But what did he say about taking me to Vail instead of taking a real date? Something about real dates reading into things. Kinda like I’m doing right now.

 Maybe there’s nothing to read into.

 So I’m going to stop.

 Besides, it wasn’t a date.

Twenty–One

 Boyd

 “Hey, Boyd! Good to see you. Come on in.” My sister beams at me from the doorway of her condo. Baby Christine is asleep in her arms. Or arm. Looks like Sophie’s already mastered the one-armed baby carry because she’s still got one hand on the door and the baby cradled in her opposite arm.

 I step inside and we walk down to the kitchen where Sophie offers me coffee, then sets the baby in my arms while she makes it.

 “You seem happy,” I comment, while baby Christine blinks up at me while scrunching her nose up like she’s about to cry. But she must decide I’m a passable temporary replacement for Sophie because her features relax and she waves her tiny fist in my general direction. I give her my finger to latch onto and she grips on with surprising strength for such a little person. Surprising to me at least.

 “Yeah, I am.” Sophie beams from across the room. She’s got a new-mom glow about her and I suspect that Sophie’s going to be one of those moms who embrace motherhood with gusto. I wonder what it would be like to grow up with one of those moms, the really good ones, and then I find myself wondering what Chloe would be like as a mom; it’s not that hard to imagine. I’ve seen her with Sophie’s baby and Everly’s kid. And she was great yesterday with Noah. Not great—amazing. I know she’s a teacher, but I’ve never gotten to see her teach before. She’s one of the great ones. It’s her element, for sure.

 “She’s such a good baby,” Sophie continues. “She’s making it really easy on me. And Luke always makes me feel like I’m doing everything right, which is reassuring. So yeah, things are great.”

 “I guess she’s about a month old now, isn’t she?” I calculate as Sophie sets our beverages down and sits next to me at the table.

 “Yeah,” she says. But her tone implies something else and the skin between her eyebrows wrinkles in the slightest way. “Almost a month,” she amends in a rush. “In two days. She’s twenty-eight days old now.” Then she blows out a long breath and shakes her head before meeting my eyes. “I’m one of those moms, Boyd. I promised myself that I wasn’t going to be. But I’m clearly on a path there. I’m that mom who’s going to tell you her kid is forty-nine months old when all you wanted to hear is that she’s four.” She shakes her head again and rolls her eyes to the ceiling. “It’s so embarrassing.”

 I laugh at her and she looks at me, chagrined. “I’m sure it’s very exciting,” I allow as I glance down at the baby. She blinks back at me then yawns and, yeah, it’s fucking adorable.

 “So how are things with you?” Sophie asks, her tone striving for nonchalant. “Are you seeing anyone?” She takes a sip of her drink and appraises me over the rim of her mug.

 “Are you worried about my love life?” Deflect without lying. I raise my eyebrows and give her a look of confusion.

 “What did you think of my friend Chloe?” she asks. “You met her at the hospital when I had Christine. Remember? With the long brownish-reddish hair? Really pretty?”

 “Chloe.” I nod. “Are you trying to set me up with your friend?” I raise an eyebrow in challenge.

 “She’s a really nice girl, Boyd. I think you two would totally hit it off.”

 “I don’t think a set-up is necessary,” I say as nonchalantly as possible while straightening the footie pajamas on Christine’s toes. “But thanks.”

 Down the hall the front door opens and a moment later her husband Luke walks into the kitchen, clearly just back from the gym.

 “Hey, babe,” Sophie calls out to him as he grabs a bottle of water from the fridge and walks over to say hello. “Before I forget, Chloe called and wanted to know if you could attend career day with her class next month. I put it on your calendar.”

 “Sure,” Luke agrees and bends over to kiss the top of Sophie’s head.

 “Why didn’t she ask me to come to career day?” I wonder. But apparently it’s out loud because they both turn to look at me, Sophie with confusion, Luke in assessment.

 “Why would Chloe ask you to do her a favor, Boyd? She doesn’t even know you,” Sophie says, a little baffled and with complete reason. Because obviously I just insinuated I didn’t know her and wasn’t interested in getting to know her. All of two minutes ago. Luke unscrews the cap to the water bottle and watches, the hint of a smirk on his face as he silently lets me dig myself a hole.

 “Uh. You know how little kids love the Feds. That’s all.”

 “What grade is it that Chloe teaches again, Sophie? I forget,” Luke comments before taking a sip of water. Now I’m sure he’s fucking with me.

 “Second,” Sophie tells him then glances back at me. “Wait, did I tell you Chloe is a teacher?”

 “You said career day with her class. What else would she be?” Yeah, I think I’ve crossed the line from deflecting into lying now.

 “Oh, right. Okay,” Sophie agrees. “Are you sure I can’t introduce you again? I could have you both over and I wouldn’t even tell her it’s a set-up,” she tells me, beaming with excitement over her plan. “Plus, she gets really nervous. So it’d be easier if she didn’t know anyway. Or I could ask her to babysit and you could just happen to stop by,” she says, waving her hands excitedly about her set-up ideas.

 “I think you’ve been spending too much time with that scheming friend of yours.”

 “Everly?” Sophie asks, not missing a beat. “Please. If Everly was conspiring this set-up you wouldn’t even know it was happening. She’d probably get you both drunk and you’d wake up married in Vegas,” she says, laughing. Then she stops. “Actually, I wouldn’t put that past her. Nobody put that idea in her head.”