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“You wouldn’t be wrong,” Bea answered.
“Why didn’t you patch it?” Shira asked.
“I thought it best to let nature take its course.” Bea sucked on the end of her honey stick. “Good thing I’m planning to never have children.”
“To be fair, I really doubt you’d let your own child slowly bleed out,” I replied.
“You’re right.” Bea wagged her stick at me. “Too messy.”
“I’m messy!” Nellie squealed, gaining our attention. For a girl who’d been left to her own devices with a honey stick, she wasn’t too bad.
“Are you sticky?” I asked.
“Yeah, I’m sticky.” She poked at her chin, which had gotten the worst of it. “I don’t like that.”
Bea hopped up before I could and fished the wipes out from under the stroller. Pulling a few out, she crouched down to Nellie’s level. “Look at you, Miss Antonella,” she cooed. “Did you like that honey stick, darling?”
“It was yummy,” my daughter said. “But too sticky.”
Bea gently wiped her face before moving on to each finger. For a woman who didn’t want kids of her own, she was remarkably good with mine.
“Speaking of messy…” I tipped my stick toward myself.
Shira raised a brow. “You? You are immune to mess.”
Bea glanced over at me. “Is this where you give us a J-a-k-e update? I’ve only been waiting all morning. It’s about time.”
Shira’s eyes widened. “Oooh, J-a-k-e. Yes, please update us and tell us why you’re messy.”
Wording what had happened since the last time we got together in a PG way wasn’t exactly easy, and my daughter heard everything, even if she seemed like she was in her own world. After one of our brunches, she started telling everyone she met how much she liked champagne. I had Bea to thank for that one.
“The update is: he has a thirteen-year-old daughter, and she arrived after we had an unplanned sleepover,” I summed up as concisely as possible. “And now he wants to take me on a d-a-t-e.”
“Did you know he had a k-i-d?” Bea asked.
I shook my head. “No idea. He must have had her when he was a teenager, which is just—”
“Whoa…” Shira breathed.
“We didn’t get into the details. I’m not sure I want to know.” I was curious, naturally, but unless I decided to allow him deeper into my life, I wouldn’t go any deeper into his. “This is a bad idea.”
“Why?” Shira asked.
“I don’t have time, and his life seems even more complicated than mine.” I paused for effect. “The daughter has a mother who has a key to his place.”
Bea’s brow winged. “And you know this…how?”
I lowered my chin. “She let herself in when I was there.”
Bea booped Nellie on her now clean nose and returned to the table with us. “After being chased with a bat by an angry baby mama, I don’t deal with men who have k-i-d-s.”
“Only you, Beatrice.” I laughed. “This one didn’t seem angry. But do I want to get in the middle of whatever they are? I have a lot of doubts.”
“One date won’t hurt though, will it?” Shira chimed in with her voice of reason. “It might be nice.”
“It might end in a chase,” Bea added.
I laughed harder. “You guys were supposed to help me make a decision.”
