“You never fail to amaze me, Seth Davis.” He flashed his dazzling, perfectly straight smile at me before bending down to sweetly kiss me on the cheek.

I smiled back at him, silently wishing that his touch could feel even a fraction as heavenly to me as his brother’s did.

11

Court took the week off work and spent most of it in bed. I tried repeatedly to reason with her, but she was adamant that she wasn’t ready to deal with any of the implications of Joe being a father.

“He needs you, now more than ever, Court. I’m shocked that you aren’t there for him, even as a friend.” I tried to guilt her into contacting Joe.

“I know. I’m a terrible person,” she wailed.

This wasn’t at all the reaction I had been going for, so I quickly changed the direction of the conversation. “No, Sweetie. You are a wonderful person. Joe and this helpless little boy are just trying to figure out how to go on from here, and they need all of the support we can give them. They need you.”

“I can’t be any kind of a mother-figure to this child. I don’t know how.”

“No one is asking you to be his mom, but if things do end up working out with you and Joe, you will make a wonderful mother to this boy and the kids that you and Joe have together,” I reassured her.

She was shaking her head. “I’m not ready.”

“I know, and that’s okay. Just do what you can, when you are able.”

“Not yet, and maybe not ever.” She rolled over, indicating the conversation was over, so I left her alone.

I tried to give her space, but I had never seen her react in this manner. She was normally the first one to jump in when anyone needed help. I said as much to Seth, who defended her by saying, “I’m thinking that she had a royally screwed up relationship with her mother. It’s making her lack confidence that she can be of any value in that capacity for this little boy.”

I knew that he was probably right, but I still just didn’t understand. The Court I knew would never abandon a friend in need. Since she was making herself unavailable, I tried to step up to the plate for Joe and checked in on him regularly.

Joe seemed to be handling this life-altering change remarkably well. The last time I went to the restaurant, Jonah was sitting in a corner, quietly coloring a picture, and Joe told me all about the daycare visits that he had scheduled. Since the restaurant was the most busy in the evenings, he was considering hiring a nanny, rather than going the daycare route.