“I bet he was handsome.” She said it nicely, possibly the only reference she’d ever made to my looks without making fun. “He must have been.”
“Maybe. Guess we’ll never know, since there are no pictures.”
“Really? Are you sure about that?”
I shrugged. “None that I ever saw. I haven’t gone through every single box in the attic, so I guess it’s possible, but there wasn’t anything in her bedroom or any other areas of the house. I don’t think she was sentimental about him.”
“Still. He was her husband and the father of her child. Hard to imagine not keeping any evidence of his existence, even if it was just for your sake.” She put a hand on her chest. “I mean, I’m the least sentimental person I know, and I think I’d secret away something.”
“Maybe I’ll look around up there,” I said, although I wasn’t entirely sure I needed to see a picture of the man who’d abandoned my mother when there wasn’t anything I wouldn’t give to have her back. “I have to get all our stuff out of that house anyway. I’ve been putting it off, to be honest.”
“Why’s that?”
“Because there’s so much up there, and the vast majority of it is useless old shit that should be thrown away, and it’s hard to make myself do it.”
“Want some help?” she offered. “Like I said, I’m not sentimental at all. I’ll be ruthless. It could be one of our dates!”
I smiled at her. “That will not be one of our dates, but thanks for the offer. I might wait until my condo is ready, anyway. That way I’d have a place to keep things if I wanted them.”
“Alex said it will be ready in about a month?”
“Looking to get rid of me?” I gave her the side eye.
“Definitely.”
“Well, I talked to the guy yesterday, and he told me three more weeks at least. Apparently there was something wrong with the electrical.”
??Where is it?” she asked, tucking her legs underneath her.
I told her about the condo I’d chosen in a renovated skyscraper, its downtown location, and the awesome view I’d have of Comerica Park. “Although I’d rather watch from inside the park. I can’t wait to go to a game.”
“I noticed you wear a Tiger hat in a lot of your Instagram pics,” she said, pouring herself more wine.
“Wow, you’re really into me on Instagram, aren’t you?” After elbowing her gently, I took the bottle from her and poured myself more too.
She elbowed me back. “Be nice. Or no dates.”
“Oh, no. We already sealed the deal on those. You are stuck with me on several future occasions.” I set the bottle down. “So do you want to tell me about these rules?” I made little air quotes around the word rules, so she’d know what I thought of them.
She sat up straight, ignoring my sarcasm. “No sleepovers. No excessive cuddling. No getting mad if I don’t call or text back some days, no leaving things at my apartment, and no talking about feelings,” she finished, rolling her eyes.
I nodded slowly, like I was taking it all in. “OK, define excessive. Like, if I do this…” I took her wine glass and set it on the table before grabbing her in a huge bear hug, leaning over, and smothering her face with my chest. “Is this excessive?”
“Stop it!” She tried to get out of my arms, but I was much bigger and stronger. “I can’t even breathe!”
“So this is excessive? That’s what you’re saying?” I released her. “OK, good to know.”
“God, you’re such an asshole.” She moved away from me on the couch and smoothed her hair.
“Just want to be clear.” I picked up my wine glass. “That one seemed a little vague. The rest I think I’ve got—you want to sleep alone, you don’t want to talk all the time, and you especially don’t want to talk about feelings.”
“Right.”
“So those are all the things we can’t do. What’s on the yes list?”
She looked at me like I was crazy. “Sex. With a condom. For a limited time.”
I nodded. “Got it. Sex with a condom but without feelings for a limited time. And what do you have against feelings exactly?”