“Tonight,” she said. “It’s the only day this week that neither of us have to work. More like this afternoon, really. He wants to go on a picnic, maybe watch the sunset from the butte.”

“Bullshit. He wants to go park somewhere and make out with you.”

Hannah blushed fiercely as I waved my finger in disapproval.

“Men are the enemy, remember?”

“Says the girl who came home at five in the afternoon, delivered by a strange biker. Don’t be such a hypocrite. Anyway, I never said anything about staying away from men. That was you. Just because things didn’t work out with Randy doesn’t mean they can’t with someone else.”

“This kind of attitude might be why Mom was married five times,” I pointed out.

“Well, if she’d stuck with my dad, she’d never have met yours, and then I wouldn’t have a sister,” Hannah replied. “It’s just one date. Will you let me have this? Please?”

I sighed melodramatically and then nodded at her. “Okay, you can go out with Heath… But I’ll expect you back by dark or I’ll have to ground you.”

Hannah gave the children a quick glance to make sure they were still watching TV, then flipped me off. My phone buzzed before I could retaliate.

Shade: Hey—you busy today? Another one-night stand might be nice… Technically we never finished the first one. You didn’t get breakfast

I looked at Hannah, holding the phone up so she could read it.

“Please don’t bail on me!” she said, eyes wide. “I’ll do your laundry.”

“I’m listening,” I told her, although we both knew I’d keep my promise no matter what. We only had each other to rely on, so we had to be damned reliable.

“Um…and I’ll sleep on the couch. You can have the whole bedroom to yourself tonight.”

“You’re just saying that so you can sneak in super late and I won’t know.”

“Well, yeah.”

I snorted, turning back to my phone.

Me: Sorry. My stupid sister wants to go on a stupid date and get laid by the stupid cop. I need to babysit

This was where—in the John Hughes movie version of my life—Shade would’ve offered to come over and help watch the kids. He’d bring a pizza. Then they’d take their naps and we’d kiss across a coffee table or something.

Of course, that’s the kind of thing that boyfriends did.

Shade: Ok. You work tomorrow night?

Me: Dont know. Bone does the schedule on sunday afternoons.

Shade: I’ll talk to him. Make sure he leaves some time for us

Me: I need those shifts to pay the bills. Keep your nose out of it. Your just a guy I had sex with

Shade: Keep telling yourself that. I’ll talk to bone

“Looks like lover boy wants more of that sweet McBride action,” Hannah said, sticking her finger in her mouth and poking the side of her cheek out with her tongue in the universal symbol for blow job.

“You’re disgusting.”

She leaned closer. “You’re horny—I can smell it on you. Just don’t forget to make him work for it.”

“I’m not making him work for anything. It really was just a one-night stand. I’m sworn off men, remember?”

“Yeah, right,” Hannah said. “Sell your shit to someone else. I saw the way you two looked at each other when he brought you home. You’re not done yet.”

Ignoring her, I stared down at Shade’s message, trying to decide how to answer… Should I take a stand or just wait and see what happened? I waited for Wonder Woman to speak up and tell me, but she wasn’t talking.

Fuck it.

I’d let it go and see what happened. Future Me was a smart girl. She’d figure it out.

Sure enough, Hannah and Heath hadn’t come home by the time it started getting dark. I’d taken the kids down to the park after dinner and run them hard, then threw all three of them into the tub together and read them the Berenstain Bears while they splashed around.

A second bear story got us through bedtime. I tucked them in, then grabbed a beer and the TV remote, hoping Hannah was having a good time. She was right about one thing—Heath really did seem like one of the good ones.

He’d brought flowers when he picked her up.

For me.

Said he wanted to thank me for watching the kids so he could take her out. I’m not saying I melted into a little puddle of warm goo or anything, but a girl’s just not natural if she doesn’t love fresh flowers.

I’d made it through both my second beer and a second episode of the Kardashians when my phone buzzed.

Shade: Hows it going?

Me: I’m drinkng alone in the dark and watching the kardashians.

Shade: ouch

Me: No kidding. They don’t even work for a living. Why do they get to wear shiny stuff and travel all over while I have to wait tables?

Shade: Well the fact that the $500 I gave you as a tip is still sitting in Bones office might be part of the problem. If your goal is money then you’re doing it wrong

He made a good point. I looked around the room, thinking of all the things we could do with five hundred bucks. I’d start with a new couch, I decided. I could probably find one on Craigslist for less than two hundred. Preferably one that didn’t still smell faintly of the disgusting AXE body spray Randy loved so much.

We could really use a new table, too. Or a new TV—ours had a blue band on the left side, running right through the picture. I took another drink. If I had to be honest, everything in the whole damned house needed replacing. The girls had a decent bed, of course. And we kept it as clean as we could. But the trailer was old and faded and there was a strange smell in the bathroom that never quite went away…

To hell with new furniture—we needed a new house. Five hundred bucks wouldn’t make a dent. Depressing.

Me: I’m bored. What are you doing?

Shade: I’m at the bar. Bone has been glaring at me all night because I told him you can’t work tomorrow

Me: We already covered this. I’m going in to work. New topic

Shade: What are you wearing?

Me: Clothes. You?

Shade: I’m in a bar. What do you think?