“I guess not that important,” she finally said. “Why’d you wait to tell me until after Tony asked me out?”
“I didn’t think he’d have the balls, oops, excuse me, because he’s got a girlfriend. They’ve been together for almost ten years. And frankly, I wasn’t sure about dating someone with a child. But after being around you, I’ve come to the conclusion that any kid of yours would be great.”
“Is that right?” Grabbing her cup, she waited for him to move so she could get by. “Back to work. So long.”
Trying to put what he had said out of her mind, by the time Tony called her that night and she called him back, she had vacillated between sadness and outright anger, but at that moment, she was disappointed. There was no response from him for a few seconds, and when he finally spoke, she was relieved. It wasn’t ideal, but at least he didn’t lie.
“I did have a longtime girlfriend, but we broke up last night. It’s been coming for a while. The relationship was sort of fueled by inertia.” He cackled. “She used to say that the only reason we stayed together was because it would take too much energy to get out of it.”
Waiting, she didn’t know what to say at first and then decided honesty and openness was the only way to go. “I’ve never had a long relationship. I might as well be up front with you. Everyone probably thinks because of my baby, you know, it was from a serious relationship. It’s not that I didn’t want that, but it never happened.”
“Are you still involved with the baby’s father?”
“No. He lives back East. I hardly know him. This will sound terrible, but we were together for a week, and it happened fast. He only got in touch once after that, and when he found out I was pregnant and going to have it, he never called me again.”
“Ew, that’s harsh.”
“Actually, it’s wonderful. My biggest fear was that he’d come back and want to take the baby back East with him. My attorney sent him a letter giving him the option to sign off on any parental rights in return for not having to pay child support for the next eighteen years, and he took it without hesitation.”
Tony didn’t reply, and suddenly, Bridget got nervous, like that might have been too much information. “Look, I’m trying to be up front about everything. I hope you won’t share that with anyone else.”
“Never. I’m thinking about this guy—how can he give up his kid? But how glad I am that he did.”
“Me too,” she said with a big sigh of relief.
“You should know my father is probably going to give us some grief. He liked my ex-girlfriend, but it was more than that. Her father is a friend of his. This town is so interconnected, especially the Italian population.”
“She’s Italian, too?”
“Yes, but it doesn’t make any difference to me. You’re Irish, right? I’m excited about dating an Irish girl.”
“Oh, is that right?” she asked, laughing, relieved the conversation steered away from babies and irresponsible fathers. “My parents will be thrilled if they find out I actually went out on a real date with someone local. They won’t care where you came from.”
“How’d they take it when you had the baby?”
“Well, when they found out, it was horrible. I waited until I couldn’t hide it anymore. My sister was like, ‘Ah, are you trying to tell me something?’ So I told them I was pregnant and that I wasn’t going to marry the father, that was never even an option, and they were in travail for about a week. But when Flynn was born, everything changed. They love him so much!”
“They want to babysit, right?”
“Right! You remembered.”
So two topics discussed openly and averting catastrophe, they made plans for their picnic.
Tony chose to tell Big Mike and Roberta about breaking up with Patty as soon as he could because the longer he waited, the more satisfying it would be to let them find out when Patty had a meltdown, which was bound to happen.
On Friday morning after his first full night’s sleep in five days, he ventured down to the kitchen before Big Mike left for the station. On behalf of the job, Big Mike would try to hold it together. If Tony had waited until the weekend, the possibility that he’d explode existed.
“What are you doing up?” Roberta asked.
Tony had to bite his lip when he saw his mother. It was six thirty in the morning, and she was dressed for, well, no one ever knew exactly what she had in mind except that Big Mike liked it. Her bleach blond hair, done up in a poufy style from the nineteen sixties, topped the glamorous look she was going for. Dangly earrings, false eyelashes, blue eye shadow, pink frosted lipstick and a little pink blush high on her cheekbones rounded out the look. Then a tight, buttoned leopard-printed cardigan with the sleeves pushed up over her elbows, a few buttons left undone to show an ample amount of youthful cleavage, a gold chain with a locket holding pictures of her sons with room for grandchildren, and skintight white capris took care of her ensemble. But what amazed Tony was that his mother still wore stilettoes, even as she prepared her husband’s breakfast.
“Ma, don’t your feet get sore?” her boys had asked.
“So what’s a little soreness? My husband goes off to risk his life every day. If he doesn’t make it home, god forbid, I want him to see me like this one last time. It’s what Big Mike likes.”
Big Mike sat at the table reading the San Diego Tribune, drinking coffee, and waiting for a plate of eggs to be put down in front of him.
“Pop, Ma, I have something to tell you.”
Roberta looked at him with a spatula in her hand. “You want eggs?”
“No, sit down, please, Ma.”
Big Mike put the paper down and looked at his son. “What?”
“Patty and I broke up for good.”
“Oh no, why? You two have been together forever. Her father is going to give me hell.”
“Just a minute, Mike,” Roberta said before he could go off on a tangent. She placed his perfect eggs, three sunny-side up, with six perfectly straight strips of bacon and four perfectly buttered pieces of toast on the table in front of her husband of thirty-five years. “Let Anthony talk.”
