Regrets Only by Erin Duffy

Author:Erin Duffy
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2018-03-20T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 11

THE DOORBELL RANG on Wednesday at 5:30, just as it should have, and I glanced over at Bo sitting quietly on the floor in his elephant footie pajamas, playing with a giant blue block, and wondered if I would ever have to tell him the story about how I attacked his father with manicure scissors in a restaurant. Would Owen tell him? If Bo approached him one day when he was a teenager and told him about some crazy girl who taped pictures of herself all over his locker or something, would Owen say, “That’s nothing. Did I ever tell you about the time your mom cut my hair off at dinner?” I couldn’t believe how fast I’d spiraled that this was now something I had to worry about. Antonia hopped off the couch to get the door, which was wonderful, because I was too tired to move.

“Nice hair,” Antonia said as she opened the door and tried desperately to stifle laughter.

“Come in,” I said from my seat at the bottom of the stairs. Antonia stepped to the side and Owen stepped into the foyer. He immediately scooped Bo up off the floor and stretched his arms above his head, turning my little boy into a chubby little airplane, making him laugh, and coo, and squeal, because he loved his dad. Owen’s shirt rode up above the waist of his pants, exposing a thin strip of toned muscle and taut skin, and part of me wanted to go rub my hands across it the way I used to, because those feelings didn’t just go away no matter how much you wanted them to.

“Do you have anything to say to me?” Owen asked. “I’m done being the punching bag, Claire. I’ve dealt with the beans, and the holes in my clothes, and the Craigslist ad, and even the Facebook post, but you went too far Saturday night. That was so out of character for you I’m beginning to worry that you’re not stable! It stops now. All of it,” he ordered. It didn’t bother me much, because he didn’t mean much to me anymore, so I shrugged.

“I’m sorry I cut your hair. I wish I had waited until after dinner. The soufflés looked delicious.”

“Fine. Don’t apologize.”

“She could do a whole lot worse to you than that and wouldn’t owe you an apology, Owen,” Antonia said.

“Were you on a date?” he asked, which made me smile. He’d noticed Fred. I felt vindicated knowing that Owen was aware that other people were interested in me, even if he wasn’t.

“None of your business,” I answered, and I loved being able to say that, too, especially because it was true.

“No, I guess it’s not. For what it’s worth, I don’t love the idea of you seeing other people either, but I want you to be happy.”

“Thanks for the endorsement.” I pulled Bo’s diaper bag off the hook near the basement stairs, and picked his overnight bag up off the floor. I hated giving him to Owen.

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