Page 61 of Sunsets and Happy Ever Afters

Maya swallowed her mouthful and took a sip of water, wondering how best to explain this to her daughter. “Yes, I am.”

“Is it Sam?” Amber asked.

Maya nearly choked on the roast potato she was chewing. She shook her head. “No, it’s not Sam.”

“Oh. Will you introduce us to them?”

“No, not unless it becomes serious.”

“Why?” Lewis asked. Amber looked at him and then at Maya, as if seconding her brother’s question. They were ganging up on her. They did say never let kids outnumber you. Which was fine if you happily remained with your partner, but as soon as you became a single parent the odds were immediately stacked against you.

“Because I don’t want to introduce you to everyone I meet. I need to make sure they’re serious about me first, and I need to get to know them, to make sure they’re safe for you to meet.”

“Safe?” Lewis picked up on the word before Amber. He was more astute than Maya gave him credit for.

“Sweetheart, I want someone who’ll love us all, if that makes sense. We come as a package really. But so I don’t scare the poor man off, I have to get to know him first.”

“Have you met someone, then?” Amber asked, fork poised, about to stuff roast chicken into her mouth.

“Would you be cross if I did?”

“No, it’s cool. Dad’s got Jenna, so you need someone too.” Amber sounded so grown up suddenly. “You need to be happy too, Mum.”

“Ah, thank you, Amber.” Maya smiled gently at her daughter. “Come on, eat up! Ice-cream for pudding.”

“Yay!”

“That’s to make up for the early night you’re both going to need. School tomorrow.”

“Boo!” they said in unison, scowling.

Maya knew her children loved school. It was the prospect of an early night they didn’t like. However, after the sleepless night she’d had, she wouldn’t be far behind the children in going to bed.