Time Will Tell

Emma and Grace are playing on the floor in my living room. My mom and Kim are in the dining room, setting the table for dinner.

I’m lounging around on the couch watching Hallmark movies.

The doorbell rings and I push myself up and answer the door. My eyes pop open wide when I see Reese standing on the other side. He’s smiling lazily at me, leaning against the doorjamb like a prick. I frown at him.

“I don’t want to talk to you right now,” I growl.

“Oh, come on, baby, please.”

“Don’t call me baby, and no I will not talk to you.”

He grabs my hand as I move to close the door. “It’s about Celeste,” he says tauntingly. “And me.”

I frown. I’d rather not speak to him but my curiosity has gotten the better of me. “Mom!” I call.

“Yes, honey?” she calls back.

“Will you watch Grace and Emma for a moment? I’m stepping out real quick!”

I don’t wait for an answer, just close the door behind me. When I look up I realize how close he’s standing to me; so close he could lean down and kiss me – which happens to be exactly what he does. My eyes shoot open wide and I push against his chest.

“What the hell are you doing?” I demand. Seriously, what did I see in this guy?

“Come on, Teagan, you know you still love me. I still love you,” he says softly, stroking my cheek with his thumb.

I hate myself for almost believing him, and I hate myself for what his voice still does to me.

“Whatever, Reese, I don’t have time for this – what the hell do you want?” I demand, angry with myself and with him.

“I want you back,” he says bluntly. “And Celeste wants Noah and Grace back.”

“What?” I exclaim, shocked.

“She says unless you stay away from Noah, she’s going to file for custody of Grace.”

I can’t believe what I’m hearing.

“Which I think is great – it’s not like you really want to be with him anyway. We can be together again, and Celeste can have her family back, it’s a win-win situation.”

I shake my head at him, appalled. “No way in hell! That’s not win-win, thats fucking lose-lose you dumb ass! One, I do not want to get back with you and two, Celeste is a raging bitch – Noah doesn’t want to get back with her.”

He smiles evilly at me. “Oh, yeah? Then why is he at dinner with her right now?”

“No he’s not,” I disagree. “He’s at work.”

“Alright,” he sighed. “You go ahead and believe that honey, but when you finally see the light, you know where to find me.”

He leans in and kisses me one last time and then turns on his heel and walks away.

I stare after him, letting everything he just said sink in, feeling like I’m going to throw up.

I pull out my phone and search my contacts for Noah’s work number. I hit dial and press the phone against my ear. There’s a click and someone with a nasally voice answers.

I ask for Noah.

Noah’s not working today.

I don’t know what to think. Why would he be at dinner with Celeste? What if he does want to get back together with her? After all, she is Grace’s mother. Maybe he doesn’t want to keep Celeste away from Gracie – maybe he wants her to have her mother in her life now that Celeste seems to be showing interest.

And what a shitty thing to do asking me to watch after Grace while he’s off fixing things with his ex!

But I’m ahead of myself. He might not even be with her right now, and if he is it might be harmless, but as I turn to go back inside something keeps nagging at me.

Why the hell did he lie?