“Listen,” I say, “do you think you could watch Josh one night this week? I was going to go out for a drink with a friend. It shouldn’t be long.”

Margie’s eyes light up. “A friend or a man?”

Oh God. I had a feeling when I hired this woman that she was going to be a bit of a yenta. “Just a friend.”

“A male friend?”

“Yes…”

“So it’s a date!” She claps her hands together. “That’s wonderful, Brooke! A young single woman like you should be dating.”

“It’s not a date,” I say through my teeth. “He’s a friend. An old friend.”

“Whatever you say.”

I don’t like the knowing look on Margie’s round face. “It’s not a date.”

“Well, why not?” She blinks at me. “Is he ugly? Ugly men are good in bed, you know.”

Oh God. “Margie…”

“I’m just saying,” she says, “there’s nothing wrong with going on a date. You don’t have to feel bad about it.”

Weirdly enough, she has hit the nail on the head. I already feel like I am spread thin, between work and motherhood. “It just doesn’t feel like it’s fair to Josh for me to be dating.”

“Don’t think that way,” she says. “That boy could use a father.”

I bristle at her comment—she touched a nerve. I have always tried to be enough for Josh. Mother and father. But I see this longing in his eyes when we’re at the park and we spot a little boy playing with his dad.

“Is tomorrow okay?” I ask Margie.

“Absolutely,” she says. “And stay out as late as you want. Josh and I will make chocolate chip cookies.”

There’s a part of me that sort of wants to blow off Tim and instead stay home to make chocolate chip cookies with Margie and Josh. But Margie is right. I deserve to have a night out to have fun. So as soon as Margie takes off, I shoot off a text message:

Tomorrow night okay?

Tim responds a second later:

You got it.

Chapter 12

ELEVEN YEARS EARLIER

“We’re going to play Never Have I Ever.”

Chelsea makes the declaration after we all have a couple of pizza slices in our bellies, and Brandon has mixed us all cups of something called “screwdrivers.” Apparently, they are a mix of vodka and orange juice, and they taste like paint remover.