Tripped Up Love

by Farley, Julie

  Chapter 23

  Heather woke up to the sounds of the city in Peter’s arms. Something about having sex with Peter made her sleep soundly. Maybe it just wore her out. Peter was still asleep. Heather had a chance to look at him. He was perfect. He had a few gray hairs scattered throughout his black hair. A little bit of day-after scruff on his face and the muscles in his arms were perfectly outlined by his tattoos. Heather traced her fingers on his tattoos, inadvertently waking Peter up.

  “Good morning. I could get very used to waking up next to you,” said Peter.

  He didn’t even have morning breath. Heather realized she should have snuck out of bed and brushed her teeth. She covered her mouth and mumbled good morning. Peter kissed her, making her forget and not worry about her bad breath. The real world came crashing in quickly as Heather could hear her phone beeping in her bag. Peter got up to get it for her, knowing she would be worried it was the kids.

  7:02 Jenny: Ur on Page Six of the Daily News. Victoria has kindly linked it to ur Facebook page. U look fab! Hope u r having fun. Sorry to interrupt.

  Heather showed Peter the text.

  “I figured we would be. Remember they asked about you. It was probably a slow entertainment night last night.”

  Peter reached for his iPad on the nightstand and went to check it out. Heather did the same on her iPhone. Victoria had the link right on her wall with a caption that read Heather Nester Meadows you did NOT get that dress in Richmond! Heather rolled her eyes. It could be worse. She looked at the picture. It was a good picture. She was in shock seeing herself on Peter’s arm. It seemed very surreal. She read the article. Obviously somebody did some work on Google.

  Peter Adamson, author of Killer Jury and other novels, was honored for his charity work at the New York Public Library last night. His date was Heather Meadows of Midlothian, VA. Heather is a widow and mother of three children. Hearts around America are wondering if this could be the one for Mr. Adamson.

  A slew of pictures of Peter on other red carpets with other dates followed at the bottom.

  “They have nothing on you.”

  “Dating is one thing when you’re a widow with three kids. But dating in the public eye like this is really strange.”

  “Just ignore it. I really don’t get much press. It’s just because of this award, and it’s really no different than your friend taking our picture at The Boathouse.”

  “You’re right. It’s just annoying.”

  A text popped up on Peter’s iPad from Janie.

  7:30 Janie: She looks smashing! Seriously, she does and u look happy?!?

  Peter showed the text to Heather.

  “That’s definitely a compliment. You did look smashing. But I prefer you like this.”

  Peter made Heather forget all about the Page Six picture for the next hour until her phone rang. Heather could see it was the kids.

  “Hey, Guys.”

  “Hey, Mom. When are you coming home?” asked Hayes.

  “My flight gets in around 4. I’ll be home as soon as I can. Why?”

  “Grandma won’t let me go to Colin’s house.”

  “I’ll talk to her. It’s pretty early on a Sunday, so wait until 10 to go.”

  “K. And Henry is really driving me crazy. He keeps touching me in the privates and yelling, “I felt your nuts”.”

  “I’ll talk to him about that.” Heather rolled her eyes at Peter. She finished the conversation and spoke to the other kids and her mom. She hung up and life felt even more surreal than it had when she looked at the picture of herself. How could she be both of these people? Attending a gala on the arm of a famous writer one night and on mom duty the next morning while lying in bed naked with Peter. Not only did Heather feel like two different people, she felt incredibly guilty.

  “You’re thinking again.”

  “Yep. I’m going to take a quick shower. Mind if I do it by myself?”

  “Not at all. Whatever you need.”

  Heather got in the shower. She felt like she was falling - falling in love really quickly. Everything about Peter was amazing. He was gorgeous. He was smart. He had a great job, a job she admired and aspired to. It just felt fast and she wondered if he was really going to want to stick around. Did she have the strength to walk away? It felt so good to be with someone again. Heather was addicted to him, the scent of his shower gel and the feeling she got when he touched her. He took care of her and supported her. Why would she walk away?