“There’s nothing else to say. It’s been a long time coming, and I finally had the nerve and a reason to do the deed.”
“The new EMT?”
“Yep.”
“She’s a cutie, son, even though she has a baby.”
“I’m okay with the baby.”
“But you got Patty’s cherry—”
“Oh, Mike, for God’s sake, and at the breakfast table?” Roberta cried with her nostrils flared.
“It is what it is, Bertie. And it’s no secret, they were together for ten years, so it doesn’t take a rocket scientist. How am I going to face her father?”
“George is no angel,” Roberta said, slapping a dish towel on the edge of the counter. “Don’t forget Napa.”
“Ha! I did. So I’ll use that if he gives me a hard time.”
“What happened in Napa?” Tony asked, glad for his mother’s memory.
“Don’t tell him,” Big Mike pleaded.
“The hell I won’t. When we all went up there for a wine tour, George stayed out all night. Nine months later, the owner of the vineyard slapped him with a paternity suit.”
“Patty has a sibling?” Tony asked, frowning. “That’s intense.”
“They recently had to tell the kids because the child wants a relationship with the family.”
“Patty never said a word to me,” Tony said.
“She’s probably angry about it,” Roberta said. “Tina almost divorced George at the time.”
“Promise me you won’t say anything to Patty about this,” Big Mike implored. “It could get ugly.”
“I’ll probably never speak to Patty again, so no worries.”
“Oh, I wouldn’t be too sure about that,” Roberta said. “So now this girl, the EMT, the girl you’re interested in, she’s the one with the baby, right?”
“Correct,” Tony answ
ered, waiting for the recriminations.
“How’s the van working out for her?”
“She loves it,” Big Mike said, faltering. “I forgot that she brought cookies for us the next day. I should have told you.”
“But you ate them all.”
“Yes, I knew you wouldn’t want anything like that around here.”
“I’ll write her a thank-you note.”
“Ma, I need you to help me make a picnic lunch for tomorrow.”
“What is with my boys inviting girls out for picnic lunches and then getting me to do the work? You should learn this for yourself.”
“I’ll watch, but the food won’t be as good as yours. Besides, I told Bridget, that’s her name, that you were going to help me.”
“Oh Lord, another Irish girl,” Roberta moaned.
“I told you,” Big Mike said, smirking.
“What’s with my boys and Irish girls?”
“What? Who else is Irish?” Tony asked.
“Ah, Candy, who else!”
“They must be from different parts of Ireland, then, because Bridget has jet-black hair, and Candy’s hair is as orange as a pumpkin.”
“Tony, that’s not the way it works,” Roberta said, laughing at her son. “Go back to bed. You gave us your news, and the world didn’t come to an end.”
“I haven’t talked to George yet, so it still might,” Big Mike said, whining.
“Sorry, Pop,” Tony replied. “Have a nice day at work, but please don’t say anything to Bridget about our little chat.”
“I might and I might not,” he said. “Come to think of it, why didn’t Mike ask her out?”
“Mike’s getting serious about Aisling,” Roberta said. “Another Irish girl, I might add, another picnic lunch.”
“Oh, marone! Spare me,” Big Mike cried, holding his hands prayerfully to the ceiling. He pushed away from the table, jarring it so it rocked. Roberta grabbed a vase of flowers from tipping over in the nick of time. “This man, like a bull in a china shop.”
After Big Mike left, his diesel truck vibrating the windows in the kitchen, Tony remembered the stroller. “Ma, can you help me pick out a stroller for Bridget’s son? She doesn’t have one, and I’d like to surprise her with one.”
“Yes. Go to sleep and let me regroup from Big Mike. That man can knock the wind out of the sky.”
Tony quickly made his exit, cackling under his breath. His parents were like a comedy act.
Unable to keep the news of their acceptance of his breakup to himself, he reached for his phone and called the station office. “Hi, can you talk for a minute?”
“Connie is still here, so only a minute.”
“I told my parents about the breakup and that we have a date,” Tony said, and Bridget could sense his relief.
“Well, good for you. Should I hide from Big Mike today?”
They giggled over the phone. “You might, but I think he’ll be okay. He told my mom about the cookies, and she said she’d write you a thank-you note.”
“Aw, that’s not necessary. Here comes Connie. I’d better go.”
After they hung up, he lay back down against the pillows, thinking about Bridget, how different she was from Patty and how glad he was of that. Guilt over everything would keep him from true excitement about the new relationship, but he thought that might be good. It would prevent him from jumping into anything too quickly, or so he thought.
***
After talking to Tony that morning, Saturday couldn’t come soon enough for Bridget. It was a busy fire day with brush fires at the sides of roads, probably from smokers throwing lit cigarettes out windows. Big Mike was kind and solicitous toward her, and Bridget would let Tony know as soon as she could. All in all, it had been an excellent first week at work, made even better by the generosity of the Saints and their camper van.
