Page 40 of A Simple Regret

Theo’s eyes are wide. “You do?”

“Absolutely. Do you like to take naps?”

Theo gives him a sheepish look and slowly shakes his head.

“Well, that’s too bad. All big boys need a nap.”

“I take nap wike Cam?”

Cam holds out his fist for knuckles, and when Theo leans forward and presses his much smaller fist against Camden’s bigger one, my boy giggles. “Okay, I take nap.”

“I’ll see you soon, little dude.”

“Bye-bye, Cam.”

Camden glances my way with a small smile turning his lips heavenward.

“Thank you,” I mouth.

He nods, goes to the little laundry area, and gathers his winter gear. He doesn’t say a word, just silently lets himself out of my house to return to his.

“Nap.”

I pull my mind back to my son and prepare him for his afternoon nap. After cleaning up his face and hands and using the bathroom, he lies down in his toddler bed and promptly passes out, a faint smile on his face from the amazing afternoon he had.

Returning to the kitchen, I finish cleaning up the table and wash the mugs. While they dry in the rack, my brain spins with more questions than answers. Should we go tomorrow? I know it’s harmless fun, and something Theo will love, but at the same time, it’s with Camden, and I’m just not sure spending that extra time with him is in our best interest.

I spend the rest of the afternoon catching up on laundry, tidying up the living room and kitchen, and deep cleaning the bathroom until it’s time for Theo to get up from his nap. We enjoy chicken nuggets and French fries in the air fryer, with a side salad for me. As I clean the kitchen from dinner, Theo watches TV and plays with blocks we unpacked earlier in the week, and before I know it, it’s bath and bedtime. After reading two books, he climbs into bed and chatters a little about his sledding adventures from earlier in the day, including not being able to tell Papa about making monster tracks.

As I walk back to the living room and grab my phone, I’m still undecided about what I’ll do tomorrow.

No, that’s not true.

In my heart, I already know.

I tap on the screen, pulling up a new message, and start typing the one name I haven’t searched in a very long time.

Me

Hi. It’s Maren.

I don’t know why I said that. My cell phone number is the same too, so there’s a chance my name will come up with the message. On the other hand, if he did delete my contact from his phone after we broke up, it’s probably a pretty short list of people who will be texting him, talking about sledding tomorrow.

Me

I’ve been thinking about tomorrow, and I still want to go. As long as the offer stands.

A few seconds later, I get a response.

Camden

It stands.

Me

We can go anytime.

Camden