  Heather got out of the shower and wrapped up into one of Peter’s robes. He was sitting on the bed doing something on his iPad when she got out. She walked over to the bed and sat down next to him.

  “Sorry I freaked.”

  “I’m used to it. You’ve kind of been freaking out since I met you. I’m just trying to prove to you I’m not going anywhere and you’re not scaring me.”

  “Great. I’ll leave the scaring to Henry.”

  “Get in the shower with me, and we’ll go out to get something to eat.”

  “A little bossy, aren’t you? I’m going to turn into a prune with you.”

  “As long as it’s not a prude, I don’t care.”

  She was not a prude, but her fingers did turn prune-y. They dressed for brunch. Peter was in his sexy writer’s uniform of Doc Martens, jeans and a tee. Heather was just happy to be wearing pants with her boot. They walked down the street holding hands and looking like everyone else in love in New York. Heather loved New York. She loved that there were people on the streets all the time. The cabs were always available and no one paid any attention to you. She felt anonymous, a feeling she never had in Richmond. They sat in the window of a café, ate Eggs Benedict, and stared into each other’s eyes and held hands. Brunch was the most peaceful hour Heather had had in a long time. She missed the kids though. She hoped Gracie had slept ok without her. She hoped Hayes hadn’t added to his pre-teenage angst and Henry hadn’t collected any more dead animals.

  Peter brought Heather out of her reverie. “I have to fly to California for a signing next Monday. I would love to have your whole family and Hank’s mom and dad over on the following Sunday. What do you think?”

  Holy Shit. That was not what she had expected him to say. “Why in the hell would you want to do that?”

  “I’ve met everyone but Hank’s dad. I was going to ask Janie and her family to come too.”

  “That seems like a lot of people and kids at your place. Why don’t we just do it at my house?”

  “Only if you let me cook. And if we do, then before I leave, I want you and the kids to come over.”

  Heather had to make herself stop thinking about everything before she did it. If this was going to work, she would just have to get over her anxieties and nerves and bite the dating bullet.

  “Sounds like a lot of fantastic together time. If we stick together through that, we’ll make it through anything.”

  Peter smiled.

  Heather’s phone was pinging in her purse. “Sorry. I know it’s rude.”

  10:47 Jenny: Hey. Matt’s sick. He can’t take the girls to the bowling thing tonight.

  10:48 Heather: k no prob talk later

  “Everything ok?”

  “Yeah. Jenny’s husband was going to take the girls to the Indian Princess bowling party tonight. He’s sick, so he can’t do it.”

  “I’ll take Gracie.”

  “Ummm…well, I’m not sure she would go with you. And you would hang out with a bunch of dads you don’t know?”

  “Ummm..yeah. They are just a bunch of 40-year-old men, right? That’s not really a big deal. Being with Gracie would be the hardest part.”

  “I’ll call her and ask her. Don’t be hurt if she doesn’t want you to go. She’s really shy.”

  Heather called home and spoke with Gracie. Apparently, they were bowling at this new two-story bowling alley, and she was really excited to go. Excited enough that it was fine with her if Peter took her.

  “Well, she said yes. Just what you wanted
to do, go bowling after you fly home from New York.”

  “It will be great. I love the shoes. I haven’t bowled in a long time.”

  Peter and Heather walked back to the apartment and packed up. Heather was reluctant to leave this safe world. She purposely didn’t check her email or Facebook. She’d wait until later to do that. They were both a little tired from all their evening excitement, so they lounged around on the couch until the doorman called up to say the car was there.

  Chapter 24

  Aiden was waiting for them when they got to the airport. They exchanged pleasantries and went to the bar in the terminal again. Peter didn’t even ask Heather if that’s what she wanted to do. He figured her fear of flying had not been cured in his bed last night, so a drink would still take the edge off.

