Unlucky in Love

“Babe?” Dominic said, coming into our room. “I have bad news.”

I sat up in bed. “Was Leah murdered?” I asked seriously.

“What?” he asked, and I shook my head. “No. No, not anything like that. I was going to tell you that you’ll have to go without me today because I have a paper to write.”

“What?” I whined. “We had it all planned!”

He bent down and kissed me. “I know, I’m sorry.” He told me sincerely. “I’ll make a deal with you, though.” He started. “You take her to get the pumpkins and the decorations, and I’ll take her tomorrow to get a costume.”

I continued to pout. “We were supposed to do all of this together,” I grumbled. “Okay. Go get your paper done so you can take her tomorrow.”

Dominic kissed me again, relieved, and started out of the room. I swung my legs out of bed and got up to go to my closet. I picked out a thin sweater, brown leggings, and my knee-high brown leather boots. It was sunny and about sixty degrees, and for that I was thankful.

It was the perfect fall day.

I went to the bathroom and put my hair up in a high ponytail, and then put on mascara and a layer of ChapStick. I grabbed my bag, got Emma ready, and then went downstairs. Dominic was putting his stuff in his laptop bag as I got down.

“When are you going to be done?” I asked him, adjusting my purse and Emma’s bag on my shoulder. Dominic took Emma from me and opened the door for me. I got the keys from him and beeped the car open.

“I’ll only be a couple of hours, but I’ll have Daveigh bring me back.” He put Emma in her car seat and then got in on his side. I started the car and backed out.

“I’ll see you this afternoon.” I told him, pulling up to the school. He leaned over and kissed me quickly, and then got out. He opened the back door and grabbed his bag, and then kissed Emma’s forehead before closing the door and going up to the school. I pulled back into traffic and got onto the freeway at the closest exit. I adjusted the A/C and merged. “Okay, Emma, it’s just you and me, baby girl.” I told her, and she popped her lips as a way of entertaining herself.

It didn’t take me too long to find the pumpkin farm, and when I did, I was completely shocked that I had managed to find a parking spot. I got Emma out and grabbed my purse and then beeped the alarm on my car.

There were so many families here.

There were moms and dads with their kids and having a great time finding pumpkins and taking rides in that hay truck thing and going through corn-field mazes…

And I was the only one there who was all alone except for her one child.

Dominic should be here with me. It wasn’t fair to me, and it definitely wasn’t fair to Emma. This was her first real Halloween. Last year, she was just a newborn and didn’t want to have anything to do with me. Now she was pretty much my best friend.

I watched the other families with envy. They all seemed so happy. They had more than one child, both parents were there…the kids played and the parents took pictures. It was ideal; it was what a family should be.

I sat down on a haystack and held Emma in my lap. She crawled out and reached over to a little pumpkin with a hint of green on the bottom.

“Is that the one you want, baby?” I asked her. I caught her before she fell off of the haystack.

“They do make leashes for children, you know.” Someone told me, and I looked up and readjusted Emma.

I rolled my eyes slightly. “It’s cruel.” I said blatantly. The guy laughed and held the hand of a little boy who looked about four years old at the most.

“Well, sorry we don’t see eye-to-eye.” He told me, joking. “My name’s Craig by the way, and this is Logan.” The little boy ducked behind Craig.

“I’m Ember, and this is Emma.”

Craig smiled. “She’s beautiful; she definitely looks like her sister.”

I laughed, startled. “Thank you, and she’s actually my daughter. I’ve been told we look alike, though.”

“Very much so,” he added. “Are you married?”

“Are you?” I countered.

He shook his head. “No. I caught my wife with my best friend, and we got a divorce.”

I frowned. “I’m so sorry. That must’ve been awful.” I replied. “But at least you have your son, right?”

Craig barked a laugh. “Every other weekend and whenever Lauren has a class. She has custody of him.”

I couldn’t believe this guy I had just met was being so open about everything. Mostly I couldn’t believe there was another single parent here.

“Well, I have to get Logan back to his mother, but it was nice meeting you. Maybe we could grab a coffee sometime?”

I smiled widely, genuinely excited by our shameless flirting. “Yeah, maybe.”

“Can I get your number?” he asked.

Without thinking it through as much as I should have, I got into my purse and got out a pen and a pink Post-It. I wrote down my number and wrote “Ember Devereux” on it. “That’s my cell. You can text me, if you want.” I told him, handing him the sticky paper.

“I’ll definitely keep that in mind.”

* * *

“What’d she get?” I harped once Dominic got home with Emma. They had gone out to get a costume, and I was so anxious to find out what they had picked.

They came into the kitchen, Emma taking small steps over to me in…Cinderella’s dress.

“She’s Cinderella.” I said quickly, my voice full of irritation.

“It’s what she picked out,” he said defensively. “She’s not you, Ember.”

I glared at him. “Yeah. She’s not.” I agreed, and then brushed past him.

They followed me upstairs, Dominic carrying Emma. I went into my room while Dominic put her in her room. He came in after a minute, and then closed the door.

“What’s your problem, Ember?”

I scoffed. “Nothing.” I said. “Absolutely nothing.”

He just shook his head. “Fine. I’m going to take Emma and we’re going for a walk, because I really don’t want to be around you right now.”

“Ditto.”

Dominic walked out, slamming the door behind him. After a moment, I heard the front door open and close. My cell phone beeped at me, and I checked the text message.

Can you grab dinner with me? The message from Craig said.

When and where? I replied, not feeling the least bit disgusted with myself.