to reply.

Me: I understand. I’ll be in touch about next week. But don’t hesitate to reach out if you need anything .

Gretchen: Will do.

It seemed Gretchen was already back to normal. Me, on the other hand… I was far from “normal” and wondered if I’d ever feel that way again.

****

Gretchen

It’d taken every ounce of strength I had to turn down Gabe’s offer to come over that night.

I missed him with every fiber of my being.

But I thought if he showed up without the kids, Jake might get confused. I think my son had a basic understanding that I was helping Brayden, but if Gabe came by himself, Jake might get the wrong idea.

Hell, I might get the wrong idea.

So, when the doorbell rang that night at seven-thirty, after I’d put Jake to bed, my heart skipped a beat. Gabe knew Jake’s bedtime, maybe he was coming by to see me.

As I put my hand on the doorknob, a thought popped in my head.

He knows Jake’s in bed. He wouldn’t risk waking him up by ringing the doorbell .

I looked out the window and instead of a black, Ford 150 in my drive, there sat Troy’s red two-door Jaguar. The one a car seat wouldn’t fit in.

What the hell? Why is he here ?

My emotions went from nervous excitement thinking Gabe was at my door to dread now that I knew who it really was.

I slowly unlocked the door and found my ex-husband, in one of his fitted black suits with his red tie loosened, sporting a tan like he’d just come back from a vacation in the Bahamas.

I swear to God, you better not be here to ask about lowering your child support .

“Hey, Gretch,” he said with a sheepish smile.

I nodded my head. “Troy.”

He didn’t say anything else, just stared at me until I finally asked, “What are you doing here?”

“Can I come in?”

Against my better judgment, I opened the door and allowed him inside.