Yours, Mine & Ours by Jennifer Greene Read Free Book Online Page A

one priority for this summer. Teddy. To get him set up. To make this a home. Check out the preschools and pediatricians. Find some kids in the neighborhood, locate the parks, the library, the stuff he can get involved in. That’s my whole job this summer. And there just can’t be any women in that picture.”
    â€œOkay.”
    â€œHe’s still ripped about the divorce. Sometimes I think it’s because he never saw his mother and Iargue. We never did, not in front of him. I thought that was how you were supposed to behave, but now—crazy as it sounds—I think it’s part of the problem. He’s got it in his head that Nancy left because of not wanting him, that he was somehow at fault. What Nancy pulled was a downright turkey move. But I can’t change that or fix it. All I can do is try to settle my kid into the happiest, most stable life I can. To put it in blunt terms—”
    â€œDo,” she encouraged him.
    â€œI’ve given up sex forever. Now it has occurred to me, in the past couple of days, that ‘forever’ might not be a precisely achievable goal. But through this summer, I really need to do the celibate thing. No entanglements. No distractions. My world has to be my kid.”
    â€œWhew!” She let out a long breath, tossed him a smile—not that glassy, classy smile but one so real it jammed the air in his lungs. It was that sexy. That natural. “You have no idea how glad I am to hear you say that. Mike—I’m in exactly the same boat.”
    â€œYeah?”
    â€œWe’re on the same page. I just made the no-sex vow the same way.” She laughed, inviting him to. “The best thing about the divorce was figuring out how many wrong roads I’d been taking. I had every advantage a girl could have, was pampered and spoiled from the get-go, fell for the whole fairy talethat I was something special. I could have had a sign on my forehead that said Me-Me-Me.”
    â€œThat sounds pretty harsh.”
    â€œIt’s the total truth. I thought my ex was the Prince Charming in the story. Never once looked further than the surface—until it all crashed. So…I’ll likely look for a job in the fall. I don’t know what kind. I’ll work that out after Molly starts preschool. But I’m determined that this summer be about her. I want her to be about everything that I’m not. More self-reliant. More capable. I want her to take more pleasure in accomplishments than in material things. Which means…”
    â€œSomehow I sense the punch line is coming.”
    â€œYes. No men for me. Indefinitely probably—but definitely not this summer. I need to figure out the stuff I was doing wrong. Change. Change into being more of the person I want to be. Oh, God, it’s so boring hearing someone talk about this kind of thing, isn’t it? I’m sorry. I just wanted to be clear—”
    â€œAmanda.”
    â€œYes.” He’d leaned forward, with such a serious expression, that she leaned forward, too.
    â€œIt’s pretty obvious we’ve been worried about the same thing, don’t you think? Both of us have these…life plans. About not getting involved with anyone right now. About needing to concentrate on nothing but parenting for a stretch. So we both agree…it’d bea real pain in the keester if you and I…” He motioned with his hands.
    She nodded vigorously. “It would just be completely awkward.”
    He filled in more. “It’d be complicating. Unsettling. Exactly what neither of us want right now.”
    â€œI couldn’t possibly agree more!”
    He nodded. “So let’s get this over with, okay? We’d better find out how dangerous the problem is before figuring out how to handle it.”

Chapter Four
    G ranted, Amanda had had almost two glasses of wine—and before dinner, besides. So she realized she was a little addled, but