  “Did you guys stay long after I left last night?”

  “No, just for a bit. We went to another bar and then went home,” said Peter.

  “Ah. I met up with some friends from home.”

  “That’s nice.”

  Peter was clearly not interested in talking to Aiden. The age difference seemed very apparent this morning for some reason. Technically, they could be her parents. They finished their Bloody Marys, courtesy of Peter, and made their way to the gate. Heather stopped on the way to buy three little snowglobes of New York as souvenirs for the kids. She was exhausted and had decided she would rest her head on Peter’s shoulder and try to sleep. She was successful and slept all the way to Richmond. Peter and Aiden made their way to the cars, and Peter pulled up to the curb to get Heather.

  “That was my favorite flight yet.”

  “Because you snored the whole time.”

  “I don’t snore.” Holy crap! What if I did snore and maybe even drooled during the flight? thought Heather.

  “You do snore. And yes, you drool a bit too.”

  This guy was a freaking mind reader.

  “We don’t have much time before bowling, so I’ll just stay at your place until we have to go. That ok?”

  “Sure.”

  Heather was greeted with huge hugs from Gracie and Henry. Hayes gave her an “I’m too cool for school” shoulder bump. Peter gave everyone high fives not wanting to push his luck. He did give Heather’s mom, Diane a small hug.

  “I hear I get to take you bowling, little lady.”

  “Yeah. The place is supposed to be so sweet. Spencer said it has disco balls all over it and all kinds of crazy lights. The balls are all sparkly colors.”

  “Sounds like fun.”

  Holy cow, thought Heather. She had not heard her this excited for a long time. Especially with Peter around. She was usually so shy with other people. She was a goofball with Jenny and Matt but not really with anyone else.

  “Heard there was a picture of you guys in the paper this morning,” said Hayes.

  “Peyton?” asked Heather.

  “Yep.”

  “There was. Do you guys want to see it? Gracie, go get me my iPad.”

  Gracie ran upstairs and brought down the iPad. Heather logged onto Facebook and pulled up the picture.

  “Mom, you look awesome,” said Gracie.

  Henry started singing Gangnam style and the sexy lady refrain.

  “Henry, you’re not allowed to say that. Stop.”

  “Ok, Mom. But you look pretty hot.”

  “Oh my gosh, he is so embarrassing, Mom,” said Hayes.

  “We’ve got to channel his energy,” said Peter. We? He surprised himself. It just seemed so natural to be with Heather and her kids. They were so easy going.

  “Can I see the picture?” asked Diane. “You look beautiful. Where’d you get that dress?”

  “Peter took me to Barney’s, and it was the first dress I tried on. I fell in love with it.”

  “Because it’s your color. You’ve always been a green girl,” said her mom.

  “Diane, I wanted to have a little family get together here in two weeks. We could watch the Patriots game and eat chili. Can you come?”

  “A partay?” asked Henry.

  “Yes, a partay,” answered Peter.

  “It’s been a long time since we’ve had a partay, Mom. And it’s not even a birthday,” said Henry.

  “Can Peyton come, Mom?” asked Hayes.

  “Sure, that ok with you, Peter?” asked Heather, figuring it would be easier for Hayes to handle with his best friend here.

  “No problem. The more the merrier.”

  “Gracie, do you have socks for bowling?”

  “Yep. I’m all set.”

  “Peter, guess you should take my car. You don’t have a backseat for kids.”

  “I’ll have to work on that.”

  Peter and Gracie left. Heather thanked her mom, and she left too. Obviously, her mom was worn out from 36 hours with the kids. Hayes jumped on the Xbox, and Henry asked if he could play on Heather’s phone. Heather sat next to him on the couch and checked her email. Her Things To Do list started growing as soon as she read her first email. Gracie needed a half dozen fresh veggies to build a car for school. Henry needed a man’s white t-shirt fringed all the way around. Hayes needed silver and gold tissue paper. And that was just the extra stuff they needed ASAP. She had to be at school three times this week for different things. Baseball practice was three nights, and there were two games next weekend. Indian Princess campout was in the process of being scheduled. Ugh! Heather’s brain started to feel like it was going to explode. Managing kids’ schedules was not like it had been for her mom.

