He arched his brow. “Really? Hope would like me to come?”
“Yeah. But if you have plans, don’t worry about it. I already explained to her that it was such short notice and that you were probably busy.”
“I don’t have any plans tonight. Besides, if she invited me, how could I say no?”
“Okay. Oh, another thing. I’m sorry to spring this on you at the last minute, but would it be okay if I got off early to attend Hope’s Halloween party at school? It starts at two o’clock.”
“Of course.” He smiled. “I’ll tell Tony to drop you off.”
I was going out on a limb here, but I couldn’t help but ask.
“You know, I think Hope would be thrilled if you came.”
“To her school Halloween party?” he asked in surprise.
“Yeah. Just an idea. Don’t worry about it.” I waved my hand.
“Okay. I’ll go.”
I stood there in shock that he actually said yes. On the inside, I was dancing.
“Okay. Great. Thank you. She’s going to be so surprised.”
****
We arrived at Hope’s classroom and the look on her face when she saw Jack and me walk into the room was priceless. She ran over and hugged us both.
“Jack! What are you doing here?”
“Your mom invited me. Look at you. You’re such a beautiful Cinderella.” He smiled.
“Thank you, Jack. Come meet my teacher.” She took hold of his hand and led him over to Miss. Strong.
“Miss. Strong, this is my friend, Jack. He’s my mom’s boss.”
“I see. It’s nice to meet you, Jack.” She smiled.
“My pleasure, Miss. Strong.” He smiled back with his charming smile and I wanted to vomit.
As the children were playing games and running around the classroom, Jack looked over at me.
“Hope’s teacher is really hot. I wonder what my chances are of getting her to go out with me.”
A wave of jealousy crashed over me. “She’s not that hot and I think she’s seeing someone.”
“What a shame and I think she’s very hot.” He smirked.
As I stood there and stewed over his comments, Addison’s mom walked over to us.
“Hello, Lorelei. I would like you to meet my boyfriend, Curtis.”
“Hello, Jane.” I gave a fake smile. “Nice to meet you, Curtis. This is my boss, Jack Sutton. Jack, this is Jane, Addison’s mom.”
“Ah, nice to meet you, Jane. Curtis.” They all shook hands and I rolled my eyes.
“Hope tells us that Addison is switching schools.”
“Yes. This wonderful man is inviting us into his home and, to be honest, the school district over there is way better.”
I couldn’t help myself and I couldn’t resist. “How long have you two known each other?”
“A couple of months. But it was love at first sight. We met on Match.com. He’s my soulmate.”
“Really?” Jack spoke up. “Lorelei just joined Match.”
“You did?” Jane asked with a surprised tone.
Fuck you, Jack.
“Yes, I did.”
“Anyone special yet?”
“No. Not yet. Hopefully, soon. I’m still weeding through the prospects.”
“Well, good luck to you. I hope you have the same luck I did.”
“Thank you.” My fake smile grew wider.
The two of them walked away and Jack began to laugh.
“Does your face hurt?” he asked.
“Yes. ‘It was love at first sight. He’s my soulmate.’ Whatever!”
“It sounds to me like you’re a little jealous.”
“Who? Me?” I pointed to myself. “I’m not jealous at all. It’s just the way she said it.”
“Sure.” He chuckled.
“Now if you want to talk about someone being hot, check out that dad over there. It doesn’t look like he’s wearing a ring either. Hey, Hope.” I called to her.
“Yes, Mommy.”
“Who’s that man over there with that little boy?”
“That’s Jonathan’s dad. Jonathan was the boy I told you about last year whose mom died of cancer.”
“Oh yeah. Poor kid.” I bit down on my bottom lip.
“So are you going to go hit on the poor man who probably is still grieving over the death of his wife?” Jack asked with a smirk.
I smacked his arm and walked away.
We stopped at Jack’s penthouse first so he could change his clothes before going to my parents’ house. It didn’t make sense for him to drive us home, go home and change, and then come back to pick us up. I told him that we’d meet him there, but he insisted on driving us.
I had called my mom earlier to let her know that Jack would be coming over. She seemed thrilled because she wanted to thank him for taking care of Hope, plus she was dying to meet him.
As we sat at the table eating dinner, Nick and my mom talked to Jack as if they had known him for years. It was weird but nice to see at the same time. When dinner was over, Nick, Hope, and Jack went to the living room while my mom and I cleaned up the kitchen.
“He’s such a nice man. Nothing like you made him out to be.”
“As long as you don’t work for him, he is, I guess.”
“He adores Hope.”
“I know he does.”
“So there’s really nothing going on between the two of you?”
“No. There isn’t. Jack and I are just friends. In fact, I’ve joined a dating site.”
“What? I don’t think that’s safe, Lorelei.”
“Gotta get out there and start dating again, Mom, and it’s hard to meet someone when you just can’t randomly go out because you have a kid to take care of.”
“We can babysit if you want to go out. You know that.”
“I know, but I’d feel guilty just going out for the hell of it to try and meet a guy.”
Hope ran into the kitchen. “Come on, Mommy. It’s time to go trick or treating!” She smiled.
I put on my coat and the three of us headed out the door. As Hope was busy running up to people’s houses, Jack and I stood on the sidewalk and waited for her.
“Tell me why you told me you hated kids?” I blurted out.
He glanced over at me for a moment and then looked straight ahead.
“I don’t hate kids, Lorelei. I don’t know how to explain it. Growing up with Kit was difficult. She blamed us for everything, including the breakup of her first three marriages. When you’ve been told that so many times, you start to believe it. I remember sitting in my room one night and I heard her and Peter, her second husband, arguing. He told her that she should send Coco and me to boarding school because we’d just get in the way of their relationship and things would be better if we weren’t around.”
“That’s awful. She didn’t send you away, did she?”
“No. But she did send us to live with our grandmother for the entire summer after they were married. That was the compromise they made. I always felt like a burden to my mother and her relationships. Peter wasn’t very nice to us. In fact, he hit me a couple of times and told me that Coco and I were ruining their relationship and he wished we’d just leave. Let’s just say that him and alcohol were best friends.”
“Oh my God, Jack. How old were you?”
“I was twelve at the time. My mother blamed us for my dad leaving because she couldn’t accept the fact that he couldn’t handle her career. Nothing was ever her fault. So when Peter left her, of course she blamed us. She said we were disobedient and she should have listened to him and sent us away. I hated myself back then because she was my mother and I believed her.”
“You don’t believe that now, do you?” I asked.
“No. She was to blame for all of her failed marriages. But, in the back of my mind, every time I saw a child, I would think of my childhood and the things that were told to me.”
“Did you ever seek therapy?”
He chuckled. “No. But maybe I should have. What about you?”
“My father passed away when I was ten. My mom met Nick when I was fifteen and she married him when I was sixteen.”
“He seems like a great guy,” Jack said.
“He is and he’s done so much for us. It wasn’t until after Brett’s funeral that I told them I was pregnant. My mom sat in her rocking chair and cried for hours, but Nick was the voice of reason and told her that we were a family and we’d get through it.”