The voices in the foyer grew louder as I descended the stairs. Taking each step at a time, I struggled to get a grip on my nerves. Despite knowing how meddlesome my sister was, I was still not prepared to socialize with members of the opposite sex. I was afraid I’d end up hurt again.



As I rounded the railing on the landing of the stairs, I could pick out Sophia’s voice greeting our guest. Then another voice answered – a familiar voice from a time long ago. A time that I kept locked away deep in my memory. But there it was, in my home: Sean’s voice.

My foot hit the hard marble floor at the bottom of the staircase. There he was, talking cheerfully to my sister and brother-in-law, oblivious to my arrival.



I couldn’t hide my shock at seeing him. Really, of all the people to come to dinner, it never crossed my mind that Pete’s guest was Sean. I’d already run into him at the market, wasn’t that bad enough?



Sophia must have seen me gawking, because she snickered at me.

“Don’t be rude, Kat. Come say hi to our guest,” she said, motioning me over.

Reluctantly, I took a step forward. Either my movement or Sophia’s statement caught Sean’s attention and he looked my way, apparently just as shocked to see me as I was to see him.



I couldn’t help but to giggle at his reaction.

“Kat! Twice in one day, huh? I must have picked up some good luck somewhere.” His smile was so warm that it sent a rosy blush over my whole face.

“Hello again, Sean,” I said sheepishly.



I saw Sophia raise her eyebrows suspiciously. I hadn’t told her that I’d run into Sean earlier. “What do you mean twice in one day, Sean?” she asked, annoyed that I’d held out on her.

“Hon, the food’s getting cold,” Pete said before Sean could elaborate. “Why don’t we sit down?” He shot me an apologetic look for his wife’s nosiness. He’d been like a real brother to me since I’d moved in, and he knew how uncomfortable Sophia’s matchmaking made me.

Sulking, Sophia retreated into the formal dining room and we followed. Pete had made herb roasted turkey for dinner. It looked delicious.



The men had a lot to talk about and I could tell Pete was happy that his friend was back in town. He’d been outnumbered by women in his own home for too long.



“So, Sean, you said you saw Kat earlier today?” Sophia said, interjecting into the conversation. Pete grimaced.



“That’s right,” Sean started. “We saw each other at the supermarket this afternoon. Kat literally ran into me. Almost knocked me down.” He chuckled.
“But I didn’t realize I’d be seeing her tonight also. Why didn’t you say anything Kat?”



“Actually, it was a surprise to me as well. Someone forgot to mention who our guest was.” I said, embarrassed. At least he didn’t know this was a set up, but it still had to be awkward for him.

“Do you live here too, then?” Sean asked, catching my use of the phrase ‘our guest.’

My face got hot and I assumed I was blushing. Here was Sean who’d left this stupid town and done something with his life, and I was a single mom living with my sister’s family. He must think I was such a loser.


“Yes, Sophia’s been kind enough to let me stay here since my divorce.” I was sure that was too much information. I was making myself look like a ruined woman all too well.



“You know what sounds perfect? A soak in the hot tub!” Sophia said eagerly, knowing I was uncomfortable with the current subject.

I started to object, but Sean beat me to speaking.

“You guys have a Jacuzzi? Wow, ritzy. That sounds fun!”

“Great! I’ll just clean up our dishes.”



----------------------------------------

The Jacuzzi was a bad idea. Normally, I loved to relax in the hot bubbles, but that night was just plain awkward. Sophia kept nudging me with her foot under the water like she wanted me to start flirting with Sean.



When her attempts to get us flirting failed, she turned all her attention on her husband and Sean and I were left to entertain ourselves, all too painfully aware of the cuddly couple next to us.



There was a long silence. Sean smiled at me through the steam, searching my face with his clear eyes. I knew he was curious about my life, but I didn’t know how much I should open up to him.

“What is it?” I finally said, looking away from his gaze.

“You really do look great, Kat.”

“Thanks. You do too, you know.” I blushed, and continued to look down at my fingers skimming through the water.

“Why do you look so sad?”

“I’m not,” I said defensively, but I knew he was right. I still hadn’t let go of the pain from my divorce and it had only taken Sean a few hours to see that.

Playfully, Sean dragged his big hand through the water, sending ripples to my side of the Jacuzzi. I looked up. He smiled, revealing wrinkles near the corners of his mouth. Then he hit the water harder, sending a spray bubbles through the air.



There was a hot burst of wetness in my face as the water splashed over my cheeks. I’d been staring at his mouth and hadn’t realized he’d splashed me until I was gagging on water. I coughed.

“Are you okay?” Sean’s voice was worried as I rubbed the moisture out of my eyes.

“Yeah. What was that for?” I couldn’t contain the giggles as I pondered how much fun it would be to start a splash war.



“What was what for? You mean this?” he said, splashing me again.

“Stop it!” I squealed, sending another wave back at him.



I was laughing and really enjoying myself, but then I noticed Sean staring at Sophia and Pete. Apparently, our splash war had not fazed them. They were still clinging to each other.

“They’re kind of creeping me out,” Sean said. “What do you say we get out of this heat?”



I nodded and climbed out of the hot tub. We walked out into the cool air and sat down at the edge of the swimming pool, hanging our feet in the water.



“This was… nice,” Sean said, turning toward me to gauge my reaction.
Hesitant under his watchful eyes I nodded. “Yeah, I enjoyed catching up. I know Pete and Sophia did too.”

He smiled and let a small sigh. “That’s… good. I was worried this would be more awkward.”

I felt a pang of guilt stab through me. I really hadn’t given Sean enough credit. He was just as nervous as I was and I know I hadn’t made it any easier, being the social loser that I currently was.



“I’d like it if we could be friends, Kat. I mean it. Maybe things won’t be like they used to be, but I think we both could use an extra friend right now.”

I looked up at him, astonished. “You want to be my friend? After I… after all I did to you?” I chose not to elaborate. I’d broken his heart and chosen another man over him.

He raised one hand, dismissing my question. “All in the past. I know I wasn’t the most understanding back then. And anyway, that’s just the nature of young love. Can you forgive me?”

How had Sean come to be so grown up? Here I was still dwelling on my hurts and he’d moved on long ago.



“Of course,” I stammered. “There’s nothing to forgive.”

He chuckled and stood up.

“I’d better be going, but as long as we’re being friendly… what do you say we get together this weekend? There’s still a lot of catching up to do. And I want to meet those girls of yours.”

“Oh, okay. That sounds fun,” I smiled, standing up as well.

I wrapped a towel around me as he pulled on a t-shirt and gathered his things to leave. We both took one glance at Pete and Sophia in the hot tub and quickly decided to let them be.

“Will you tell them I said bye?” Sean asked.

I nodded and walked him around the house to his car.

“Bye, Kat. I’ll call you tomorrow.” He winked at me before sliding effortlessly into the driver’s seat.

After I watched him drive off into the night, I sat down on the front step to think. Was being friends with Sean a smart decision?

My reverie was interrupted by the sound of another car pulling into the driveway. Momma was back with the girls. The night’s festivities were over and I had officially survived a blind date with my ex.