Page 35 of The Ex Next Door (Charming, Texas #8)

D inner was a tense affair, with Naomi giving her brother sidelong looks as if she was somehow trying to communicate with him through their magical twin bond.

No doubt she wanted to know why her brother was suddenly not fond of Declan when a week ago he’d been, ahem, to borrow a phrase, his biggest cheerleader.

“Can I be excused?” David said.

Amy blinked in surprise. “What about dessert? It’s a lemon tart pie.”

Yes, she was trying to win her son’s approval through his stomach.

Declan had been nothing but friendly through this whole dinner and he deserved to be acknowledged by her son.

He deserved to be accepted with open arms. She had resisted many times the urge to hold his hand, just to touch him like a lover would.

No. She would bide her time before she could demonstrate any physical affections for him, and even then, her children had never been particularly fond of PDA.

“That’s fine,” Declan said, nudging Naomi. “I don’t think David wants any pie. More for us.”

“Yum!” Naomi laughed and held up two fingers. “I’ll have two slices.”

David didn’t laugh but also didn’t leave the table.

Amy served her family slices of the pie she’d bought from the bakery in town.

Talk revolved around how hot the day had been, always a topic in south Texas, then Naomi’s fern named Fern and eventually quite naturally slid into baseball.

Because it was summer, after all, and the Astros were playing the San Francisco Giants next week.

Declan stated his high hopes even if everyone called him a dreamer for thinking the Stros had a chance against the amazing Giants.

“I like the Giants because their colors are better,” Naomi said happily. “Are they the ones with orange and black? Just like Halloween.”

Declan clutched his chest. “Don’t tell me we’ve lost another Stros fan to the colors!”

“Naomi, you can’t like a team because of its colors !” David shook his head, but he did chuckle for the first time. “Besides, the Astros have orange, too.”

The conversation devolved from there and before long they were discussing video games and music, the children and Declan poking fun at Amy’s love of country music and Chris Stapleton in particular.

They felt very much like a regular family.

Her children and Declan. He just fit. He would always fit with her, in any situation, so this should not be any different.

The tough part would be getting David to understand and accept that his parents were never getting back together.

All those years, she’d had an enviable relationship with Rob.

She’d loved him, he’d loved her, they worked well together, their children were perfect and their family unit stayed solid for years.

But now that she was back with Declan, she couldn’t imagine how she’d ever let anyone take his place.

No one was quite like him, no one owned her heart and soul the way he always had.

After dinner, Declan stayed to help with the dishes, perfect man that he was. He rinsed the plates and handed them to her because she had a particular way to load the dishwasher and didn’t want her first disagreement with Declan to involve terrible dish arrangement.

“How was work?” she said, accepting a glass tumbler from him.

“It’s always weird to work the early shift. A different crowd. Tippy and Ted came in and he always likes talking baseball with me.”

“Did you stay after to give your pep talk?”

He shrugged. “Debbie wasn’t there, and the rest hightailed it out after their shift.”

“They don’t know what they’re missing.”

He simply smiled at her, that easy smile that had always felt like a secret tucked between them.

At the evening’s conclusion, she chose not to push her luck and simply walked Declan to the front door. A stroll next door with him would invite too many questions from curious little eyes and ears.

“I thought that went well but I apologize if David was a bit grumpy.”

“Baby steps.”

Smiling so wide her cheeks hurt, Amy slowly shut the door behind him and silently wondered how she could be feeling as giddy as a schoolgirl at her age.

“Do you like him?”

Amy startled. This time the voice was Naomi’s. She turned to answer her girl, whose voice wasn’t angry or accusatory. She’d simply asked a question, maybe even because she recognized the vibes obviously written all over her mother’s face.

Amy took a deep breath. “Yes, honey. I like him very much.”

“Oh. Is it kind of like Daddy and Shannon?”

“Um, yes. It’s just like that.”

“I thought he was our neighbor.”

“Well, he was just our neighbor. You’re right.”

“You like him because he’s nice, right? And funny sometimes, and he likes you, and helps you and isn’t ever mean to you.”

And also, he’s incredibly hot and delicious and his kisses make my knees dissolve.

But TMI for her daughter, who at least seemed to understand the basics.

