Free Ringing in Love by Peggy Bird Page A

guy?”
    “First of all, I’m not ‘hooking up’ with anyone. Second, he’s not ‘some guy.’ His name is Dominic Russo; he’s a nice man; he owns the building where my new office is. Third …”
    “Oh, great. He’s Italian. Nonna will be happy. Is that why you’re doing this? So she won’t be mad at you forever about getting a divorce?”
    “Would you please let me finish responding to one outrageous statement before you make another? You know your dad and I aren’t getting back together. For heaven’s sake, Noah, even if I wanted to get back with him—and I don’t—his being married doesn’t bode well for reconciliation, do you think?”
    “But suppose he leaves Susan and you’re with this Russo guy?”
    Catherine took a couple deep breaths, trying to keep herself from pounding on the steering wheel. Which was only a replacement for wanting to find a way to pound the simple fact into her son’s head that, no matter what he wanted, she and his dad were never going to be a couple again because neither of them
wanted
to be a couple again.
    “Noah, I thought you’d gotten over this idea that your dad’s coming back. He’s not. We’ve moved on with our lives. For me, right now, it means I’m having dinner with Dominic this Friday. And for your information, I’m not now, nor have I ever, gone to dinner with anyone to please your grandmother.”
    If she hadn’t remembered only too clearly how she’d tormented her mother when she was a teenager, she’d have been royally pissed off at her son for his attitude. She needed to talk to her ex—again—and make sure he knew Noah was still pining for his parents to reconcile.
    “Can I meet this guy? Or are you going to go out with him secretly?”
    “Secretly? When I’m telling you about him? You’ll meet him when he comes to pick me up on Friday. And I expect you to be polite. You may get away with snark when you talk to me, but he doesn’t deserve it.”
    The rest of the drive was in a silence broken only by the sound of the music Noah chose to play from his iPod which, unfortunately, was both more raucous than she liked and connected to the car’s speakers. She let him get away with it because she wasn’t up for another fight.
    The first game went well for Noah’s team, although he seemed a little slow getting into the rhythm of the game. His team won and went on to the semifinal round, but Noah continued to play with less focus than usual. Eventually his coach replaced him with a younger team member. They lost when the opposing team scored a last-minute goal, and Noah’s team was out of the series. Catherine was relieved she wouldn’t be driving to some suburb or another the next weekend for the finals, but she knew the team would be disappointed, even though the semifinal round was further than they had ever gotten before.
    Catherine stayed on the sideline while the requisite after-game team handshakes and snacking took place. When Noah separated from his teammates and began to clomp toward her, she folded up her chair and waited for him to join her. She winced at the expression on his face, the worst case of teenage sulk she’d seen in a long time, and knew the ride home wasn’t going to be any better than the ride there had been.
    He didn’t stop when he reached her but continued stomping his way to the car. She had to take long strides to keep up. “You guys did great. The first game may have been the best I’ve seen you play all season.”
    “We should have won the second game, too. We only lost it because you made me lose focus and I got pulled. The kid Coach put in didn’t have the experience to keep the other team from getting that last goal.”
    “
I
made you lose focus? How?”
    “I couldn’t concentrate because of the stuff you told me in the car about this guy you’re suddenly dating.” They’d reached her CRV, and Noah yanked on the back hatch, which was locked. Catherine pushed the button on the remote to open it,