“Oh!” my mother said, stepping back. “What—I mean, who is this?”
“This is Declan.” Cole squatted down so he was at Declan’s level. “Declan, these are our new neighbors. This is Allie and...” He looked at my mom. “I’m sorry, what did you say your name was again?”
“Jen.”
“And her mom, Jen.”
Declan, with big blue eyes and shaggy, light brown hair, grinned up at us. “Hi,” he said.
“I’m not a new neighbor,” my mother said. They both looked at her in confusion. “Just Allie is. I’m only visiting. I’ll be returning to the city later today.”
“I go to preschool,” Declan said.
“You do?” I asked. “How old are you?”
“Four.”
“What preschool do you go to?” I was going to be starting my new job on Monday at the Learning Center, which was a preschool the next town over.
“The Learning Center,” Declan said proudly.
“Well, isn’t that something!” my mother said. “That’s where Allie is going to be working. That’s the whole reason she moved to this town to begin with—because they offered her a job! Not that there aren’t plenty of teaching opportunities in Boston, either.”
“They’re not really interested in hearing about that, Mom,” I said. “Anyway, it was nice to meet you both, and it sounds like I’ll be seeing you soon, Declan.”
“Yeah, great meeting you,” Cole said. “Sorry to rush off like this, but I’ve got to get Declan to school, and I’ve got a full day of patients.”
“So, you are a doctor,” my mother said.
Cole smiled. “Have you been inquiring about me?”
I winced inwardly. This whole first meeting was really going great.
“Diane had mentioned it,” I said quickly.
“My dad’s the best doctor,” Declan said. “I want to be a firefighter when I grow up, though.”
“That’s a very good job to pick,” I said. “Firefighters are very brave.”
“I am brave! Look, I can pick up this spider.” And he leaned down and plucked a rather scary-looking spider from the edge of the driveway. I almost jumped out of my skin just seeing the spindly legs and the black, bulbous body, but I forced a grin. “You are very brave,” I said. Instead of squashing it, like many little boys his age would have, Declan carefully walked the spider over to the front lawn and put it down. “It’s not bad if spiders get into the house,” he said. “Because then they’ll spin webs and catch other bugs, like mosquitos.”
“All right, bud, let’s say bye and get in the car,” Cole said. “It was very nice to meet you two.”
“You too,” I said, and I waved at Declan as he went over and climbed into the back seat of the car.
“He wasn’t wearing a wedding ring,” my mother said once we were back in the kitchen.
I tried not to roll my eyes. “Of course you would notice that. And just because someone isn’t wearing a wedding ring, it doesn’t mean that they’re not married.”
“I got the distinct feeling that he wasn’t, though.” She sighed. “Not that you want to get involved with a man who has a child. That’s a whole Pandora’s box that’s probably better left untouched.”
“Kind of ironic coming from someone who did exactly that,” I said, though of course she had a point. If she had never gotten involved with Bill, he never would have tried to come into my bedroom when I was a teenager.
“Allie, I don’t want you to think I’m not supportive of your decisions,” Mom said. “It’s just that I can’t help but worry about you alone up here. I mean, you’re living in a house all by yourself! What if you need help with something?”
“Like what? Opening a jar of pickles? I lived alone when I was in Boston, too, Mom, and I somehow managed just fine.” It was when I was living with her and Bill that things weren’t so great, but I didn’t bring that up.
“So what have you got planned, other than work?” my mother asked. “Not that there’s much to do around here.”