MAGGIE

It’s a few days later before I’m finally feeling back to normal. After several days of brief interactions and too-short glimpses of Tyler’s gorgeous smile, I’m ready to see him again. Alone.

I’ve been thinking of Tyler Daniels during every waking moment and dreaming of him while I sleep. It’s all I can do not to reach out and grasp him every time we pass in the hallway. I don’t know what’s come over me, but it’s working; I feel more alive than ever.

Luckily, we have a date tomorrow, thanks to the girls. The canoe trip Tyler promised if the girls didn’t get along is set for Saturday afternoon, and the fact that today is Friday has me whistling through my chores.

“You’re peppy,” Emily says. “Anything to do with seeing Mr. Dad of the Year tomorrow?”

I shrug. “Maybe, maybe not.”

“I offered to stay with Mila last night if you wanted to go over there.”

“I can’t always be the desperate one.” I hiss as I fold the laundry and Emily pours herself a second glass of wine. “We’ve barely had a chance to talk all week. How would it look if I showed up at his door with a bottle of wine?”

“Uh, like heaven?” Emily gives me a blank stare. “I mean, he’s a man. He’s probably thinking about what happened the other night and trying not to seem too eager to get back into your pants. You know, manners and shit.”

“Manners and shit.” I frown. “I wish he’d just say that, you know?”

Emily raises her glass. “Amen, sister.”

“Is it...wrong of me to be enjoying this so much?”

“What are you talking about? You’re both single, at least one of you has been on a sex fast for most of your adult life, and you guys have more chemistry than a high school science lab.”

“Yes, but...don’t you think it’s dangerous? We both have kids involved. If things go south...what will it mean for Mila and Jess? Tyler could decide to return to New York tomorrow.”

“He could.”

“And then what?”

Emily stares at me for a long moment. “Don’t tell me you’re thinking of going with him.”

“I’m not.” I hesitate. “I mean, not seriously. My life is here, my family, you’re here, my job...”

“You’re seriously thinking about it.”

I raise my eyebrows at her in answer.

“You can’t leave us!”

“I’m not! I just...Tyler is talking about marriage.”

“No wonder you’re whistling like Tweety Bird.” Emily cracks a smile. “Don’t look so dumbfounded, though, Maggie. You’re a catch—he’s probably not wasting any time because he’s thinking he wasted enough time over the last decade, so why not go for what he wants?”

“Maybe.”

“I mean, it’s not often a man gets another chance at a woman he let slip through his fingers.” She stands, tossing a stray sock onto the bed as she drains her wine. “Why don’t you go over there tonight? I’ll kick back and watch a movie with Mila.”

“Uh, he has Jess,” I tell her. “And it’s not happening. We don’t need to rush things.”

I don’t realize I’ve drifted off into a daydream until Emily snaps her fingers. “Earth to Maggie—I’m folding all the towels, here, while you’re in La-La land.”

“Sorry.”

“It’s fine! I just want you to be careful. Make sure he’s going to stand behind what he says; if he makes you fall in love and then breaks your heart again...”

“I know. That’s precisely why I’m not going to fall for him. Not so soon,” I correct at Emily’s stare. “We’ll see how long he can handle this town. If he doesn’t last a month, at least we’ll know we tried.”

“I think I hear Mila calling for you,” Emily says. “I’m going to head out. Let me know if you need anything.”

“I told her to clean her room,” I say with a roll of my eyes. “I’m sure she’s trying to get out of it.”

“Well, you know where I’ll be.” Emily strolls toward the door but, on second thought, she returns for the bottle of wine and a glass. She swipes them both up and waves the bottle at me. “Call if you need anything. You’re looking at my Friday night right now.”

After locking up behind Emily, I head to Mila’s room, my arms folded across my chest as I steel myself to play the tough-mom-card. Mila’s upset because I wouldn’t let her go over to a friend’s house tonight because she hadn’t cleaned her room all week.

I’d asked her to do so over one hundred and three times. She didn’t listen, which means she’s stuck home on Friday night, picking up books and Barbies and clothes instead of eating cake with her friend. I know, I’m horrible.

“Mila?” I ask, my heart breaking as I see her sitting on the bed, soft sobs wracking her shoulders. “Mila, I’m sorry that I made you stay in tonight, but honey, do you understand why?”