She wasn’t falling for that “if he pulls on your pigtails and is mean to you, he probably likes you” business.

Amy would raise her daughter to believe she should be treated like a partner and an equal, the way her parents raised her.

“That’s right. He’s good to me and I think that’s important, don’t you?”

Naomi’s head bobbed up and down. “I liked a boy at school last year.”

“You never told me.”

“He’s really smart, maybe smarter than me.”

“Oh, that’s not possible.”

Naomi didn’t catch the joke. “No, really, he reads a ton of books, like me.”

It sounded like a match made in heaven except it had arrived too soon. But one never knew, she supposed. This boy could wind up being Naomi’s first love. Good Lord, she didn’t want to think about that. Her baby girl was nine . Could she please stay nine and sweet forever?

“I don’t think David likes Shannon and now he’s not going to like Declan.” Naomi spoke with wisdom. “But I’m not sure why.”

Amy cupped her daughter’s sweet face. “He thinks if Shannon and Declan weren’t around, things might be dif ferent. I think he’s mad that we can’t all be together like we used to be. You, me, David and Daddy.”

“I get sad about that sometimes, too. Is it okay if I’m sad?”

“Yes, baby, it is always okay to feel the way you do. I will never stop you from being sad about this. It’s very normal. What do you do when you feel sad?”

She shrugged. “I just think of the good times. But… I like to be happy.”

It seemed her daughter might be an emotional savant in addition to intellectually gifted.

“Right. Me, too. I think whenever we can choose to be happy, we should. It’s just that sometimes that’s hard.”

Amy took a deep breath and decided, well, why not tell Naomi the whole truth.

“You probably remember how sad I was after Daddy moved out. Remember when Gramma came over every day for a while because I was sick and had to stay in bed?”

“You were sad.” Naomi nodded and lowered her gaze. “I know.”

“I was kind of sick with sadness, which happens sometimes. But then one day you came in and handed me a pretty rock you found outside. You asked me if I’d go outside and help you find more.

” She brushed aside the strands of brown hair at her daughter’s temple.

“And I couldn’t say no to that invitation.

So, I got out of bed and pretended to be feeling better.

The next day it was a little bit easier pretending, same as the day after that.

All of a sudden one day I wasn’t pretending.

Every day you make me so glad to be here. To be your mother.”

“What are y’all talking about?’ David entered the room, eyes narrowed.

“We’re talking about how sometimes we feel sad, but we try anyway. Kind of like fake it till you make it. Before you know it, fake becomes real. You’ll never stop feeling disappointed if you didn’t get something you wanted but that doesn’t mean you can’t find a way to be happy again.”

“What about trying to fix something if it’s broken ?’ David said.

Leave it to her son to up the stakes.

“Yes, that’s important, too. We try to fix things, but then when we can’t, that’s where the sadness comes.”

“All I wanted was for you and Daddy to try to fix it so we can all be together again.”

“We did try, honey.”

“Maybe not hard enough,” David huffed. “Is Declan your boyfriend now?”

Boyfriend seemed like a very small word for everything Declan was to her, but she’d have to stay with simple.

“Yes, he is. He’s not going to be your father because you already have a great one. But I do want him to be part of my life and yours, too.”

“Do you still love Dad?” David’s voice was soft and thin. “Because he loves you. He told me so.”

It was good to know Rob had discussed this with David, too, and probably right after the meeting with his new girlfriend.

This is where words mattered, and she’d choose hers carefully.

There were many types of love, and her children didn’t have to hear descriptions of each one.

They just had to understand that neither she nor Rob was ever going to stop loving them .

And this required understanding no matter what there would always be a connection between their parents.

“I will always love him in a special way.”

David nodded like he understood for the first time. “Okay. I get it.”

* * *

The employment offer from the school district came through, a far more generous one than Declan expected.

Of course, he would not only be working as a teacher but spending a great deal of his time coaching the baseball team.

The commitment would mean there was no way he could manage to work part-time at the Salty Dog.

Certainly not if he ever wanted to see Amy on a regular basis.

Teenaged Declan would have expected her to sit back and wait for him to give her attention when he could, like the overinflated-ego jock he’d been.

Now he understood if he had something special and priceless, he better not let it shatter.