“Sit down with those chips; you’re dropping crumbs all through the house!” I yelled as Nathan tore past me in a blur of activity.

He stopped short and gave me one of his butter-wouldn’t-melt grins. I frowned at him, but on the inside, I was smiling. “Go on, outside. And sit down before you choke.” He scampered off, the screen door banging behind him, the excited barks of our dog Twister greeting him on the other side. I grabbed a Dust Buster and followed Nathan’s crumb trail through the house.

I’d just turned the power off when the message tone on my phone beeped. I raced back to the kitchen and grabbed it off the bench.

Is it too early to ask you out again? Jamison

I sucked in a deep breath. It had been less than ten hours since he’d dropped me out the front of my house, and I’d spent nine hours and fifty-eight minutes of that time walking around smiling. You’re the sexiest woman I’ve ever had in my bed, Elodie, played over and over in my head, and the memory of his lightly freckled skin against mine made me blush. The other two minutes had been spent cleaning up the chocolate milk Nathan had spilled all over me. But even spilled milk couldn’t put a damper on my good mood.

I leaned on the kitchen bench and smiled at my phone. Why hadn’t I just said yes to the date this morning? I’d wanted to. But Rick and I had only been separated a few months. I didn’t need to be dating anyone new right now. I still had custody arrangements to finalise, and Nathan wasn’t ready for me to have someone new in my life. I wasn’t even sure if I was ready. Rick and I had been together for almost a decade. He might have cheated on me, but that didn’t mean I was now completely devoid of all feelings for him. Real love didn’t work like that. It wasn’t just something you switched off one day. And I had loved Rick for a long time.

I really needed to just focus on Nathan, and myself. I cancelled out of the message, put my phone down, and pulled a packet of pasta out of the cupboard. Minced beef from the fridge, garlic, onions, tomatoes, stock, and spices appeared next, and I got busy making Nathan’s favourite spaghetti bolognese for dinner. I had water bubbling in a saucepan and the tomato sauce simmering when my message tone sounded again. I pounced on it before the beeps had even finished, not even pretending to myself that I hadn’t been hoping he’d message again.

How about now? J

A slow smile spread across my face. When was the last time a guy had flirted with me? I strained my brain to think of a single time and came up blank. Even when Rick and I had first gotten together, there had been practically no flirting. Rick had been a businessman, even as a teenager. He’d wanted me to go out with him, and I’d said yes. From then on, we’d just always been together. There had been no flirting. Not like I’d had with Jamison at the wedding last night. There’d been no cute text messages from Rick the day after we’d first slept together. Everything with him was planned out in advance, calculated. This thing with Jamison, if it really was even a thing, was completely different.

My phone buzzed in my hand and when I looked down he’d sent another message before I’d even closed out of the first one.

Tonight? Dinner?

I had Nathan and I’d already made dinner. I tried to ignore the sudden rush of disappointment as I typed back.

Sorry. Can’t. I have Nathan and I’ve made spag bol.

I paused for a moment after I hit send, then quickly added. Thank you for the invitation though.

Oh well. That was that.

So why wasn’t I putting the phone away?

I watched in some sort of stalker mode as the speech bubble appeared that signalled Jamison was writing a response. My breath caught in my chest and I blew it out in a long exhale. I couldn’t deny I was dying to know what he would say. Guys like him—young, unattached, good-looking guys—didn’t chase after women with kids and complicated relationships with their exes. But God, the low churning in my gut said I wanted his next message to be something more than Okay, thanks anyway. Was it too much to hope he’d chase me? Just a tiny bit?

I stared harder at the phone as the speech bubble disappeared, but no message arrived. Christ, had I insulted him by turning him down? That was the last thing I wanted. He’d been so kind to me.

Spag bol always tastes better the second night. Put it in the fridge and come out with me. Come on, Elodie. I’ll beg if I have to.

Something that felt an awful lot like relief crashed over me. Why did I even care so much? Because you really do want to go out with him, maybe? A little voice in my head whispered. And the voice was right. I had every reason not to go out with him, but as soon as I’d said no, I’d wanted to take it back. The fact that I did have so many reasons not to get involved with him only made him all the more appealing.

I sighed. Then decided to be honest.

I really want to, but I have Nathan. Maybe next week after his dad is back from his honeymoon?

Jamison’s reply came back almost instantly. I don’t want to wait that long to see you. Bring him with us?

Oh. My. God. A heat began building low in my belly. He knew all the right things to say. Rick’s lack of attention toward Nathan hadn’t gone unnoticed by me. Or Nathan. So Jamison’s opposing attitude was refreshing, if maybe a little premature. His kindness and consideration made me want to go more than ever. Only…I loved Nathan, but with heat washing over me from Jamison’s words, Nathan was the last person I wanted to bring along on a date. I wanted to be me. Elodie. Not just Nathan’s mum for a little bit longer.

Biting my lip, and feeling guilty, I rang my mum. She answered with her usual chirpy tone, and I pictured her settling into the wicker chair that she’d painted bright yellow, which sat by her phone cradle. She was one of the last people I knew to still have a landline, but she insisted she preferred it to the smartphone she carried grudgingly. She asked how Nathan was, and I answered before cutting to the chase.

“You know that guy I hung out with last night?”

“The cute one? I remember,” Mum said with a laugh.

“He just asked me out.”

“I’ll be there to mind Nathan in fifteen minutes.”

“Wait, what?”

“That’s what you’re ringing for, isn’t it?”

“I feel really bad asking. You had him just last night—”

“And when was the last time you asked me to babysit before that? When was the last time you went out and enjoyed yourself?” Mum’s tone shifted to one of frustration. “I can’t even remember. Rick never bothered to take you anywhere, unless he needed to parade you around at one of his work functions.”

My mouth dropped open. I knew Mum didn’t particularly like Rick, but I hadn’t realised just how much until recently. The anger in her voice was evident.

“Plus, Nathan is my only grandbaby. I’m always happy to have him.” A little of my guilt over leaving him for the second night in a row eased.

We hung up and I quickly typed a message back to Jamison.

No need, found a babysitter. What time are you picking me up?

YES! Be there in an hour.