When Dewayne had asked if he could bring dinner and visit Micah tonight, I had wanted to make up an excuse. I wanted to relax after work, and being near Dewayne was not relaxing. But I knew how much Micah would love this, so I had said okay. And now here I sat, taking the world’s smallest bites of a slice of pizza while my stomach growled from missing lunch today. When Dewayne left, I was going to eat a piece of leftover pizza. Maybe two.
“Isn’t that right, Momma?” Micah said, and I snapped back to attention and blinked, focusing on my son.
“Uh, is what right?” I asked, feeling like an idiot.
“Don’t you have a date tomorrow night?”
What? Why was he talking about that? I had asked him if he cared, and then I’d talked to Tabby, who had been thrilled that I was going on a date with Vice Principal Dodge. However, this wasn’t Dewayne’s business.
I simply nodded and shoved a larger bite of pizza in my mouth.
“He’s a principal,” Micah added with pride. He had taken the idea of me dating much better than I’d anticipated.
“Principal?” Dewayne asked, his eyes now completely focused on me. I swallowed the pizza and took a drink of water. Then I nodded and forced a smile.
“Where?” Dewayne asked, not looking happy about this at all. “I thought you said you didn’t date. You had Micah and that was enough.”
Whoa . . . wait a minute. Anger simmered in my blood, and I sat up straighter and leaned forward, glaring at Dewayne with a warning I hoped he understood. “Cam Dodge. He’s the vice principal at the high school, and if I get asked out by a nice man who doesn’t think I’m average, that’s my decision. I did ask Micah how he felt first, and then I spoke with Tabby before agreeing to this date. Your mother was thrilled.”
Dewayne clenched his jaw and didn’t flinch. “Where did you meet Cam Dodge?”
I was done. This was over. I stood up and threw my napkin on the table. “None of your business,” I informed him, and began clearing off the table.
“She met him in the bread aisle at the grocery store. He was really nice to her,” Micah offered since I wasn’t talking. That kid didn’t know when to keep information to himself.
“The bread aisle?” Dewayne asked, as if he was horrified by the idea.
I took several deep breaths before turning around to face him again after setting dirty dishes in the sink. He was welcome into Micah’s life, but he was not welcome into mine. I didn’t need his approval.
Just looking at him made me crack just a little. I hated that he affected me like this. I placed my hands on my hips. “Yes, Dewayne, the bread aisle. We discussed white bread and its healthy alternatives. He was nice to me. It felt good. Six years, Dewayne. Six very long years. I think I’m due a dinner date.”
Dewayne flinched this time. I smiled at him, although it didn’t reach my eyes. I was angry. I wanted him to leave. But he was here for Micah. It was time I gave them some alone time.
“I’m going to soak in the bath while you two play. Come get me when Dewayne leaves,” I told Micah. Then I forced my gaze back to Dewayne. “Thanks for dinner. It was delicious.”
I turned and walked toward the hallway.
“You barely ate any of it,” Dewayne called out to me.
“Don’t want to gain any weight and dip below that average line I’m walking,” I replied, then slammed my bedroom door behind me.
Squeezing my eyes closed, I took several calming breaths, then began to strip. I was ready for a long soak in the tub with the new bath salts Hillary had given me to try out. She wanted her employees to sample products she carried at the salon so we could recommend them. I loved that idea because I would never let myself splurge on things like bath salts.
Micah’s laughter in the living room reminded me why Dewayne was here, and I let my anger and frustration with him go. He had come to see Micah. He was protecting Micah. As insulting as it was for him to question my choices, I was glad he wanted to be a part of Micah’s life. I needed to learn to take the bad with the good.
From now on when Dewayne came to visit Micah, I would just take really long baths. I could eat more in here too. It was a win-win situation. The good thing about Dewayne being a jerk was that at least I wasn’t going all silly around him. His beautiful body and face didn’t get to me anymore.
Well, almost.
* * *
“Momma, I’m taking Dewayne outside to show him Daddy’s star. Okay?” Micah called through the door a long time later.
I had gone outside with him last night to help him find the biggest star we could see. He believed it was Dustin. So I let him believe it.