2. Only Single One

2

ONLY SINGLE ONE

" T he kids had a ball today," Raine said to Maxine Collar. "I'm not sure they've ever asked so many questions or laughed so much before on that field trip."

"They were super engaged," Maxine said. Maxine taught second grade and was twenty years older than Raine. She'd often gone to Maxine as a mentor early on, but after teaching for nine years now, she had a good handle on things.

"Tyler was upset he missed a few things while he was in the bathroom," she said.

"There is always one that doesn't go when we tell them to," Maxine said. "What did you think of that sexy fireman that you were in the building with? Talk about anything interesting?"

Raine felt the heat fill her face over the comment. No need to dispute the fact that the guy was extremely good looking.

She couldn't tell much about his body in his gear other than he was a lot taller than her. Maybe built more like her older brother, Brooks.

The only name she got was Fireman Allen from him. She didn't know if that was his first or last name and supposed it didn't matter.

"Not much," she said. "We weren't there long."

She didn't picture him the type that wanted to have a long conversation, but she found it nice that he offered to pop his head in and help her out with Tyler. That was one thing about being a female teacher with boys. There weren't a lot of male teachers and it always made it awkward for things like that.

"Too bad," Maxine said. "He was a treat to look at."

"He was," she said.

"You should see if you can find out more about him," Maxine said. "Maybe ask him out."

"Please," she said. "Do you know how long it's been since I've asked a man out?"

"Which is why you should do it," Maxine said. "He didn't have a ring on his finger. I looked. I was trying to be a good wingwoman and all."

"Not having a ring on means nothing," she said. "My father never wears his ring to work because he doesn't want to get it stuck in a machine."

Her father was a boat mechanic. He put his ring in his locker daily and slipped it off when he got to work and on when he left, but never while he worked.

"I guess," Maxine said. "My husband always has his on, but he works in an office. Got anything good for lunch?"

They'd been walking back from dropping the kids off in the cafeteria. The only peace she got was her thirty minutes of lunch in her room and most times she was grading papers or looking at lesson plans.

She had work to do but had a feeling Maxine was going to be joining her.

That was always nice too. It's not like Raine had much of a social life and couldn't get work done at home.

Her only plan tonight was to visit her sister-in-law, Emma, and play with her nephew Drew. Her brother River was working nights this week and Emma had returned to work last week.

Though Emma worked remotely for a law firm out of New York, she could use a break and Raine was going to bring dinner over.

"Just a salad," she said. "It's easy."

She put a big salad together each Sunday in a bowl and then transferred some to another container until it was gone. In her tiny apartment, with a skinny fridge, she didn't have room to keep a lot and didn't buy more than she needed for a few days anyway.

Not that she couldn't afford it as much as she hated to throw anything out and liked things fresh.

Maybe it got her out seeing adults too and in the hopes she'd run into some sexy stranger reaching for apples with her.

She shook her head over that thought. Silly, but in this small town she knew so many people and no one caught her eye.

Raine once had what she thought was going to be her forever future and it didn't work the way she imagined. From that point on, she didn't get her hopes up for much.

"That's the life of an elementary school teacher," Maxine said. "Easy."

They both laughed over a statement that had been told to them one too many times.

If there was one thing she hated, it was having her career dismissed as a play date with kids.

At the end of the day, she was knocking on her brother's front door. Emma opened it up and took the bag of food out of her hands.

"Yum," Emma said. "Chinese. I've been dying for it and am going to pig out and then hate myself tomorrow when I can't zip up my jeans."

"You look wonderful," Raine said. "Not like someone who had a baby three months ago."

"Thanks," Emma said. "Weight wise, I'm only a few pounds off, but man, did my body change. My hips are still wide. It sucks that some of my pants don't fit."

Her sister-in-law had a great body with curves in the right places, and in Raine's eyes, it was better than the teenage boy body she'd been stuck with.

No curves.

No hips.

Not a lot of fat.

Not that she was complaining about not having a lot of fat, but that went with the curves.

"They will fit in no time," she said. "Where is my nephew? I need some cuddles."

"He's sleeping," Emma said. "I'm sorry. I tried to keep him awake, but you can't predict these things."

"No worries," she said. "He'll wake up before I leave. If you've got things to do, go do them. Don't feel as if you have to entertain me."

"I'm good," Emma said. "I want the company. Drew starts daycare in two weeks. I ended up going back to work a bit earlier than planned due to a few big cases. River figured we could work it out between us and since my employers are so flexible to let me continue to work remotely, I couldn't tell them no."

She knew Emma worked for Matthews Law Firm out of Albany, New York. Emma loved her boss, Ryan Matthews, who hated to lose her and did what he could to keep her on. She was positive that Emma chose to return earlier out of guilt rather than her employers asking.

