Fluttering of the heart

3. On a Scale from 1–10, how likely would you be to date Justin again if the breaking the curse thing wasn’t a factor?

4. What words would you use to describe your date with Justin?

5. Any further comments?

Maddy was cracking up. “I’ve gotta give it to him, he does put in the effort.”

I was smiling at my screen. “Yeah, he does.”

“That was nice of him to stay with you.”

It was nice. Justin had impressed me. He was a little more than I’d expected, in more ways than one.

“So?” Maddy said. “If you weren’t breaking a curse together, how likely would you be to date him again?”

I twisted my lips thinking about it. Then I checked 10.

CHAPTER 12 JUSTIN

When I got to my apartment, Brad was in my kitchen eating leftovers out of my fridge.

“Hey,” I said, coming in, my dog jumping at my feet. “You didn’t have to wait for me.”

“I’m not. I’m having dinner.” He took a bite out of the pulled pork sandwich he’d put together. He nodded at it while he chewed. “I don’t miss your ass much, but I do miss your cooking,” he said.

I smirked. “I had grilled lobster for dinner. In the backyard of a mansion on Lake Minnetonka.”

“Daaaamn, you are pulling out all the stops for that girl.”

I sat down on my office chair and my dog hopped in my lap. “No, it’s a long story.”

He took another bite, leaning on the counter. “How was it? Do you like her?”

“I don’t think ‘like’ covers it,” I said, petting my dog.

“Reeeallly?”

“Yeah. Really.”

“Aren’t you guys supposed to break up though?” Brad asked.

That whole thing felt so unimportant to me at the moment, I’d almost entirely forgotten about the reason she’d come here. My goal had officially shifted. This was not a woman I wanted to end things with after four dates. I was already thinking of ways I could make our dates more special, things I could bring her or places I could take her.

I set Brad down on the floor and leaned over my keypad to send Emma an exit interview I made for her. “Hey, what do you think about Glensheen Mansion in Duluth,” I asked. “You think she’d like it? Should I take her there?”

Brad ate the rest of his sandwich. “Sure. That place is cool. So what does she think of you taking the kids in a few weeks?”

I felt the high from today evaporate. She didn’t know about the kids.

I didn’t tell her at first because I didn’t like to talk about it. And anyway, it wasn’t really going to matter since it wasn’t going to affect her. I never thought she’d come to Minnesota. In fact, I’d been pretty sure I wasn’t ever going to meet her at all. And now I had, and meeting her was bigger than I thought and I did have to tell her.

I wouldn’t have the kids forever, but it’d be long enough to matter. I wondered if that would change things for her.

I was getting ahead of myself. We’d been on one date. I didn’t even know if she liked me, and as of right now she was scheduled to leave in six weeks. I just had to focus on showing her a good time and getting to know her, and maybe, possibly, getting her to stay a little longer than she planned. I’d worry about the rest when I had to.

“I haven’t told her yet,” I said. “I haven’t gotten around to it.”

“Well, you better hurry. That shit’s coming up.”

“Yeah,” I said. “I know.”

He wiped his fingers with a napkin. “Hey, I saw your mom earlier.”

I kept my eyes to the screen. “Oh yeah?”

“Yeah. I actually wanted to talk to you about that. I think you need to spend more time with her,” he said.

My jaw flexed. “No.”

“Why?” he asked.

I turned to him. “Because I don’t want to?”

He shook his head. “I don’t think she’s doing great, man. She’s your mom. She needs your support.”

“I do support her. I’m dropping my whole life in a week to pick up the pieces she’s leaving. There’s not one thing she’s asked me to do that I haven’t done.”

“That’s not what I’m talking about and you know it.”

I looked away from him.

“Look, I get that it’s hard,” he said. “It’s shitty and fucked up. Nobody likes it. But she can’t undo it, man. She would if she could.”

“Yeah, well she can’t.”

Brad let the silence stretch out between us. It was useless arguing about this. Nothing he said would change how I felt. I could not forgive her for this. I didn’t want to spend more time with her or pretend like any of this was okay.

“I’m playing nice,” I said. “I do what she needs me to do. I’m polite and I’m speaking to her. And frankly that’s more than she deserves.”

I saw him give up the argument. He knew me well enough to know the conversation was over.

He pulled away from the counter. “All right. You’re gonna do what you’re gonna do.” He knocked a knuckle on the granite. “I’ll see you.”

“Yeah. I’ll see you.”

He let himself out.