it to a stray dog,” the boy next to her said, with a weird look of admiration in his eyes.
Jackie thought of the dog from the bulletin board, but he still had his head on enough not to blow his cover. That is until the boy put his hand casually on Jana’s back and rubbed it in a way that rendered him not just any boy. As if Jackie’s own horrifying thoughts weren’t enough, the voice of God came back, reminding him, Tampons lead to sex.
The boy(friend?) removed his hand from his daughter’s back and reached it out in introduction. “It’s nice to meet you, Mr. Campbell. I’m Conor. Conor Heslin.”
It was only then that Alison realized she hadn’t known Jack’s last name. Or had she? She was confused. It did sound familiar. The kid continued, “I’m a year ahead of Jana at Hudson.”
An older boyfriend, Jackie thought, while temporarily forgetting every other aspect of his life. All of the balls he’d been juggling dropped to the floor as he reached out his own hand and offered, “You can call me Jackie. All of Jana’s friends do.”
It only took a second for Jackie to comprehend what had happened, but of course it was too late. He felt the heat rush to his face in the way it does when you realize you’ve said the wrong thing and can’t take it back. He witnessed Alison snap to attention. Her revelation was evident in the change in her expression, from joyful to pained.
Jackie Campbell, the same name as her friend from the bulletin board. The one with the fourteen-year-old daughter. The hair on the back of her neck stood on end as she searched her brain for a logical explanation.
“Conor and I are gonna head over to the Karma Sutra for matchachinos,” Jana said.
Jackie switched back into parenting mode. He wanted to say, “If you have caffeine now you’ll have trouble sleeping tonight,” but he refrained. His head was running in ten different directions. He went with, “Get a rain forest muffin. They’re wicked good,” and hammered the last nail in his coffin.
They smiled and went off. Jackie took a deep, cleansing breath to prepare his thoughts. Alison just stood there, waiting.
“I was just about to tell you.”
“Really? You expect me to believe that?”
She felt foolish for the feelings she’d had just a few seconds before, foolish for subscribing to the fairy-tale scenario that she had been eternally warned to reject. She even felt a little bit frightened and exposed—especially having exposed her baby to him. She adjusted Zach’s stroller and quickly walked away. He chased after her, careful not to make a scene but desperate to fix the situation.
“Alison, you have to believe me. I was just about to tell you the truth when they walked up!”
“I have to believe you?”
She was furious, and hurt. Oddly hurt, actually. She thought she’d found a prince and he was really a troll. She picked up her pace while she vowed to never go down this quixotic road again. He followed. She stopped in her tracks and asked, “Is this a thing you do regularly? Catfish women online?”
“Cat-what?” He looked horrified. “No, let me explain! I didn’t know what to do when Jana got her first period. I was really lost, and my buddies from the train—you met them—they suggested I post on that ladies’ bulletin board. I really go by Jackie. I didn’t mean for this to happen.”
Alison kept her face free of expression—a technique she used in court to get people on the stand to further incriminate themselves—and continued toward home. He kept in pace with her.
“I would have told you right away, but it was never the right time. I’m not used to lying.”
“Well, you seem to have gotten the hang of it pretty quickly.”
“Come on, Alison, I stopped talking to you as Jackie as soon as we went out for dinner.”
She stopped again and thought. Did he?
And then she remembered his follow your heart advice and her fury rebounded.
“Seems like you can’t even keep your lies straight.” Alison the attorney’s shoulders squared.
Jackie was confused, and he should have countered, but he was more concerned with making things right.
“I should have told you on the train—or maybe when we were messaging. I don’t even know how I got in this deep. I’m so sorry. It’s just, I liked talking to you and then we met, and I really liked you and I was worried I’d blow it, that you would be