Friday night after nursing Flynn and getting him in his crib, hopefully for the night, she adhered to her routine. After cleaning her apartment, it was all about self-care, not waiting for someone else to make life happen for her. She planned Friday nights down to a tee. Pizza—delivered, not frozen—a movie she’d looked forward to seeing, and one glass of wine. Any more than one glass and baby Flynn got an upset stomach. The pizza was a bit over the top, but it also lasted for the weekend, so she didn’t have to think about her solitary meals.
The date with Tony on Saturday had become an icon already, something she’d wished to avoid. Disappointment would be too powerful if he turned out to be a jerk. When the movie was over at nine, she did her weekly beauty routine. Instead of a morning shower, she’d get in the tub with a bath bomb. Legs and toes and even arms shaved if necessary, it was the scourge of her heredity.
“Clark women are hairy, so get over it,” her granny had advised the girls.
Since the baby, she didn’t have the time or the money for pedicures and manicures, and beauty night gave her the chance to do that, as well. But in spite of trying not to do it for a man, thoughts of Tony crept into her subconscious with each stroke of the razor.
“You will not take your clothes off on the first date!”
Looking into the mirror with tweezers poised at her eyebrow, she fantasized about the date, what they would do, how long they’d stay together, what they’d talk about. Thoughts of him definitely tantalized her. She’d have to stay on her toes every second.
The park they were going to was known as family friendly, with miles of walking trails and lovely picnic areas. A friend had lent her a baby carrier that she could wear, holding Flynn to her chest. It was going to be a new experience.
The next morning, she nursed Flynn and got ready for the outing. She wanted to meet Tony at the park, but he’d insisted on picking her up. A quick glance around her apartment confirmed what she was ashamed to admit: it was the home of a young, single parent. The furniture was cast off from her family: a couch from her aunt, kitchen table from grandmother, furniture from her girlhood bedroom. But it was neat and spotless. That gave her a sense of pride.
Promptly at eleven, she got a text. I’m here.
With a pounding heart that might have skipped a few beats, she texted back, Come up. Might as well get it over with. But he seemed pleased with her apartment.
“Wow, so this is your place. I’m impressed. You did this on your own.”
“I did. It wasn’t easy.”
“What kind of job did you do while you were in training?” he asked, curious about how she’d managed the rent.
“They pay you in training,” she said. “I worked at Starbucks, too. What about you? What did you do before firefighting?”
“Nothing. I went to fire rescue academy, and as soon as I was done with it, I hired on. I never had the desire to get a degree until now.”
Heat coursed in his veins standing next to her. He looked at her with such intensity she knew she blushed. It was clear in his face what he was feeling.
“Do you want to go?” she asked, thinking the best thing to do was move forward. “I’m all packed. It’s like going on a journey, taking a baby out.”
Pointing to a pile near the door, she laughed. “All that stuff goes. I have diapers, extra bottles of frozen breast milk on ice in case of an apocalypse, an umbrella, beach chairs, clothes for him for a week, and even clean clothes for me in case he poops or barfs on me.”
“You’re ready for anything,” he said admiringly.
She got the baby while he loaded up the truck. “I’ll get my car seat out of my car if you’ll take him,” she said.
“Oh, I bought one,” he replied. “Come see if it’s the right kind.”
“Wait, you bought a car seat for my kid?”
“Yes, of course. This way we don’t have to keep switching seats back and forth.”
“Tony…I…”
He laughed out loud. “You’re fine. It will be fine. I’ll sell it on Facebook if you dump me, and until then, he’ll be safe. You know what my mom said?”
“You told yo
ur mother about this?”
“She went with me to Walmart to buy it,” he said, strapping Flynn in the seat. “Check this. Do I have it right?”
They squeezed into the backseat to double-check the straps keeping the baby safe. Pressing up against each other increased the already intense feeling they had as desire percolated between them.
“It looks right. Thank you so much. I don’t even know how to react.” She sputtered a little, a combination of embarrassment and gratitude, and that desire.
“You don’t have to react any way. This is what I want. I wish I had met you a long time ago.”
His meaning was clear to her, and she felt the same way, but didn’t voice it. It was too soon to have regrets about the choices she’d made leading up to this, not able to imagine life without baby Flynn.
The park was only five minutes away from her apartment. “You know I live over by the lake,” he said, pointing south. “We’re pretty close.”
“It’s convenient,” she replied, hating small talk but understanding it was a place to start after his intimate revelation. “I’m glad we’re close.”
He reached over the center console for her hand. It felt right, holding hands. They were on a date. It was more than just getting to know each other. They were attracted to each other. She decided then and there that she wasn’t going to fight it. Waiting to heat things up was okay, but honesty about feelings, expressing fears, she wasn’t going to hold back.
Like he had read her mind, he glanced over at her. “I really like you.”
“And I really like you.”
“I feel like I’m really lucky right now,” he said, smiling. “Like a narrowly missed out.”
“Why’s that? If it was something I said about being careful…”
“No, Rick Jackson. He’s right there, like a homing pigeon. He’s got a sixth sense about brewing romances.”
“He approached me, but you know that already.”
“Yes. I’m glad I made my move when I did.”
“He doesn’t appeal to me, so no worries, okay?”
“No competition?”
“Zero competition. I only speak to him on matters of firehouse business.”
Sweet and Sassy Baby Love Page 30