"Did they even ask?" she asked.

Emma looked away. "Not really."

"They just briefed you on what was going on when you returned more than anything, right?"

Emma sighed. "Yeah. I love being a mother, but being only with Drew day in and day out, I'm ready to pull my hair out. Though I'm not around people working remotely, I talk to adults all day long. Am I a horrible person missing that interaction?"

Raine pulled the containers of food out and opened the tops while Emma got the plates down.

"No," she said. "Not a horrible person at all. I work with kids all day long and I crave time with adults. If I wipe your face or help you cut a vegetable, don't hold it against me."

Emma laughed. "You say that all the time, but you never do it. Maybe you need to get out some more."

"I try," Raine said. "But a lot of my friends are married now or in relationships."

Which sucked even more.

She wasn't sure what was worse. Being single at thirty-one or being the only single one in her group of friends.

She didn't even have anyone to go out with.

Or if she went out with them, they weren't looking and she was.

She'd gone out with her future sister-in-law, Ivy, and some of Ivy's coworkers a few times, but again, most of them were taken too.

"At least you don't have your mother breathing down your throat to find a man," Emma said, snickering.

She'd heard all about Emma's mother and the men her mother married and divorced, then preached a woman needed a man to take care of her.

"That's a good point," she said.

The two of them dove into their food.

"How was your day?" Emma asked.

"We had a field trip to the firehouse. The kids had a ball. There was this guy that had them all laughing. I have to say it was a different trip than I've been on before."

She told Emma about Fireman Allen and the target the hose was hitting and how he got the kids involved in things.

"That's wonderful," Emma said. "Something for Drew to look forward to in five years."

When Emma's eyes filled with tears, she asked, "What is wrong?"

"Hormones," Emma said. "Oh my God, I never cry and I feel like I can shed a tear every second. Poor River is going nuts, but I tell him there's nothing he can do. I was just thinking how sad it'd be with Drew growing up that fast in five years. And here I am rushing back to work."

"Hey," she said. "Do you know how many parents come to me and say that they are struggling? That they want to do the right thing, but sometimes they just need a break. Or are out of their element? It's natural. Not everyone is meant to spend every minute with their children, but that doesn't mean they love them any less."

"I know," Emma said. "Your mother has been so wonderful coming over and helping out too. I think I'm just tired. I don't know how River can function on so little sleep."

Being a doctor, her brother was used to it.

"I can't either," Raine said. "But I'm sure you'll adapt and Drew will start sleeping better. Is he still getting up a lot at night?"

"He is. Two to three times a night to eat. Good lord, it's like he's got the biggest baby tank I've heard of. But your mother said both Brooks and River were the same. Not you."

"I'm a lot smaller than them," she said. "Even as a baby I was. Just means you're going to have a big son most likely."

"Is it horrible that I'm jealous that Charlotte was all but sleeping through the night at six weeks? Selena took eight weeks off and she had two weeks of full night's sleep before that."

Selena was married to Emma's brother, James, and was an attorney.

"Maybe it's a girl thing," she said. "And I'm sure I'd feel the same way. You know, if you and River want a date night, I'll stay with Drew and then can get up with him in the middle of the night. Or I can take him overnight because I know you or River would get up anyway."

Emma's eyes filled again. "That's so sweet. Your mother offered too, but I didn't want her to do that and think ill of me. That I can't handle this."

She got up and hugged Emma. This was not like her funny witty sister-in-law and she was thrilled she stopped over for the visit.

"You can handle this. Next Friday or Saturday that River has off, I want the baby overnight. Please."

"He's off this Friday. I'll talk to him about it."

"You do that," she said.

And when she left two hours later after playing with the baby and seeing that Emma was back to her normal self, she texted her brother at work to call her if he got a minute.

It was twenty minutes later when her phone rang. She was in sweats and a cotton shirt sitting on the couch channel surfing with her papers to grade in front of her.

"How much did Emma cry?" River asked when she answered the phone.

"More than I thought she would," she said. "You warned me."

"Did she agree to a night out and you taking Drew?"

Raine smiled. She thought it was super sweet River came up with the idea and then went behind his wife's back to not make her feel bad asking their mom to do it.

"She actually did. I told her I needed to spend some quality time with someone who has testosterone, even if it was only a little. She thought it was funny."

"Good," River said. "Then our plan worked. She'll talk to you in a few days about it once I convince her it will be fine. She needs a full night's sleep. I know it. She won't let me get up with Drew at night and says for me to go back to sleep. This way, she won't have to worry."

"She'll worry, River," she said. "But she won't have a baby's crying to wake her up either."