“Would you stop being so darn proud for once?”
Funny how that word “pride” kept cropping up, Diana mused. “I’ll call him,” she conceded, “but only in case of an emergency.”
“Okay. Okay.”
Diana closed her laptop. “Let me save you the trouble of small talk. I know why you’re here.”
“You do?”
“You’re dying to hear all the details of my hot date with the doctor I met through Parents Without Partners.”
“Not many women have the opportunity to have dinner with Dr. Benjamin Spock.”
A smile touched the edges of Diana’s soft mouth. “He’s a regular pediatrician, not Dr. Spock.”
“Whoever!” Shirley said excitedly, and leaned closer. “All right, if you know what I want, then give me details!”
Diana swallowed uncomfortably. “I didn’t go out with him.”
“What?”
“My motives were all wrong.”
Shirley slumped forward and buried her forehead against the heel of her hand. “I can’t believe I’m hearing this. The most ideal husband material you’ve met dances into your life and you break the date!”
“I know,” Diana groaned. “For days beforehand I kept thinking about how much money I could save on doctor bills if I were to get involved with this guy. It bothered me that I could be so mercenary.”
“Don’t you think any other woman would be thinking the same thing?”
Diana’s fingers tightened around the mug handle. “Not unless they have two preteens.”
“Don’t be cute,” Shirley said frowning. “I have trouble being angry with you when you’re so witty.”
Standing, Diana walked across the kitchen to refill her cup. “I don’t know, Shirl.”
“Know what?”
“If I’m ready to get involved in a relationship. My life is different now. When Stan and I decided to get married, it wasn’t any surprise. We’d been going together since my junior year in high school and it seemed the thing to do. We hardly paused to give the matter more than a second thought.”
“Who said anything about getting married?”
“But it’s wrong to lead a man into believing I’m interested in a long-term relationship, when I don’t know if I’ll ever be serious about anyone again.”
“You loved Stan that much?” Shirley inquired softly.
“I loved him, yes, and if he hadn’t been killed, we probably would have lived together contentedly until a ripe old age. But things are different now. I have the girls to consider.”
“What about you?”
“What about me?”
“Don’t you need someone?”
“I—I don’t know,” Diana answered thoughtfully. The idea of spending her life alone produced a sharp pang of apprehension. She wanted to be a wife again, but was afraid remarriage would drastically affect her children’s lives.
Shirley left soon afterward, and Diana rinsed the breakfast dishes and placed them inside the dishwasher. Her thoughts drifted to David Fisher, the man whose dinner invitation she’d rejected at the last minute. He obviously liked children or he would have chosen a different specialty. That was in his favor. She’d met him a couple of weeks before and listened over coffee to the gory details of his divorce. It was obvious to Diana that he was still in love with his ex-wife. Although Shirley viewed him as a fine catch, Diana wasn’t interested.
Not until she closed the dishwasher did Diana notice the puddle of water on her kitchen floor. The sink again! It would be a simple matter of tightening the pipes if the garbage disposal didn’t complicate the job.