I inch over toward the bed, wanting to pull her close and apologize. Equally, I want her to grow into a mature, responsible adult who realizes there are consequences to her actions. The only problem is that sometimes, playing the police-mom is hard. I’ve always hated being the bad guy.

“Mila, you know I love you very much, right?” I put my hand on her knee and rub it back and forth. “No matter what, I’ll always love you. You can tell me anything. I’m sorry about Andrea’s house tonight, but we talked about this. You had all week to clean your room, and look at this mess.”

Mila plays hard, a fact that I love about her, but it does have its downsides. Like the fact that the floor is invisible under the sea of stuffed animals, and I’d almost broken an ankle this morning stepping on a Barbie Jeep.

I try to remind myself that she could’ve cleaned up instead of watching TV last night, or worked on it this morning instead of playing jokes on Jax over breakfast. She’d chosen not to, hence the reason we are sitting here on a Friday night. All the logic in the world, however, doesn’t ease the pain of watching my daughter cry.

“Mila, I understand you’re upset about Andrea,” I continue, “but it’s important—”

“It’s not about Andrea!” Her small voice arrives as a shriek. “I don’t care about Andrea’s house.”

“Oh, okay. Well, then why are you crying, sweetie?”

Mila shakes, trembling, her face scrunching into a pained little ball. It breaks all the resolve I have left and, after kicking Barbie Jeep across the room, I scoot on the bed next to her. “Talk to me, honey. You know I love you. Tell me what’s wrong.”

“This.” Mila reaches next to her on the bed, and I see a piece of paper sitting there. I missed noticing it in my single-minded focus on my daughter. “Our stupid test.”

“Oh, honey. It’s okay. I already knew about that.” I pick up the exam with marks taken off from the day when she and Jess had gotten in trouble during the quiz. “You learned your lesson, didn’t you? One bad grade isn’t going to ruin everything.”

When Mila doesn’t respond, I pick the paper up and study it.

“Are you sad about this?” I press. “It’s okay. We’ll study together for the next one.”

“It’s not the bad grade,” she says. She peers at me through watery eyes, a hopeless expression there that kills me. “I lied.”

“About what?”

“Do you promise you’ll still love me?”

I wrap her in my arms. “No matter what. You’ll always be my baby, Mila. You can talk to me about anything.”

“Jess didn’t want to talk to me. She was...she helped me on the test.”

“What do you mean?”

“She let me peek at her paper. I didn’t know some of the answers and Jess knew that, so she let me look at hers. Then, my teacher caught us. Jess didn’t want to do it. She only got in trouble because of me.”

“Oh, Mila.” I don’t know quite what to say. “Thank you for being honest. It’s okay—hey, honey, we’ll sort this out.”

Mila’s sobs wrack her shoulders until her eyes are red and her voice is nearly gone. “I’m sorry, mom. I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay, honey, it’s okay. But you’re not going to do it again, are you?”

Mila shakes her head.

“We’ll study harder for the next one, you and me. In the meantime, I think Jess might be owed an apology.”

“Yeah, I suppose.” Mila nods. “Mom? Why didn’t she say anything in the principal’s office?”

I give her a crooked smile. “Sometimes, friends watch out for each other. Being honest is important. But Jessica probably didn’t want you to get in trouble alone.”

“Jessica is my friend?”

“Sure sounds like it to me. But I do think you owe her an apology.”

“Yeah,” Mila says, softly. “I guess so.”

“I’ll tell you what. I’ve got some brand-new ice cream in the freezer. Let’s grab it and head on over there—we’ll bring it as a peace offering.”

“What if Jess doesn’t like me anymore?”

“You can only apologize and try to be the best friend that you can be. The rest is up to her.”

She considers this for a moment. “Ice cream is probably a good start. Also, she likes Jax’s chocolate chip cookies. Can we make some for her?”

I pull her close and kiss her forehead. “Now you’re thinking like a great friend.”

As Mila pulls away, excited, I catch my heart beating just a little bit faster at the thought of seeing Tyler tonight, if only for a few minutes.

For Mila’s sake, I hope Jess forgives her and the two move forward and become friends.

For my sake, I hope Tyler and I can be friends, too...or more.