An Innocent Thanksgiving

Jenn was grinning at me like a maniac as I finished up. “I can’t believe it! I thought Fern was going to be in high school by the time you let someone make a move on you. And he sounds sexy as fuck. I’m proud of you.”

“I’m not sure you should be.” Impulsively fucking the father of my child twice in as many weeks after not seeing him for five years wasn’t exactly what I’d call good decision making.

“Why not?”

“It’s… it’s complicated.”

Jenn made a noise of dismissal, waving her hand. “Honey, when is it not? It’s about time you did something for yourself, and I’m proud of you for acting on that instead of telling yourself all the reasons why you shouldn’t. You never got to be impulsive and young, and I know you don’t regret Fern—I mean who would, she’s precious as fuck—but you have to admit being a mother has limited you. You shouldn’t regret doing something that you enjoyed.”

I wanted to agree with her, and if the man I’d slept with had been literally anyone else, I probably would have. But this was Cal. This was the one man in the world I shouldn’t have given into—and of course the one man that I wanted.

I couldn’t escape the feeling that I was thoroughly fucked, and not in a good way.

17

Cal

I was nervous about showing up unannounced at Maggie’s house a second time, but I wasn’t going to risk not seeing her or Fern again. It was hard to know where to push and where to let Maggie lead—which was why we needed to talk this out properly, dammit. Without Maggie clamming up and putting up walls, or the both of us giving into temptation yet again.

That was the catalyst for my decision to show up again. I missed both Maggie and Fern something fierce. I wanted to keep getting to know Fern, to be in her life, and I wanted to find some way to repair things with Maggie. I fucked things up five years ago but that was five years. Things changed, people changed, and these lonely, frustrating past two days had taught me that I wanted these two girls in my life—and I’d do what I had to so I could make it happen.

Now I just had to hope that Maggie would forgive me for showing up without warning again. She hadn’t reached out to me, though, and calling would give her a chance to come up with excuses for why I shouldn’t come over. Mark and Violet had told me a few times on Thanksgiving that Maggie worked from home, so I was pretty damn sure she’d be in.

When I knocked on the front door, though, I didn’t get an answer. Hmm. Maybe she was out on a walk with Fern? Or ran out to the store? How long could I stand here and wait until it became creepy?

“Take that!”

That was Fern—her voice was coming from around the corner. She sounded like she was valiantly vanquishing enemies.

Looking down a bit, I saw there was a kind of rock path that led around to the back of the house. I followed it, Fern’s voice growing louder and louder, until I got to what looked like a shared backyard for the duplex.

Sure enough, Fern was running around kicking and punching an invisible enemies, and Maggie was standing there watching her. But she wasn’t alone—another woman was with her.

Crap. I was sure that Maggie had friends, of course, but I hadn’t thought that there might be company over when I stopped by.

I knew the moment that Maggie saw me, because her body went stiff. “You’ve got a bad habit of showing up without warning,” she told me as I walked up to join her.

“I’m sorry,” I replied, and Maggie actually looked taken aback at that, like she hadn’t expected me to genuinely apologize. It almost felt like I was apologizing for more than just showing up unannounced, more than just this one moment. I smiled, to try and make it a less serious moment. “My manners are deplorable. Comes with being an eccentric artist type.”

Maggie rolled her eyes, but she looked fonder about it than she had before. Her friend next to her looked positively delighted by this entire exchange. I turned to her. “I’m Cal, by the way, I’m an old friend of Maggie’s.”

“An old friend?” the other woman replied, and there was a mischievous, knowing tone in her voice. “I’m Jenn, and I’ve been dying to meet you.”

Next to her, Maggie blushed, and I grinned. “Has Maggie told you about me?”

“Just the important parts.” Jenn winked.

I liked this Jenn.

“Please don’t become friends,” Maggie mumbled, sounding mortified.

“Too late,” Jenn replied with a gleeful cackle. “So, Cal, what brings you here on this fine, fine Tuesday evening?” Oh yeah, I definitely liked her. We were going to be friends, I could tell.