“Again, please!” she said, reaching for the record player.
Sierra walked over and showed Gina how to gently move the needle to the beginning of the song again. Then my best friend came back over to my side.
“How come you never brought all of this up with the other dads?” I asked. Not that I was attracted to them, but we were the same age; why was she pushing for me to have a boyfriend when she loved the single life?
“Because you didn’t get all gushy when you talked about those dads. You’re clearly smitten, and I think this date with Kimberly is not a good idea. What if they start dating and you regret setting them up? And then you get kicked out when they get married.”
“Even if they did get married, none of that would matter as long as Gina is happy.”
“All I’m saying is that you’re a little over concerned when it comes to Noah’s love life. You should take a step back and think about what you want. Your job be damned. If you two get along as well as you say, and you love his daughter, don’t ruin any chances before they come up.”
“I’m doing this for Gina,” I said, weakly. Sierra put strange thoughts into my head about Noah. And my mission to hook him up with Kimberly was a little muddled now. “She needs a mother figure in her life.” Repeating the goal I needed to accomplish helped with keeping that focus in my brain.
“Well, you don’t need to rush anything,” Sierra said. “They have you right now. And that’s more than enough of a mother figure.”
“I’m not sure if I should take that as a compliment or insult.”
Sierra bumped my hip. “It’s a compliment, darling. Now let’s go shake our asses to ‘Wheels on the Bus.’”
After coming home from the record shop and lunch, Gina clocked in the longest nap to date at almost three hours. I had to wake her around four, so the timing of her bedtime wouldn’t be screwed up. Given how tired she acted for the rest of the day, I knew that wouldn’t be a problem. I’d texted Noah and ordered pizza that night earlier than normal. And by the time she finished eating, Noah came through the front door.
“Hey, Daddy,” Gina said wearily from the table.
Noah looked at me then back to Gina. “Is everything okay?”
“Yeah,” I said. “We visited a friend of mine today.”
“Kimberly?” he asked.
For some reason, I didn’t appreciate his interest in knowing more about Kimberly.
“No, Sierra. She works at a vintage record shop. Gina likes this one album, and I think she tuckered herself out.”
I felt sorry for my snappy tone and brought it back down to a level one. I had been the one to set him up with Kimberly. There was no reason I should feel weird about it. Right?
“I’m sure the rain didn’t help,” he said. “This dreary weather had me dragging all day.”
“Me too,” I said. “I took a little snooze myself.”
“I wished I could have done that,” he said.
Light snoring from the table grabbed our attention. Gina had fallen asleep in her chair. Her forehead rested on the table next to her plate.
“I should get her to bed,” Noah said, dropping his briefcase on one of the empty chairs.
“I’ll see you tomorrow then,” I said. “What time would you like me here?”
“Would you mind coming by the house around five-thirty tomorrow?” Noah asked. “I have reservations for six.”
Six? That seemed a little early for a date. Did Noah expect to have a late night with Kimberly? Why did I care? I’d offered my services to watch Gina assuming he’d be out late. Damn Sierra for giving me these crazy thoughts!
“Are you looking forward to your date tomorrow?” I asked, trying to act like the person who orchestrated this entire date.
“Yes. But to be honest,” he said, “I’m a little nervous. I haven’t done the dating thing for a while.”
“You’ll be fine.” An image of Noah and me at a fancy restaurant popped into my mind. I knew together we’d be more at ease with going on a date. We never had any awkward moments between us. What would Kimberly and his date look like? Would they remain on surface topics like the weather or their careers? Or would Kimberly impress him with her killer body and flexible limbs?
I snapped myself out of those thoughts. Why did I care so much? A sick feeling of jealousy floated around in my stomach. I had no right to feel like that. I wasn’t jealous. I couldn’t be. Maybe it was a protective instinct like I had for Gina. I liked Noah as a friend, and I wanted to see him happy. There was no harm in that.