Page 7 of Every Time We Touch

“You’re not family yet,” she replies, then goes quiet again. She glares at me while she sips her drink.

“Fair enough.”

“I understand where my dad is coming from with…” She wiggles her fingers vaguely in my direction. “You. I get it. I’m neither blind nor stupid.”

“Thanks.” I make sure the sarcasm in my voice can’t be missed.

“But what’s in it for you?”

“This isn’t about a tango lesson, then.” I’ve been trained from a young age to smile through the most excruciating pain. This is nothing, so my smile is broad and, possibly, infuriating for Jen.

“Okay.” Jen digs her phone out of her purse. “Cards-on-the-table time.” She taps her phone a few times, then shows me the screen. “Does this woman look familiar to you?”

Ha. It’s the woman with the impossible shoulder line I matched with on the forgotten dating app. Did Jennifer St James catfish me to prove some sort of point?

“Yes.” I nod. “We matched on Sparkz a few days ago.”

“But you’re with my dad?” Jennifer puts the phone on the table between us.

“What is this? How do you know about this?”

“This is my friend Marcy.” She points at the phone. “We were scrolling through the app and, all of a sudden, there you were.”

“And she swiped right on me?” One thing’s for sure, dating someone with no kids is a hell of a lot easier than this. “As a test?”

“Correct.” To her credit, Jen does squirm a bit in her seat.

“A test proving what exactly?”

“I don’t really know.” Jennifer gives a small shake of the head. “How about you tell me?”

Perhaps I should be offended, maybe even show her the door, but it’s not what I want. There’s something about her turning up here that intrigues me.

“Do I really need to defend myself for not removing a dating app from my phone yet? Eric and I haven’t been seeing each other that long. It’s really as simple as that.”

“So, you’re bi?” Jennifer holds up her hand. “Sorry. I actually have no right to ask you that question. I just—I was flummoxed by seeing you on there.”

“It’s okay. You’re concerned about your father and a little upset that he’s dating someone so much younger than him. Believe it or not, I get it. I went through the same thing with my own father.”

“You did?”

“The wedding was last year. Oh, the fun I had.”

“Do you get along with your dad’s new wife?”

“Yeah, I mean… it’s not hostile between us. We don’t hang out on a regular basis, but we’re friendly enough. It’s just something you have to accept, but—” I tilt my head. “Eric and I are a very long way from anything like that. As you just discovered, I’m still on the apps, although I no longer use them.”

“How much younger is your dad’s wife?”

“A lot.” It’s still kind of hard not to grimace, although I also see the irony in that. “Blair just turned thirty. She wants to have a baby. I might still get that sibling I never had.”

“Oh, shit.” Jennifer chuckles. “How old is your dad?”

“Sixty-eight.”

Jennifer puffs up her cheeks, then lets the air escape slowly. “There’s a lot to unpack here.”

“Would you mind if we left it all neatly wrapped up?” I can ask, although that’s not why Jennifer is here.