Marrying Mister Perfect
what
your job was. That makes me a terrible friend, doesn’t it? All I
remember about the time you moved in was that the twins were
starting to walk and refused to sleep at the same time so I’d
become this zombie-mommy monster who never had enough hands—”
    “But still managed to make me insanely
delicious deserts and stop by three times a week just to make sure
we were doing okay.” Kelly had probably saved her sanity in those
early months.
    Kelly blinked. “I did that? Huh.” Then her
lips curled in her usual crooked smile. “When you put it that way,
I sound pretty fabulous. You’re lucky to have me, you slacker.”
    Lou grinned. “Amen.”
    “So what did you do, pre-kids?”
    “I studied languages. I wanted to be a
simultaneous translator—mostly because I wanted someone to pay me
to fly to exotic locales. I was working as a French tutor and
teaching English as a second language when Emma was born.” And
Gillian had passed away and suddenly Jack had needed her. “I took a
couple weeks off to help, just to get Jack through the funeral and
help him find someone permanent.”
    “Long couple weeks.” Kelly’s bright eyes were
unusually serious.
    “That was the year of the teacher
strike.”
    Kelly shook her head, not comprehending. “But
TJ and Emma would have been too young for school.”
    “They were. But all the kids who normally
would have been in school were home. There was a run on qualified
childcare. Daycare waiting lists were a hundred names long and a
good nanny could name her price. I hadn’t been making that much at
my teaching jobs and so I offered to play nanny for Jack for a
while. It was never supposed to be permanent, but I fell completely
in love with those kids. TJ was such a charmer and Emma was growing
so fast.” And she’d been hopelessly in love with their father.
    “So are you going to go back to work? Now
that you’ll be able to?”
    “I don’t know if I could. I’m so out of
practice. And the idea of starting from scratch and pinching
pennies for a room in a tiny apartment is pretty unappealing.”
She’d been spoiled by this life. By not having to worry whether the
bills would be paid. She felt like a divorcee who’d been out of the
workforce for four years, but she wasn’t even going to get alimony.
“I don’t know what I’ll do.”
    Which sounded too much like I don’t know
who I am for comfort.
    She’d gotten so comfortable in this life. Lou
knew she used to feel passionately about things other than the kids
and Jack, things that were just about her, but now she couldn’t
even remember what that passion felt like.
    “Do you ever feel like you’ve forgotten how
to be the kind of person who chases her dreams?”
    “Truthfully? Not really. But I’m not a big
dreamer. Give me a peaceful afternoon with a good book and I’m
happy. But that doesn’t mean the way you feel is wrong.”
    “Yes, it is,” she insisted. “Because it’s all
a lie. A giant game of freaking pretend and there’s no magic wand
to wave to turn it into a real life.”
    Kelly frowned. “You lost me. Or I’m already
drunk.” She eyed the glass in her hand. “This batch is a little
strong, isn’t it?”
    Lou shrugged and took another drink. She
could use strong today. The last few weeks had been hell on her
emotions—a part of her almost wished Jack would go already so she
could stop praying for a stay of execution.
    The sliding door whooshed open.
    “Lunch is served.” Jack stood in the opening,
carrying a tray piled high with meat and wearing the expression of
a conquering hero. Lou felt something tight in her chest loosen at
the sight of him—and as soon as she realized it had, her stomach
soured.
    That was who she was. The girl who
silently adored Jack too much for her own good. The girl who pinned
her entire future on the fantasy that someday he would love her
back. Jack was right to do the show. She couldn’t be that girl
anymore.
    #
    “The Challenges are character

Similar Books

All-Bright Court

Connie Rose Porter

Forgiving Jackson

Alicia Hunter Pace

Trolls on Hols

Alan MacDonald