Free Kate Jacobs by The Friday Night Knitting Club - [The Friday Night Knitting Club 01] Page B

all her brashness, was
too kind to insist on the opposite. Because Georgia sincerely believed all
would work out, had sold herself some bullshit theory about James needing to
sow his wild oats. He'd definitely return to the woman having his baby.

Or not.

Then she went into labor—twenty painful hours on her own—and a new little face
stole her heart. And energy. Twelve years of being a single mom can make anyone
tired. Or cash-strapped. That was the thing about being a success in New York:
you could still feel the pinch. There were always too many bills to pay. Even
though she'd done the impossible for Manhattan and lucked out into a great
space for her home and her business, even though her lease had held steady for
years. Everything—utilities, equipment, inventory, Peri's wages, the cost of personal items such as food and clothes and extracurricular
fun for Dakota—was just too damned expensive. (Twelve and a half years old and
nearly five-five, Dakota seemed poised to grow her way through several pairs of
shoes and pants this year alone.) There was never any time to slow down if you
wanted to do more than merely survive. If you wanted to save for your kid's
college, get life insurance, squirrel away for your own retirement. Pay for
your own health care, dammit . That was the beauty of
being self-employed and being a solo parent: it was all on you.

Sure, James had often wired money into that custodial account he had set up for
Dakota, and Georgia had access to it at any time, but it wasn't a huge amount
in the preschool years. A couple hundred bucks every month or so. Later on, he
began sending more substantial sums with regularity, especially in the last few
years. (Georgia figured he'd either had a big promotion or he'd finally
developed a guilty conscience.) Her pride kept her from dipping into the funds
unless it was really necessary, and besides, she liked to think of Dakota using
the money for school. Either way, the fact of the matter was that the two of
them had never really settled on a dollar figure. That was another reason his
return made her nervous—they'd never discussed, let alone worked out, a legal
arrangement when it came to Dakota. Oh, Anita had told her she should, even offered
to pay for a lawyer, but Georgia just wanted to have nothing to do with that
damn man.

And now he was back.

Georgia smoothed down her dress, chose a pair of open-toed shoes that wouldn't
work on a March day in New York except that she only had to exit her squeezed
little apartment and take the stairs down to her similarly cozy second-floor
shop. It had to be the shortest commute in town.

She opened a tube of lipstick. Too red. Chose an almost nude sheer, put on a
light coat of brown mascara, a dusting of powder. Done. Good-bye, tired momma.
Hello, savvy businesswoman.

The opposite of love, she'd always heard, is hate. Certainly that was what she
felt for James. Well, more like hatred lite , seeing
as it wasn't quite so intense as it used to be. But James? He'd moved straight
from love to indifference. Not exactly evil—he'd always made a contribution
financially—but he'd never actually wanted to pursue any sort of role in
Dakota's life. Until now. Georgia gave her cheeks a pinch to bring up a bit of
color and turned to pick up the cardigan.

"Mom! I've been calling you! For, like, ever." Dakota hung in the
doorway of her bedroom.

"Uh-huh. Well, what do you need?" Georgia knew Dakota was excited
that later in the afternoon, Anita was taking her to see a matinee on Broadway.
The two of them always went out for a special outing on the second Saturday of
every month. And she even enjoyed hearing Dakota warble the songs all day
Sunday. She waited, expecting to hear the pros and cons of possible outfits.

"I just wanted to show you my new helmet."

"Helmet? For what?"

"Daddy took me to look at bikes." Georgia felt her whole body grow
hot, then cold, then hot again. "I just remembered that I forgot to tell
you about it."