Lunch at Hops and Barley is a good plan. The three of us request a booth in Lia’s section, and we hang out for a few hours. I tip my little sister well, knowing we likely kept her from turning her table to another set of guests.
“I love seeing you guys here. How was your game?”
“Not bad. We tied,” Antonio shares with my youngest sister.
“That isn’t the ’portant part of today, Aunt Lia,” Emilia shares.
“Important?”
Em nods furiously.
Lia continues, “No? What is?”
“Auntie Frankie has a boyfriend.” Em giggles like an old lady who shared juicy gossip.
I shake my head. Lia raises an eyebrow at me. “I have to get to my other tables. Apparently, we need to chat, big sis.”
I wave her off, and we finish our food. A call with Lia will commence once she finishes her shift, I’m sure. It isn’t even fair to say Tommy is my boyfriend. We haven’t even been on an actual date yet. When we arrive at their house, we play catch with Bogart and Newman in the yard for a while before I send Antonio to shower. Once he’s done, I assist Emilia. I don’t really have to do anything except make sure all the shampoo is out of her hair.
“Are you going to marry Ellie’s dad?”
Sigh. “We met a few days ago, Em. I can’t answer your question.”
“Oh, okay.” The sadness in her response is noticeable. I don’t even know if Tommy wants to get married again. I can’t answer her question when we haven’t even kissed yet. I want to kiss him, but waiting for the decision about my bid is more important right now than a budding new relationship. Besides, it’s only a week.
I have no doubt Liam will make waves about seeing Tommy and me speaking to each other this morning. Hopefully it won’t impact the bid or Tommy’s job.
“Auntie.”
“Yeah, Em?”
“I’m ready for you to check my hair.”
I slide back the shower curtain and check her hair. “Great job, Em.” I shut off the water. “Dry off and put on some clean jammies. Mommy should be home in less than an hour.”
“Okay.”
I leave the bathroom and locate Antonio drawing in the living room. “All good, Bud?”
“Yup.” Normal kid answer, check.
“Mom should be home in a little while,” I share with him as well.
“Okay,” he replies without ever looking up.
I grab a water and take a seat on the back porch, watching the dogs bask in the fading sunlight. Lina arrives sooner than I expect.
“Hey, Frankie. How did it go today?”
“Hi, Lina. They were great. We went to soccer, then lunch to see Lia. They both showered but haven’t eaten dinner yet.”
“Thanks. Will you be at dinner tomorrow?”
“Yeah, why?”
“Just checking. Please don’t say anything about….”
“Did he stop into the bank this morning?”
Lina nods. “I’m leaning toward saying yes, Frankie.”
“As you should. You deserve to find happiness outside of the kids and work.” Lina has put everything else before herself as long as I can remember, even more so after Derrick shot Luca.
“Thanks, but I’m still not ready to share with anyone else.”
“No, worries. I have my own stuff to deal with.”
“Want to talk about it?” Lina offers.
“Thanks, but I need to talk to him.” I have hashed this out enough and shared as much as I plan to with Emilia and Lina for now. Even Emilia sees our attraction to one another.
“Go call him,” Lina urges.
“Have a good night, kids. Love you,” I say while walking through the house.
“Bye, Auntie,” Emilia shouts.
“Bye,” Antonio mumbles and barely looks up from his drawing.
I shake my head, pet the dogs, and bound down the stairs to my truck. The only way to sort through this is to talk to Tommy. My phone buzzes as I drive home. I step inside, toe off my shoes, drop my keys in the bowl, and head straight for the wine rack.
With a healthy pour, I settle on the master balcony before checking my phone.
Lia: Spill the beans, sis.
Me: Nothing to spill right yet. We met, I said yes to a date. We ran into him at soccer this morning.
Lia: How old is his kid?
Me: She’s twelve and a skilled soccer player.
Lia: I won’t pry more, except when is the date?
Me: Next weekend.
Lia: K, love you.
Me: Love you most.
I sigh and take a heavy gulp of my wine. I’m all twisted in knots, and I barely know him. I don’t know whether to embrace it or run the other way. I decide to embrace it and text Tommy.
Me: Are you free?
Less than a minute later, my phone is ringing.
“Hi.”
“Hi. How was lunch?”
“Pretty good. Yours?”
“Ellie chose my specialty. We came home to eat.”
I smile. “What is your specialty?”
“Gourmet grilled cheese.”
“I’m intrigued.”
“Are you a foodie?” His question is more like a prayer, as if saying he is too.
“I might be.” My response comes out unintentionally coy.
“Sweet.”
I exhale, knowing we need to discuss Liam. “How well do you know Liam?”
His response is not what I expect. “Well enough to know he’ll lodge a complaint against me before I get to work on Monday.”
Defeated, I mumble, “Do I need to withdraw my bid?”
“No, absolutely not! There must be a better way to handle this.”
I’m heartened by his fierce defense of my work. “Thank you.”
“We didn’t do anything wrong. We met before the presentation and innocently ran into one another afterward.”
“Yet there could still be repercussions for both of us.”
“Only because Liam isn’t capable of seeing he isn’t the only landscape architect in the area. I’m probably breaking some unwritten rule, but Liam has been a consistent applicant for numerous projects for the last two years. He hasn’t been successful yet.”
Even though it shouldn’t, the information does make me feel better. My silence echoes along the line. I have been walking a razor-thin line avoiding sharing how much this project would mean to me and my company. It took gumption and courage for me to submit a bid for the Cooper project.
“Frankie, did I lose you?”
“No, I’m here. I’m… wrestling with how much to share about my dealings with Liam.”
“You don’t have to share anything right now. He doesn’t have the best reputation. His references say he’s difficult to work with but the result is worth it.”
“All right. Tell me more about this gourmet grilled cheese.” We spend the next hour talking about grilled cheese and other ordinary dishes Tommy makes gourmet.
“I’ll talk to you tomorrow. Good night, Frankie.”
“Good night, Tommy.”
I end the call, throw my phone on the cushions, and polish off my wine. Nothing else for me to do except try to get some sleep. I may have given my presentation, but the nervousness hasn’t ended.