“Marsh, does Bay think she might stay? Does he know this is just temporary?”
“Kids know things on a variety of levels.”
“Meaning he’s holding out hope.”
“I’ve talked to him. I’ve explained that relationships change, and one day some people realize that they just can’t live together. I told him that’s what happened with his mom and me.”
Tracy knew what was coming. “And so then Bay said, if relationships change, maybe yours will change back, and you’ll want to be a family again.”
“How did you know that?”
She shrugged. “Maybe because I was a kid so long myself, I just know the way they think. I grew up kind of late. Like maybe last year.”
She realized she had said just the right thing to break the ice. He grinned, and she felt the warmth of it moving across her body.
“Bay’s crazy about you.”
“And I guess I’m—”
Marsh’s pocket began to play “Wild Thing.”
“I’d better get that.” He pulled his phone out of his pocket and held it to his ear, stepping away from her as he did. She didn’t pretend she wasn’t eavesdropping.
“Uh-huh.” He listened a few moments. “Right. So far so good.” Listened some more. “The chocolate sauce is in the door of the refrigerator, and the strawberries are in the freezer. Yes, he can eat strawberries. He’s not two anymore.” And listened some more. “I don’t know when I’ll get home, Sylvia. We’re waiting for a table.”
He closed the phone and put it back in his pocket, but he didn’t resume the position he’d abandoned.
“Ice-cream sundaes?” Tracy asked, as pleasantly as she could.
“She’s out-of-date on what he can do.”
Tracy struggled to be charitable. Some struggles were hopeless. “Bay is her son, and that’s pretty basic stuff.”
“Tell me about it. At least she’s making a stab at being his mother. Maybe she’s even serious. It remains to be seen.”
She was encouraged that Marsh hadn’t fallen for Sylvia’s story hook, line and sinker. “I kind of get the impression she’s interested in being a wife again, too.”
“Nah, you’re way off base.”
“She seemed pretty territorial when I was there.”
“She’s territorial by nature. She’s used to going after anything that moves. That’s who she is and why she’s so good at her job.”
“Her job…” Tracy smiled tightly. “I always thought attorneys had trouble taking time off. And she’s been here, what, almost two weeks?”
“She brought work. Bay’s still coming to my office after school when he’s not at the rec center, so she can make phone calls.”
Tracy tried to imagine that. Sylvia was in Palmetto Grove to see her son, but she didn’t want to see him in the afternoons when he was actually free? She saved work to do then? Why? So she could be finished in the evenings when Marsh came home?
“Enough about my ex,” he said, as if he was reading her mind. “How about yours? Any more mysterious CJ visitations?”
She was still thinking about Sylvia and growing more annoyed that the woman was still in Marsh’s house. “Just a couple.” Then she realized what she’d said. “Umm…not really.”
He was not smiling now, and he didn’t look as if he intended to in the near future. “Which is it? Not really? Or my personal favorite, just a couple?”
“Okay, there seem to be a lot of men in the world who resemble CJ, and now that he’s, you know, out of jail, I seem to see them everywhere. But it’s no big deal.”
“Maybe you’re conjuring him.”
“Like creating him, you mean? I don’t think so, thanks. If I did, he’d be materializing on a mountaintop in Nepal. Or maybe an active volcano. Do they have volcanoes in Nepal?”
“Maybe it’s good we cooled things down.”
For a moment the words seemed to hang in the air between them; then she slid off the railing so they were face-to-face. “Exactly what do you mean by that?”
“Wild Thing” began to play again.
“Maybe you ought to just keep the phone in your hand,” she said. “Saves you rooting around in your pants. Although if this conversation doesn’t change direction, you’re certainly the only one who’s going to be tonight.”
He held up the hand under discussion and spoke into the phone. “What, Sylvia?”
Tracy cocked her head and lifted an eyebrow.
“Of course he doesn’t want to go to bed,” Marsh said. “It just got dark a little while ago. Sure he can watch television. Tomorrow is Saturday. Just make sure it’s something appropriate.” He listened. “You have a law degree, Sylvia. You should be able to figure this out.” He closed