should take became clearer, taking her back to her original question. “To screw or not to screw?” she said out loud again. That was the question, still.
* * *
Second week in April
“I heard the dentist has been stopping by your practices,” Casper said.
“Let me guess, Reagan told you,” Mariah said, sitting at a table with Casper, watching Reagan at the counter with her brother. Joshua seemed to be in a good mood. Actually he was always in one, especially when women sat and listened to him talk; who knew when he’d stop, but that wasn’t Mariah’s problem.
“Don’t you wonder what he wants from me?” Mariah asked.
“You know what he wants,” Casper said, giving Mariah a what-a-dumb-question look. “The better question is what do you want from him? What are you after?”
“I’m not after anything.”
“Sure you’re not. That’s why you and I are sitting here discussing him, and not for the first time, either. The man appears to be attracted to you,” Casper added.
“Attracted to what?”
“What do you think? You’re a big girl. What are you interested in?”
“All right…all right, I’m there,” she admitted, giving in. He’d been on her mind more than was healthy, and she was past trying to talk herself out of him.
“So what are you going to do about it?” Casper asked.
“I don’t have to do anything about it.”
“But you want to.”
“I’m busy with work, Joshua, the derby,” she said.
“But you want to,” Casper said.
“I want to,” she said. She had been giving it way too much thought. He was different from her, and she had run through the reasons against sleeping with him. He had just gotten out of an engagement, not likely to be interested in finding another fiancée, and even if he was, it wasn’t with some woman with multi-colored hair. She didn’t fit into anybody’s ideal of the suburban wife and mother.
But did that mean he had to be off-limits? She could do this as long as she knew what she was signing up for, right?
* * *
Third week in April
Friday morning Adam sat at his father’s desk in his father’s dental office, reviewing the financials, preparing for his standard monthly meeting with his pops to discuss any and all issues that might have cropped up during the month. Of all the places he’d thought to end up, working for his pops and living in Austin had not been among them.
Papers covered his desk. Who worked with paper anymore? His I-don’t-know-about-this-technology-stuff-that’s-taking-over-our-lives pops, that’s who.
In Houston he had been employed by one of the largest chain of dental clinics in the country, which, oddly enough, was named Grins. All the paperwork at Grins had been computerized.
His job at Grins had come courtesy of his future father-in-law, a perk for marrying the daughter. He should have known something was up. The gifts and assistance he had received from her parents should have been his first big clue of trouble.
Paperwork notwithstanding, he didn’t miss Grins much. Not at all. Didn’t miss the sales quotas; the push to sell brighter, whiter teeth; the push for more cosmetic dentistry, where the real money was. He was also coming to realize that that whole life hadn’t ever really held an appeal to him. But he’d been willing to throw what he wanted aside for Jamie, in search of the glamorous lifestyle that she’d wanted. He wouldn’t be doing that again.
He heard the door open and looked up. Maggie stood in his doorway.
“You’ve got two teeth to fill for Jenny. She’s sixteen and in room one, but her mother insists on talking to you before you see her daughter. And Mr. Johnson wants to talk about dentures in room two. He’s just done his semi-annual cleaning. Can you see Ms. Garcia now?” she asked.
“Mrs. Garcia?” he asked, lost in Maggie’s words.
“Jenny’s mother,” she replied impatiently.
“Sure,” he said, gathering his papers and setting them aside. In walked an short,
* * *
Second week in April
“I heard the dentist has been stopping by your practices,” Casper said.
“Let me guess, Reagan told you,” Mariah said, sitting at a table with Casper, watching Reagan at the counter with her brother. Joshua seemed to be in a good mood. Actually he was always in one, especially when women sat and listened to him talk; who knew when he’d stop, but that wasn’t Mariah’s problem.
“Don’t you wonder what he wants from me?” Mariah asked.
“You know what he wants,” Casper said, giving Mariah a what-a-dumb-question look. “The better question is what do you want from him? What are you after?”
“I’m not after anything.”
“Sure you’re not. That’s why you and I are sitting here discussing him, and not for the first time, either. The man appears to be attracted to you,” Casper added.
“Attracted to what?”
“What do you think? You’re a big girl. What are you interested in?”
“All right…all right, I’m there,” she admitted, giving in. He’d been on her mind more than was healthy, and she was past trying to talk herself out of him.
“So what are you going to do about it?” Casper asked.
“I don’t have to do anything about it.”
“But you want to.”
“I’m busy with work, Joshua, the derby,” she said.
“But you want to,” Casper said.
“I want to,” she said. She had been giving it way too much thought. He was different from her, and she had run through the reasons against sleeping with him. He had just gotten out of an engagement, not likely to be interested in finding another fiancée, and even if he was, it wasn’t with some woman with multi-colored hair. She didn’t fit into anybody’s ideal of the suburban wife and mother.
But did that mean he had to be off-limits? She could do this as long as she knew what she was signing up for, right?
* * *
Third week in April
Friday morning Adam sat at his father’s desk in his father’s dental office, reviewing the financials, preparing for his standard monthly meeting with his pops to discuss any and all issues that might have cropped up during the month. Of all the places he’d thought to end up, working for his pops and living in Austin had not been among them.
Papers covered his desk. Who worked with paper anymore? His I-don’t-know-about-this-technology-stuff-that’s-taking-over-our-lives pops, that’s who.
In Houston he had been employed by one of the largest chain of dental clinics in the country, which, oddly enough, was named Grins. All the paperwork at Grins had been computerized.
His job at Grins had come courtesy of his future father-in-law, a perk for marrying the daughter. He should have known something was up. The gifts and assistance he had received from her parents should have been his first big clue of trouble.
Paperwork notwithstanding, he didn’t miss Grins much. Not at all. Didn’t miss the sales quotas; the push to sell brighter, whiter teeth; the push for more cosmetic dentistry, where the real money was. He was also coming to realize that that whole life hadn’t ever really held an appeal to him. But he’d been willing to throw what he wanted aside for Jamie, in search of the glamorous lifestyle that she’d wanted. He wouldn’t be doing that again.
He heard the door open and looked up. Maggie stood in his doorway.
“You’ve got two teeth to fill for Jenny. She’s sixteen and in room one, but her mother insists on talking to you before you see her daughter. And Mr. Johnson wants to talk about dentures in room two. He’s just done his semi-annual cleaning. Can you see Ms. Garcia now?” she asked.
“Mrs. Garcia?” he asked, lost in Maggie’s words.
“Jenny’s mother,” she replied impatiently.
“Sure,” he said, gathering his papers and setting them aside. In walked an short,
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