was, he didn’t want her. Hadn’t she been the one to start it this time? He had probably only hugged her for comfort, not to seduce her, but she had taken the ball and run with it. He could have stopped her, but after that awful emotional display of hers, maybe he was afraid of hurting her feelings. What could be more embarrassing? Or horrifying?
“You’re right,” she said, folding her arms against a sudden gust of cool air. Or maybe that chill was her heart turning to ice.
“Are we still okay for Sunday?” he asked.
“Of course. What time is good for you?”
“Why don’t I come by around noon? I’ll bring lunch.”
That had quite the “family” ring to it. The three of them having lunch and spending the afternoon together. But she didn’t want to discourage him, not when he and Max had gotten along so well tonight. Because this was about Max, not her. “Um, sure. That would be great.”
“Great. I’ll see you Sunday.” He stepped off the porch into the darkness, and though she was tempted to stand there and watch him go, she had Beth to deal with. She stepped back inside but Beth wasn’t waiting by the door.
She found her in the kitchen pouring a glass of wine. “Rough day?”
“It’s not for me,” Beth said, corking the bottle and putting it back in the fridge. Then she held the glass out for Ana. “It’s for you. You look like you need it.”
She did. She took the glass from Beth. “I take it you weren’t just in the neighborhood.”
“Let’s just say I had a hunch that a phone call wasn’t going to cut it. Too easy to ignore if you’re otherwise occupied. Besides, I’ve always preferred the direct approach.”
Ana took a swallow of wine then set the glass on the counter. “Good idea.”
“If I hadn’t shown up, you would have slept with him, wouldn’t you?”
She had been two seconds from dragging him to her bedroom. Or hell, they may have done it right there on the kitchen counter. It wouldn’t have been the first time.
Her look must have said it all, because Beth folded her arms, cocked one hip and said, “Forget Max. You’re the one who needs supervised visits.”
“No, because it’s not going to happen again. We just decided that it would complicate things too much.”
“He says that now—”
“No, he means it. I think that was just his polite way of saying he’s not interested.”
Beth’s brow furrowed. “Then why put the moves on you?”
“He didn’t.”
Beth looked confused, then her eyes went wide. “You seduced him?”
“I tried.” Ana shrugged. “I guess that lean the other day wasn’t a lean after all.”
And the hug had been nothing more than a friendly gesture. He didn’t want her eighteen months ago, and he didn’t want her now.
“Oh, sweetie,” Beth said, pulling her into her arms for a hug. She was getting that a lot today.
“I’m so stupid.”
“No you’re not.” She held Ana at arm’s length. “He’s the stupid one for letting you go in the first place. He doesn’t deserve you.”
“Yet I still love him.” She wished she could turn her feelings off like a spigot, the way her father did. She wished that she were stronger. And she wished this wouldn’t hurt so much. “I’m pathetic.”
“You just want to be happy, and you want your son to have what you missed out on. A complete, cohesive family. There’s nothing pathetic about that.”
Max might never have a mommy and daddy who loved each other, but it was possible that he would at least have two parents who loved him. If that was the best she could do for her son, she could live with that.
Six
Nathan sat in his office Tuesday afternoon, browsing on his phone the photos Ana had emailed him of his visit Sunday. Though he had spent a couple hours with Max Thursday, and nearly the entire day at Ana’s on Sunday, it didn’t really hit home the bond that had begun to form between him and Max until he saw pictures of the two of them together. He hadn’t realized how alike they looked. Not just features, but expressions and mannerisms. And he hadn’t noticed the adoration in Max’s eyes when he gazed up at him. The kid was really taking to him, and Nathan couldn’t deny the tug of parental affection.
Ana, on the other hand, seemed as though she could take Nathan or leave him. He had hoped they might get a chance to talk about what