  She realized she was avoiding looking at the Facebook comments scattered throughout her inbox. Heather knew she couldn’t put it off any longer and went to check them out. Laura was sweet and just wrote GORGEOUS :)! Tanya wrote Nice Slit! Typical. Even if Heather wore a snowsuit, Tanya would have a comment about it being too tight or inappropriate. There were a couple of comments about them being a hot couple. Overall, nothing too egregious. There was an email from Lauren.

  Heather-

  Saw the picture of you. You look beautiful. We’ve got to talk before this goes any farther.

  Lauren

  Before it goes any farther? It had already gone pretty far. A call to Lauren was on the agenda for tomorrow morning.

  Chapter 25

  Gracie and Peter walked in triumphantly. They had gotten the highest scores of anyone in the Indian Princess Tribe.

  “Mom, Peter even got a strike.”

  “Awesome, baby doll! Did you guys eat?”

  “Yeah, we had pizza and some cheese fries.”

  “I made some soup for the boys if you’re still hungry.”

  “No, I’m good.”

  “And you, Peter? Did you have fun?”

  “Yes, the other dads were nice,” said Peter.

  “Mom, everyone thought Peter was so cute. You should have heard them in the bathroom. They were all giggly.”

  Heather was happy to see Gracie so excited and out of her little shell. She had been in first grade when Hank had died. She had been so little. Heather tended to worry less about her, thinking little girls needed their moms, but seeing her this happy made her think she needed a dad just as much as the boys did.

  “Did they like my bowling moves?” asked Peter, acting them out at the same time.

  “Yep!” Heather and Gracie giggled. Henry started imitating him. It was this weird moment that felt like they were almost a family all laughing together. Sure, the Meadows’ had laughed since Hank died but not with another guy. This was a huge step for all of them.

  “I’ve had a blast with you guys. I wish I didn’t have to leave, but I’ll see you this week. Gracie, thanks for letting me come with you. It was awesome. Henry and Hayes, thanks for letting me steal your mom for the weekend.” Peter planted a quick kiss on Heather’s lips, gave a couple of high fives and a hug to Gracie and left. He knew leaving when things were good and happy was the best thing to do.

  Heather suggested showers for all and some television in her cozy bed.

 
“Can we all sleep there tonight, Mom?” asked Henry.

  “Yes, I missed you guys. We can do a special sleepover even though it’s a school night.”

  Everyone was thrilled at the thought and ran up to take showers. Heather closed up downstairs and got ready for bed.

  The next morning, Heather woke up and had an overwhelming sense of guilt. She was falling in love with Peter. As her love for Peter grew, it made her feel like her love for Hank was shrinking. How was she going to keep his memory alive for the kids when she was so absorbed in this new relationship? Her mind was racing with thoughts and worries. It was all she could do to get the kids on the bus. Somehow she managed and was happy to see Jenny walking towards the house.

  “Hey. We have some catching up to do. Got some time?” asked Jenny.

  “You are just the person I wanted to see.”

  “First of all, LOVE the picture of you guys. Tell me all about it.”

  Heather told Jenny about their trip to Barney’s and lunch afterwards. She recounted the whole evening, leaving out the Aiden parts for some reason.

  “It was amazing. He took Gracie to Indian Princess last night.”

  “Really? How was she with that?”

  “Awesome. She was thrilled. She said all the girls thought he was cute. Peter invited my mom, Hank’s parents, and his sister over for dinner in a couple of weeks. He really wants everyone to meet.”

  “Wow, that is going to be some dinner. Are you doing it at his place?”