“As I recall, museum sex guy never called you back,” Elena pushed one last button on the screen and turned to face her friend. “You two didn't look like he wasn't speaking to you. Or rather, you did a fair amount of talking. And then some pretty hot not talking.”
Laura blushed. “Apparently, he tried to call me after the party, but his secretary changed my number in his phone.”
“Seriously? Who does that?” Elena asked.
“Someone who is crazy in love with her boss and doesn't want anyone but her to be with him,” Laura replied. “She sabotaged the whole thing. She made him think I was interested.”
“Seriously? Damn.” Elena shook her head in disbelief for a moment, but then her eyes narrowed, focusing on Laura. “So what's going on now? You aren't exactly in a position to be doing one-night-stands.”
Laura followed Elena's gaze to the kids. Dallas was asking if he could borrow Ivy's green crayon since he'd broken his. Ivy was being a good sister and sharing marvelously.
“He wants to take me out for dinner.”
“Nice!” Elena said with a pleased smile. It twisted into a concerned frown. “With or without kids? I'm busy this whole week. I have double shifts so I can't watch them.”
“I know you're busy,” Laura said quickly. “He's getting me a babysitter.”
“Double nice!” Elena nudged her shoulder and grinned. “I think he likes you.”
Laura shrugged and didn't reply.
“Wait a second.” Elena put her hand on Laura's shoulder and turned, so they were face to face. “You are doing it, aren't you?”
Laura sighed and pulled at her fingernail before answering. This was why she needed to talk to Elena. She needed to know if she was doing the right thing or if she should run from this guy. He'd already let her down once, even though it wasn't really his fault. She wasn't sure she was in a position where she was ready to go out to dinner with someone she was actually interested in.
“I don't know. I just...” Laura shrugged again.
“You just what?” Elena asked.
“The timing,” Laura replied. “I mean, dating? Dinner? I have the kids and... what if they freak out? They need me, and I can't leave them alone. They wouldn't want me dating.”
“The kids are fine, Laura,” Elena assured her. “They don't need you with them three hundred percent of the time.”
“I know.” Laura sighed. “I just don't feel right when I'm not with them.”
Elena frowned. “What do you do when they're at school? You've seemed fine without them then.”
“I don't feel weird when they're at school,” Laura tried to explain. “School's fine. They're safe there. Mom and Dad liked their school.”
Elena watched her for a moment before nodding. “So that's what this is.”
“What is?”
“This is about your parents,” Elena said gently. “It's about them.”
“How is this even remotely about my parents?” Laura scoffed. “My parents are dead.”
“Exactly. You're fine with the kids being at school because your parents approved it,” Elena explained. “You're fine with me watching them because your parents hired me to babysit. You’re fine with them going to the ranch with Carter because your parents liked Carter.”
“What's your point?” Laura asked. Annoyance crept into her voice without her meaning it to.
“You're parents never met this guy. You never even told them about him,” Elena told her. She looked over at the kids. “You're parents also didn't hire or approve of whoever is going to be babysitting them. You are freaking out about this because you have to approve and decide this all on your own.”
“That's not true,” Laura replied, taking a step back from her friend. “You're reaching, Elena. I'm freaking out because this parenting thing is hard. You don't have kids. You don't know what this is like.”
Elena opened her mouth to say something and then quickly shut it. She took a deep breath and gave Laura a fake smile.
“I'm going to go sit with your brother,” Elena told her. “He looks like he needs some adult supervision.”