Just a Number(100)

My silence is all the confirmation she needs. “Seriously? Didn’t you just get separated?”

“Almost two months ago, yes,” I reply, my voice hoarse. “Look, Samm, we didn’t intend—”

“To fall into bed with each other?” she asks, a disbelieving smirk on her face. “That doesn’t just accidentally happen, Owen.”

I have to bite back a smirk of my own and a quip about how that’s actually exactly how all of this began—our falling into bed while intoxicated being the event that sparked our relationship. Instead, I shake my head. “I get that, but that’s not what I was going to say. Neither of us saw this turning into something worth having to explain to anyone.”

“So you planned to just sleep together?”

“Don’t cheapen it,” I say defensively. “It was a mutual decision between two consenting adults.”

Samm sits across from me, staring at me in silence for a minute, and I can actually see that she doesn’t seem nearly as upset as Alan. Actually, she doesn’t seem upset at all. Just confused and curious.

“Owen,” she begins, “I didn’t come out here to give you a hard time. Lord knows I have no room to judge a relationship with an age gap, given my husband is seven years younger than me. Alan’s phone call was confusing, and quite honestly, it scared me. I’ve never known him to be that angry or hurt by anything—not even when we divorced—and I worried. I care about him, and I love Amy…and you. I needed to know if I was understanding him correctly, and if I was, I wanted to be there for him.”

“So, you’re not mad?”

“Mad? No. A little bewildered, maybe, but not mad.”

“Have you talked to him since?” I ask. “What about Amelia?” It’s probably a stupid question, because surely she’s tried to call Amelia.

“I called Amy’s phone earlier this morning, but she didn’t answer. I also stopped by her place first, but she wasn’t home. I figured, if I was right, I’d find the two of you together.”

After taking a sip of wine, I tell her, “She’s with Alan. I loaned her my car and told her to go talk to him.”

“Was that a good idea with him being as upset as he is?”

“He won’t hurt her,” I assure her.

“Not intentionally,” Samm says softly. “But you know as well as I do that Alan has two methods of coping: overreacting—which I’m guessing you’ve experienced first-hand based on that bruise—and withdrawing. His silence could hurt her worse than anything he might say.”

“Well, she’s had enough of his silence over the past few days. She needed to try and break through,” I explain, setting my glass on the coffee table.

Accepting this, Samm nods. “Is it serious?”

“I’d say the situation is pretty serious, yes.”

Samm laughs lightly. “No, doofus. You and Amy. Is it serious?”

It’s definitely weird talking to Amelia’s mother about our relationship. Though, I suppose as long as she’s not asking for details or punching me in the face, I should be okay.

“Yeah, it is. Like I said, we didn’t expect it, but it happened.”

“As long as she’s happy, then I’m happy.” A pause falls between us again before the mood in the room turns deadly. “But, so help me, Owen, if you hurt her, I will end you.”

Swallowing thickly, I nod, my eyes widening as I take in the serious tenor of her tone. “Noted.”

“Does Gretchen know?” Now there seems to be a lilt of humor in her tone, momentarily giving me emotional whiplash; Samm’s always hated Gretchen. I really should have picked up on this before marrying her. I probably could have saved myself a lot of heartache and money.

Of course, on the flip side, had I never married Gretchen, I could have met someone who made me happy and then I’d still be married and not with Amelia. Somewhat of a Catch-22, I suppose.

“Not really,” I reply. “She knows I’m with someone, even implied it was Amelia before we’d decided anything. But she doesn’t know who.”

Samm seems almost disappointed. “Pity.” Yup. That’s disappointment. “Can you imagine the look on her face when she finds out?”

I shake my head at Samm’s positive outlook. Her view compared to Alan’s is refreshing, yet somewhat off-putting; but it’s also very Samm. She’s always been a pretty free spirit, never seeing a person’s age as a reason why they can’t be with someone. Which I suppose makes sense given her husband, Will, is almost a decade younger than her.