Watch Me Fall (Ross Siblings, #5)(26)

Jared was driving home from work on Tuesday when the call he’d been expecting finally came. The only thing surprising about it was that it hadn’t come on Monday.

Shelly greeted him sweetly, as she always did—he could count on one hand the number of times things had gotten really ugly between them since the divorce. Before the divorce was a different matter entirely.

After a few minutes of idle chitchat about work and the girls’ school and their upcoming pediatric checkup, though, she got to the point.

“Mimi tells me you had company Sunday night.”

Jared winced, but he’d figured Mia would be the one to squeal on him first. “She did, huh?”

“You’re seeing someone?” He tried to gauge Shelly’s voice for any anger or hurt, but she’d always been fairly adept at hiding it. So adept, in fact, that she was quite capable of stewing over her emotions for months until they erupted and did irreparable damage. Thus the split that had shocked the town gossips…at least until they really thought about it.

“No,” he told her. “She’s a friend.”

“Starla, is it? I don’t guess I know her. I didn’t recognize the name.”

“I only just met her myself.”

“Ashley said she has pink-and-blue hair and tattoos.”

He laughed at that. “Yeah. Well, she’s blonde. With pink and blue in it. Her hair, I mean. And tattoos.” And probably piercings. Who knew where.

Silence greeted that halting description for several heartbeats. “So she’s nice, right?”

Ah God. “Of course she’s nice, Shell. I wouldn’t bring anyone around the girls who wasn’t ‘nice.’ I did something for her, and she made us dinner. That was it. Let’s not make a big deal out of it.”

“Um, am I making a big deal out of it? I didn’t think I was. I do think I deserve to know who you’re bringing around my kids, though.” Now an edge was creeping into her always sugarcoated voice.

“Sure you do. But it was just one dinner. It’s not like she’s moving in.”

“Things happen.”

“I guess they do, but nothing did. Okay?”

“Will it?”

Sighing, he mulled over his options. Say no, and get caught out as a liar in the unlikely case that something did happen. Say yes or maybe, and cause Shelly to worry needlessly when nothing happened. His mother had warned him a long time ago not to have kids with someone he wasn’t willing to deal with for the rest of his life. Birthdays, school programs, graduations, weddings…Shelly would always be there. He needed to keep things as civil as possible.

“We don’t have any plans at the moment.”

“But you won’t say no. You must like her.”

“I like her, but we don’t have much in common.”

“I don’t mean to sound like I don’t want you dating anyone. I was just surprised when the girls told me that.”

“Yeah,” he said, staring blindly at the road. “I get it.” It was nothing he didn’t worry about on almost a daily basis himself, so he couldn’t be upset with her for asking about his activities. When Shelly began bringing a strange man around Jared’s babies, he would probably hire private investigators and do background checks on him. It was only sheer luck he hadn’t already dealt with it.

“As long as she’s good to my girls, we won’t have any problems.”

“I don’t know her that well, but Sunday night, she was awesome with them.”

“I just…I don’t like this. You wouldn’t like it either.”

“I know, okay? Look, do you need me to stop by? We can talk about it if you want, but I really don’t think you have anything to worry about.” He preferred to do these things face-to-face, not over the phone. Shelly was the opposite. She’d been the world’s damn worst about not starting a fight with him until after he’d left the house, so she could confront him over the phone or in a text. It had always been an issue.

“No, but from now on, will you just let me know what’s going on? If you start seeing someone, I want to know. I don’t care what you do on your time, but when you’re on kid time, it’s different. I shouldn’t have to find out from my daughter.”

Jared sighed. It had never occurred to him that his seeing someone new might upset Shelly for reasons other than a stranger becoming involved in their children’s lives. She’d loved him, and the fact that she’d left because she couldn’t live with another woman’s presence forever hanging between them didn’t negate that fact. Shelly had maintained a strong facade for him, but who knew how she felt when he wasn’t right in front of her? Did he still matter that much to her?

“You’re absolutely right,” he said quietly. “I’m sorry. I didn’t think.”

“How did you meet her?”

Oh, her boyfriend threw her out of the car, and I found her walking along the road. If it sounded horrible to his own ears, he could only imagine how it would sound to hers. “She, ah…she was stranded, and I gave her a lift.” It wasn’t a lie.

“What does she do?”

“She works at Brian Ross’s tattoo shop.”

Incredulity erupted then. “With Macy’s boyfriend?” She practically snarled the name.