material.
“Do you think it’s serious?”
She frowned at me. “What?”
I said, “Whatever brings you out here for moonless midnight madness with your baby. I didn’t think you wanted to discuss sandwiches for Nick’s lunch.”
“Have you heard anything?”
“About what ?”
She snapped, “Nick, of course. The person we’re talking about.”
I shook my head. “No. Nothing. His name hasn’t come up. And the only time I’ve run into him for months was at your own home.”
“Hmm.”
It had to be another woman. Nick has a hard time keeping his mouth shut and his fly zippered. And he is damned good-looking. He makes Connor Tierney, Todd Tyrell, and even Margaret’s tall, dark, and granite husband, Frank D’Angelo, look like also-rans.
I said, “Would this be a good time for New York Super Fudge Chunk?”
She nodded. “Got lots?”
“Believe it.”
I gave Pepper her own tub of ice cream. As underhanded as it seems, I was prepared to slip the Anabel Beauchamp issue back into the conversation once we were past the latest Nick crisis.
Little Nick at least was cooperative. He lay sleeping happily, punctuating his breathing with the occasional squeak that even I had to admit was adorable.
Truffle and Sweet Marie were poised by my side throughout the ice cream eating. They like to make off with the empty containers. I wasn’t sure the vet would approve, but then again, there were no vets in sight.
“So,” I said, as we polished off our ice cream a few minutes later. “What seems to be the problem?” I stopped myself from ending it with this time .
“Sorry for snapping. I don’t know what’s going on. First I thought it was another woman. Nick hasn’t dealt well with all the changes of pregnancy and motherhood. He likes a woman to be trim and neat and wearing sexy underwear. Lactation freaks him out. Naturally, that’s what I suspected when he first started to act differently.”
“Well, Nick’s a big boy now. He’d better get used to real life.” I refrained from saying it was high time he grew up.
“But it’s not that.”
“So . . . ?”
“I’m not sure what’s going on.”
“Why are you worried?”
“Huh. Well that’s it. If he’s interested in a woman, and I always know when he is, he takes extra care with his appearance. Works out more than usual. Takes a razor to work so he can shave after shift. Showers there and not at home. Finds fault with everything I do. There’s a whole vibe. You don’t want to know.”
“But he’s not doing that now?”
“No. He hasn’t been to the gym. He doesn’t bother shaving on his off days. His clothes are sort of . . . rumpled. He hangs around home looking gloomy, or he pretends to be working extra shifts, even though I know he’s not.”
“Don’t take this the wrong way, Pepper, but maybe he’s adjusting to the whole idea of being a father.”
“I’d buy that idea if he was spending any time with Little Nick. I don’t mean feeding him or changing him because neither of those things are in the job description of the male Monahans. But if he’d even pay attention, make goofy daddy faces, give him shoulder rides, the way other fathers do. Hell, Jack even plays games with Little Nick, and he’s as single as you can get.”
“If he hasn’t seen it in his family, I guess the models aren’t there and—”
“Knock off the amateur-shrink routine, Charlotte. I’m not here to get a pep talk straight out of some useless woman’s magazine. It’s not about that anyway.”
“Help me out here, Pepper. I don’t know what you want from me.”
“I want you to listen. I want to talk about this out loud, and I’m not even sure what will come out of my mouth.”
“Deal. Talk. I’ll listen.”
“Then, when I’m finished, I want to hear what you think about what I’ve said.”
I nodded. There wasn’t much else I could do.
“He’s slumping around, not sleeping properly, and jumping at shadows. You know, the way
“Do you think it’s serious?”
She frowned at me. “What?”
I said, “Whatever brings you out here for moonless midnight madness with your baby. I didn’t think you wanted to discuss sandwiches for Nick’s lunch.”
“Have you heard anything?”
“About what ?”
She snapped, “Nick, of course. The person we’re talking about.”
I shook my head. “No. Nothing. His name hasn’t come up. And the only time I’ve run into him for months was at your own home.”
“Hmm.”
It had to be another woman. Nick has a hard time keeping his mouth shut and his fly zippered. And he is damned good-looking. He makes Connor Tierney, Todd Tyrell, and even Margaret’s tall, dark, and granite husband, Frank D’Angelo, look like also-rans.
I said, “Would this be a good time for New York Super Fudge Chunk?”
She nodded. “Got lots?”
“Believe it.”
I gave Pepper her own tub of ice cream. As underhanded as it seems, I was prepared to slip the Anabel Beauchamp issue back into the conversation once we were past the latest Nick crisis.
Little Nick at least was cooperative. He lay sleeping happily, punctuating his breathing with the occasional squeak that even I had to admit was adorable.
Truffle and Sweet Marie were poised by my side throughout the ice cream eating. They like to make off with the empty containers. I wasn’t sure the vet would approve, but then again, there were no vets in sight.
“So,” I said, as we polished off our ice cream a few minutes later. “What seems to be the problem?” I stopped myself from ending it with this time .
“Sorry for snapping. I don’t know what’s going on. First I thought it was another woman. Nick hasn’t dealt well with all the changes of pregnancy and motherhood. He likes a woman to be trim and neat and wearing sexy underwear. Lactation freaks him out. Naturally, that’s what I suspected when he first started to act differently.”
“Well, Nick’s a big boy now. He’d better get used to real life.” I refrained from saying it was high time he grew up.
“But it’s not that.”
“So . . . ?”
“I’m not sure what’s going on.”
“Why are you worried?”
“Huh. Well that’s it. If he’s interested in a woman, and I always know when he is, he takes extra care with his appearance. Works out more than usual. Takes a razor to work so he can shave after shift. Showers there and not at home. Finds fault with everything I do. There’s a whole vibe. You don’t want to know.”
“But he’s not doing that now?”
“No. He hasn’t been to the gym. He doesn’t bother shaving on his off days. His clothes are sort of . . . rumpled. He hangs around home looking gloomy, or he pretends to be working extra shifts, even though I know he’s not.”
“Don’t take this the wrong way, Pepper, but maybe he’s adjusting to the whole idea of being a father.”
“I’d buy that idea if he was spending any time with Little Nick. I don’t mean feeding him or changing him because neither of those things are in the job description of the male Monahans. But if he’d even pay attention, make goofy daddy faces, give him shoulder rides, the way other fathers do. Hell, Jack even plays games with Little Nick, and he’s as single as you can get.”
“If he hasn’t seen it in his family, I guess the models aren’t there and—”
“Knock off the amateur-shrink routine, Charlotte. I’m not here to get a pep talk straight out of some useless woman’s magazine. It’s not about that anyway.”
“Help me out here, Pepper. I don’t know what you want from me.”
“I want you to listen. I want to talk about this out loud, and I’m not even sure what will come out of my mouth.”
“Deal. Talk. I’ll listen.”
“Then, when I’m finished, I want to hear what you think about what I’ve said.”
I nodded. There wasn’t much else I could do.
“He’s slumping around, not sleeping properly, and jumping at shadows. You know, the way
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