On the way home as Camilla read in the backseat, I thought about why Cassie was so upset. Was it the fact that her mom had showed up at work? Or was it that Sandy had been in my lap? Because if she was bothered by me and Sandy, then why had she been meeting up with Jason secretly? It wasn’t as if she’d told me.
Not that you’ve seen her since then. You’re not even giving her a chance to explain.
But my mood got worse as I realized she hadn’t given me a chance either. We got in, and Camilla worked on her homework at the dinner table while I cooked dinner.
“Hmm…Smells good, Daddy. What is it?”
“Thought I’d make mac and cheese.”
“Yes!” She pumped her fist in the air. “My favorite.”
“But just remember, you have to eat some salad too.”
She stuck out her tongue. “Fine. But just a little.”
“We’ll see.”
We ate dinner, and after I read a story to Camilla, and she went to bed, I spent the evening on my own, having a whiskey and thinking about what to do. I looked at my watch. It was only 8:30. Not too late. I could give Cassie a call and see if there wasn’t a chance I could explain everything. And that would make the weird thing that happened look less suspicious.
I took a breath, found her number, and hit call.
CHAPTER19
CASSIE
At home,Sadie and Jane found me clutching a bottle of wine, my eyes red with tears.
“Dear God, what happened? Are you ok?” Jane asked, coming to sit next to me, fresh from her dance and art studio.
“Seriously, are you ok?” Sadie, still in her scrubs, sat on my other side and grabbed my hand.
“Guess who got made a fool of today,” I said in a drunken, loud voice. Pointing to myself, I said, “Me. And you want to know why?”
Both Sadie and Jane nodded.
“Because my mom decided to try her hand at Brad, even though she saw me and his daughter out at ice cream on Saturday. She showed up at work today, and when I walked into Brad’s office, I saw her there, sitting in his lap., her arm wrapped around his shoulders.”
Jane gasped. “No way.”
“Way.” A stray tear fell, and I brushed it aside before taking another healthy gulp of wine. “Again, she’s trying to make a fool of herself, and thus embarrass me, and only this time, she’s trying to prove to me that she’s better or can get any man. Clearly, we were out on a quasi-date on Saturday, and she’s not so dumb that she didn’t notice that. I don’t get it. Someone shouldn’t be in competition with their mother. It’s perverse.”
Sadie nodded, and she frowned. “I’m so sorry, Cassie. What happened next?”
“Well, they jumped apart, and he looked guilty as fuck. I just ran the hell out of there, even though my mom tried to act like everything was normal.” I put down the bottle and just used the glass instead, polishing off the last little bit. “I was so humiliated. I was actually starting to feel something for this guy. And after I saw Jason on Sunday, I knew it was over with him, and I only wanted Brad. And Camilla told me her dad liked me, and---”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” Jane said, holding up her hands. “What happened now? Back up, you’ve got loads to tell us. I can’t believe you didn’t say you met Jason when we were at karaoke!”
I groaned and sunk down lower in my chair, my glass sadly empty of wine. Sadie the Saint filled it up for me.
“I didn’t want to tell you guys. Not yet. It was too weird.”
“What happened?” Sadie asked eagerly, jumping to sit cross-legged so she could better face me.
“He wants to be friends. He apologized for the past, and he even said that maybe one day there could be more of a future between us.”
“Whoa…” Sadie’s mouth opened. “I cannot believe that! That guy was a total jerk to you, and he just waltzes back in here and gives you an apology and even asks about a future?”
“Yeah, his mom’s sick, and he said it gave him all this perspective or whatever.”