Chapter 5: Recoupling

As I disconnected the phone I thought I heard some discontent in Jimmy’s voice. I shouldn’t have waited so long before calling him and suggesting lunch. What he didn’t know was that I was already at the restaurant. I was so nervous about seeing him after his trip that I headed out almost an hour ago and have been responding to work email on my phone from the car.

About fifteen minutes after speaking with Jimmy I see his SUV pull into the parking lot and park in the space next to mine.

As he gets the kids unbuckled from their seats I finish my call and get out of the car.

Screams of “mommy” reach my ears as two little people come running up from behind and give me a hug.

I kneel down to return the hug asking how they liked their extra time with grandpa and grandma.

“It was good, but we missed you!” Freddy said. His sister’s head bobbed enthusiastically in agreement.

“I missed you, too,” as I tugged them closer before standing.

Jimmy was standing a few feet away and as I stand he paused for a moment before coming to me, giving me a hug and a kiss on the cheek.

“Did you miss me, too?”

As soon as he said it I think he knew it would be something that I could take the wrong way. Before it could go much further he added, “Because I’ve missed you a ton!”

Even though I kept my face passive, I did read the additional meaning into his comment that he feared. I smiled and said, “Of course, I missed you a ton, too.”

The adults took each other’s hands, and with their free hands they both reached out to take a child’s hand and walked into the restaurant.

Lunch went quickly as the children chatted non-stop about the adventures they had with their grandparents. When they paused to take a breath, Jimmy tried to casually mention that there was an upcoming debate looming with his client as two of the vice presidents were wondering why they were not getting the same deal as the third, and it would likely require a trip back sooner than later.

Outwardly, I took the news stoically, but internally I put this information into the possible evidence bucket. Was his need to take another trip really because of a contract struggle, or was there an ulterior motive?

After lunch the children caused a small scene in the parking lot as they insisted on riding home with me. I was able to avoid a prolonged argument by explaining that they were already set up to ride in dad’s car. They glumly agreed and trooped over to his car to get buckled in for the ride home.

When home, the kids bolted to their rooms and needed to be called back to get their small suitcases and take them to their room and unpack.

“Take these to your rooms, unpack them, and then put them in the hallway so I can put them away,” I said as the two were disappearing from sight.

I helped Jimmy get his luggage into our room and unpacked. With a week’s worth of dirty clothes from three people I started a load of laundry and then started planning for a light dinner after such a large lunch.

The rest of the afternoon, and then dinner, went quickly and there were no more comments or actions that warranted a second thought. Even though the kids slept for much of the trip home they were drowsy and ready to be sent to bed by 8:30.