Isabella kissed Tony’s cheek.
“Sleep well, sweetheart.”
Tony hugged his teddy bear and his
eyes closed. “Night mommy.”
Her cell phone, left on the kitchen
table downstairs, rang. Isabella left Tony’s room, careful to leave the door open
a touch, and hurried down the stairs. The phone was still ringing when she
grabbed it. She thumbed it on. “Hello?”
“Hi Isabella. This is Brett. How
are you doing?”
Brett. A memory of Fernando telling
her he was dangerous made her bite her lip. She had been wondering when he
would call, and had rehearsed some possible conversations they could have, but
now all words fled. All she could say was, “Fine. How about you?”
“I’ve been thinking about you. I
thought you and I and little Tony could go to the zoo together this Saturday,
but something just came up. I need to be out of town for two weeks.”
“That’s okay.” Against her will,
she sounded relieved. Maybe she should heed Fernando’s warning. She mentally
frowned at herself. She was her own person, and Brett was a nice guy. It was
Fernando who was messed up. It was nice of Brett to apologize to her that he couldn’t
go out with her and Tony. On impulse she said, “We could always do it when you
come back.”
“That’s what I thought, too. But
I’d really love to see you again before I leave. Is that possible?”
“Why not? But it would have to be
without Tony. He gets cranky when he’s up too late.”
“You could get a babysitter,
couldn’t you?”
She didn’t have a regular
babysitter, since she’d gone out so little since Fernando… But she didn’t want
to think about that now. Surely Colleen at the end of the road would sit for
her. “That wouldn’t be a problem. What do you have in mind?”
“I thought we could go to the
movies. I hear the new romantic comedy is really good. You do like comedy,
right?”
How did the guy know? She loved
romantic movies. And when they were funny, she wouldn’t think about Fernando or
cry at the end. A funny, romantic movie was just what she needed. “I do. What
time?”
“I thought I’d pick you up at seven
on Thursday. We could get something to eat and then see the 9 o’clock show. I
should have you home before midnight.”
Friday would have been better. But
he probably was leaving Friday. She nodded, then realized he couldn’t see her
nod and said, “Sound’s okay. I’ll see you then Thursday at seven.”
She gave him her address. The
moment she hung up, she started wondering if maybe she should have met him
somewhere. Fernando’s warning resonated in her mind. But too late now, and
Fernando was out of the picture anyway. Who knew what had happened to him in
the last few months, but he was not the man she had thought he was.
She turned to the kitchen to get a
cup of tea when the phone rang again.
