C.J. Carmichael - Love and the Single Mum

But no. He might not be breaking the letter of Belinda’s request, but he would definitely be breaking the spirit.

Reluctantly Robert turned away from the window. He checked out the street signs at the next intersection, got his bearings, then headed toward home. He walked slowly, in no rush to get there.

Oddly enough, he found himself thinking of Margo again. Damn, why hadn’t he just asked her? Are you married? Are these your kids? He’d been caught so off balance, all he’d managed to do was chat up the physiotherapist. And he wasn’t even interested in her.

Well, he’d be better off forgetting about both of them, he decided. He’d really blown things tonight.

AFTER ROBERT LEFT the bistro, Margo turned a blank face to Nora. “Was it something I said?”

Nora laughed. “Actually, I think it was something he saw.” She tapped the photographs. “He definitely got cold feet after he picked up these.”

“I don’t know how cold his feet were. He left with your phone number.”

“That was just business. I get that reaction all the time when people find out what I do for a living.”

Margo wasn’t so sure.

“Trust me,” Nora added. “He was planning to talk to you until he saw those pictures. Maybe he’s worried you’re married.”

Maybe. Margo looked at her ringless hands. Somehow she didn’t think that was it. “Oh, well. He looked kind of dull, don’t you think?”

“Not really.”

“You should have seen him in his suit.” In his dark blue pinstripe, Robert Brookman had appeared to be of the same ilk as her ex—a business-obsessed workaholic who scheduled evenings out with his wife with less frequency than his semi-annual dental checkups.

“I bet he looked really hot in his suit, too.”

Margo wouldn’t admit that Nora was right. “It’s probably just as well. My life is too hectic for romance, anyway. If he calls you, make sure you say yes.”

“I keep telling you—it’s not me he’s interested in. But even if he was…I’m not sure I’m ready to start dating yet.”

Nora’s expression grew sad and Margo knew she was thinking about Kevin.

Nora didn’t talk about him much. All Margo knew was that he’d been a cop, killed in a car accident before Danny’s birth. It was a loss from which Nora didn’t seem fully recovered. But Margo hoped that she would move on soon.

Kids were terrific. A job you loved was great, too. But there were times when Margo longed for more and she knew Nora did, too. With a sigh, she picked up her fork and took another taste of cake.

After a moment’s silence, Nora said, “Weren’t you going to tell me something about your ex?”

Good lord. How could she have forgotten? “I need more coffee before I get into that story. Hang on a minute.”

Margo hurried to the other room and slipped behind the counter. No customers were waiting in line at the moment so she had free access to the espresso machine. Sandy was clearing tables, while Edward made a show of rearranging the goodies in the display case.

A few minutes later Margo returned to the annex room with a fresh chai latte for Nora and a top-up to her mocha.

“So…?” Nora prodded.

“You’ll never believe this.” Margo settled back into the couch, then took a deep breath. “Tom’s getting married again.”

Nora looked shocked. “But didn’t you say his affair with the bimbo was over?”

“Apparently he started dating someone else, about four minutes after the first affair ended. The new bimbo is named Catherine and she works part-time in reception at a law firm. That’s all I know about her.”

Nora leaned closer as Margo relayed her conversation with Tom, practically word for word. “I’m just stunned,” she concluded. “I can’t believe my children are going to have another mother.”

“No—no, don’t say that,” Nora insisted. “You’re their mother. Not this Catherine person.”

“But what about when the kids spend time with their father?” Margo set the mocha down. Even chocolate, coffee and whipped cream couldn’t entice her tonight. “You don’t know Tom. He’s a traditional guy. He’ll expect Catherine to do all the cooking and cleaning up. She’ll be the one making Ellie’s and Peter’s lunches for school and washing their laundry and oh…”

Margo made a weird noise—she wasn’t sure if it was a sob or a choked laugh. “Listen to me, complaining about another woman doing the chores that I get so tired of sometimes. But as much as I hate the weekly grind of laundry and lunches, I hate even more the idea of Tom’s new wife doing it.”

Nora squeezed her hand. “I understand.”

“Do you?” Margo was still grappling with the enormity of this thing. “From now on my kids will be going on vacations with this woman. They’ll see new places with her, share new experiences. All without me.”

“But you’ll go on vacations with them, too.”

“That isn’t the point. The kids are little and I’m their mom. I don’t want to miss the first time they go skiing. Or visit a dude ranch. Or see Washington D.C.”

These were all trips she and Tom had at one time planned to take with their children. Now he’d be doing all that with Catherine.

“Poor Margo, I don’t know what to say. I’d go crazy in that situation,” Nora admitted.

Margo knew that she would. Although it was awful that Nora’s husband was dead, at least she didn’t have to worry about joint custody arrangements or stepparents or any of that messy stuff.

“Does Catherine have children?”

Good question. “I don’t think so.”

“Hopefully your kids won’t have stepsiblings to worry about.” Nora was working hard to find something positive to say.

“But that means Catherine will be clueless about kids.”

“True. Like in that movie Stepmom, when Julia Roberts’s character is so insensitive in the beginning.”

“Not to mention the real mother dies in that movie,” Margo pointed out.

“Okay, so that was a bad example. Sorry. I really am trying to make you feel better. Eat some more cake. I’m sure this Catherine will turn out to be a very nice woman.”

Margo took a bite of cake and wondered why neither Nora’s comforting words nor chocolate seemed to help.

“You need a distraction. Like that guy, Robert Brookman…”

“The guy who couldn’t get out of here fast enough once he saw a picture of my children?”

“Maybe I was wrong about that. As you said, he was probably worried that you might be married and just choosing not to wear a ring.”

“That’s an optimistic interpretation.”

“Tell you what,” Nora said. “If he comes by again tomorrow, you’ll know he’s interested. If he doesn’t…then start looking for someone else.”

“Someone else? I thought we’d just established the fact that neither of us have time for a man in our lives right now?”

“Hey, you were the one complaining about your ex-husband’s new fiancée. Don’t you know that the best defense is a good offence? Instead of worrying about the new woman in Tom’s life, I say you make him worry about the new man in yours.”

Friday’s Soup of the Day: Sherry Chanterelle

ROBERT STOPPED TO READ the specials in the bistro window. He’d always loved mushroom soup, he told himself as he went inside.

He couldn’t say what he was doing back here. The soup was a convenient excuse, but he knew better. He paused at the sight of Margo serving an older man. The two bantered with a degree of familiarity that made him unaccountably envious.

He wanted her to smile like that at him.

No question about it, he had it bad. Wouldn’t he feel like a fool, though, when he found out she was married with a parcel of kids? He joined the queue waiting to be served and plotted the best way to find out what he’d come here to learn.