“Yeah, me and a huge trust fund I did nothing to deserve.”
“Okay, you’ve had stable finances. But moving half-way across the country from your family, following your dream, establishing yourself as an artist … isn’t that taking care of yourself?”
“I seem to be able to manage it in my professional life. I just suck at it personally. But,” she pulled a pan of cornbread out of the oven, “I’m going slowly with Sam. Until I figure it out.”
Cynthia ladled chili into bowls. “You’ve figured it out. You just haven’t been brave enough to admit to yourself — and to Sam — that you’re in love with him. That’s all.”
• • •
In the following weeks, Amanda’s life seemed as golden as the remaining autumn leaves on the trees in her backyard. She heard nothing from Eubie Kane, who appeared to have crawled back into the weeds. The lawyers continued to negotiate, burning money she was happy to spend from the trust fund she knew could keep her in attorneys for decades. She wasn’t sure that Eubie was in the same position.
Her professional life was blooming. The details of her solo show in Tacoma had been nailed down. A gallery owner from San Francisco contacted her about placing her work with him there. With her work in Liz’s gallery as well as the Erickson Gallery in Seattle, she was in the happy position of worrying whether she could produce enough to meet the demand.
And her personal life? It was off the charts. Dinners, movies, and nights with Sam made the weeks rush by in glorious bliss. Cynthia was right. Soon she’d have to admit she was in love — first to herself and then to Sam.
• • •
After dinner one Saturday night, Sam said, “Are you ready to talk about something personal about us?”
“How personal?” She was sure she sounded wary.
“Meeting my sons. They’re getting pretty curious about you.”
She was sure she looked startled. “How do they even know about me?”
“They always ask what I’m up to on the weekends I don’t see them. They’ve noticed that I’m going out more and Sammy, the older one, asked what the name of the woman was who was going with me. He prides himself on being a good detective.”
“Like his dad.” She closed her eyes for a moment. “I’m not sure. How’ve you handled this before when you’ve dated someone?”
“They’ve never met anyone I’ve gone out with. After the divorce, their mother and I agreed we’d be careful about introducing them to people who would float into their lives and then walk out when the relationship ended. We didn’t want to add any more stress than they were already under from the split.”
“You get along better with your ex than some people do with their spouses.”
“I don’t know about that but we do have the same ideas on how to parent our sons. We agreed, no overnight guests when the boys are around and, like I said, no introductions to anyone unless it’s more than a casual relationship. And this isn’t a casual relationship any more. At least, not for me. But you have to decide if you’re up for it. I haven’t said anything to them but if you’re okay with it, I thought maybe next Saturday you could have lunch or something with us.”
She took a deep breath and made the leap. “Okay, I guess it’s time. How about meeting at the dog park? If they hate me on sight, at least Chihuly will interest them enough to get us through an hour. But if everyone gets along, you could all come here for lunch.”