Page 53 of The Dating Charade

He used to think he was that way. But right now, he was only too aware of how far he fell from that line. What was expected of him? What was his right way?

One phone call and the kids could be shipped off to his aunt’s. One phone call and he could put on a shirt without it smelling—or looking—like it’d been dunked in a compost bin. He could sleep again. For hours at a time.

Take Cassie out. Get prime seats at UT games. Have day hikes in the mountains.

Is that what he wanted?

Is that what was best for the kids?

He hesitated in his thoughts, unable to stop the question that he’d asked himself most: was it possible to make both answers align?

He didn’t know. He felt stagnant, his ankles dug in quicksand, only capable to live in this moment.

Edie and Donna Gene, clad in their vibrant dresses and hats, chugged with their walkers into the bursting foyer, parting the people like the Red Sea. He ducked his head, just low enough to be level with the crowd around him. He was fond of them in teaspoonfuls. But letting his personal love doctors see him with a grown, beautiful female around? He’d already had enough drama for one day.

He turned his head slowly by equal degrees, keeping the ladies in his line of sight as he moved around Cassie like a circling shark. “I’m clumsy, eh? Well, I don’t recall being clumsy when you called us to save your cat from the burning skyscraper and lethal pine needles.”

Cassie swatted his arm playfully. “M-hm. So, do you care to explain what you are doing?”

“I’m hiding.”

“From whom?”

He pointed to the duo, who were currently sliding all the mints out of a decorative silver tray into their purses. “From the two women who keep our station in business.”

She leaned back, getting a view of the two before straightening up again. A smile crept up her face until it shone like a lightbulb. “They call the fire department often?”

“They’re on the once-a-week plan.”

“Well then, let’s not linger.” She bent several inches and began creeping for the coffee station.

He grinned, enjoying how utterly unconcerned she was about how she looked, and followed.

When they made it to the table, one glance back confirmed they’d reached safety; the women were now out the doors and moving slowly onto an idling bus.

Cassie wiped her hair from her eyes. “I’m afraid I’m to blame, actually, for your two fawning friends coming here today. The Girls Leadership Club took them to the parade. Afterward, I got them hooked up with a couple people from the church.”

“Well, they need a place like this to come to.” He picked up two of the upside-down cups from the sleeve on the table and passed one to her. “But for your sake as much as mine, I’m probably going to keep ducking out in public for a while. Hope you don’t find that too strange.”

“Ducking? Not at all.” She poured herself a cup and then poured a full amount into his. “I hide from my teens all the time.”

Her teens. The way she always spoke about her work at the Girls Haven, about the kids, denoted a relationship far beyond an hour or two of life spent together each week. Those kids took up a significant portion of her heart. Kids. Adolescents, younger than eighteen, well above the age of Dakota and Drew and TJ, but still in the same category nonetheless: kids. She loved them. Perhaps, when she found out the whole situation with him, she could make enough room in her heart for three more.

People everywhere, all the time, could change their minds when given enough motivation.

Was he, though, after only a handful of dates, enough motivation?

It was only then that he realized she had been as silent and thoughtful as he was, staring into her coffee as she stirred. He wondered what sorts of thoughts were running through her mind.

“Hey, Cassie—”

He heard a faint buzzing from somewhere inside her coat.

“Yeah?” she said as she pulled it out to check it. Her face changed.

She set her coffee cup down. Not a good sign.

“So sorry, Jett. I have to take this.”