“Is Bashful all ready to go?” I asked, referring to her son in the play.

She nodded. “As ready as he’ll ever be.” One of the boys tugged on her hand and she smiled a goodbye and allowed herself to be pulled away.

We walked down the ramp that led away from the entry and around to the hallway that ran in front of the theater. I saw Jake standing at the end of the hallway, his hands on his hips, his back to us. He was talking to someone but I couldn’t see whom.

“There’s Jake,” Will said, pointing.

“Shh!” I hissed. “It might be someone who wants me kicked out of here!”

“Then why would he have told us to come in?”

“Just slow down,” I said, ignoring his logic.

We wove in and out of the groups of parents standing outside the theater. I kept my head down and my hat pulled low on my head. If anyone was looking at me, I couldn’t tell because I was doing my best not to make eye contact with anyone. I was already pleased to have made it this far inside the high school and now I was thinking I actually might be able to get inside and watch the dress rehearsal.

I stepped around a short man shaped like a bowling ball. Will was standing next to Jake. I tapped Jake on the shoulder, feeling like I’d just navigated a minefield.

He turned around and when he did, I could finally see who he was talking to.

Stella Gardner.

Jake’s ex-wife.

THIRTY EIGHT

“Hello, Daisy,” Stella said. “So nice to see you.”

“Hi, Stella,” I said, looking from her to Jake and back to her. “What a...surprise to see you.”

And it truly was a surprise. Stella lived in Miami and had yet to visit Minnesota since Jake and Sophie had moved. When they’d made the move from Texas to Minnesota, she’d taken the opportunity to take a promotion with her company, landing in Florida. Sophie went to visit her a few times a year, and they talked regularly on the phone or via Skype, but she’d yet to make good on her promise to visit Minnesota.

Until now, apparently.

“I know,” she said, smiling. She motioned to her ex-husband with a well-manicured hand. “I was just explaining to Jake that I ended up needing to fly to Chicago for a work meeting and decided I could scoot on over here to watch the play. I thought I’d mentioned it to you both at one time that it was a possibility.”

It sounded vaguely familiar and she probably had. But she said so many different things that both Jake and I had started letting most of her words go in one ear and out the other. Stella was a nice enough person, but she was not exactly a pillar of dependability. Her work always took precedence. More than once, we’d had to reschedule a trip for Sophie because Stella’s schedule had changed. While it irked me, Jake would just shrug and roll his eyes, having become accustomed to it during their marriage.

So it was a bit disconcerting to see her in Minnesota, standing in the middle of my world.

“I hope it’s okay that I just showed up,” she said. “I think you sent me the info a few weeks ago, Daisy, and when I realized I was going to be done early in Chicago, I just decided to hop on over here.”

“Oh, of course,” I said, biting back an amused smile. No one “hopped” from Chicago to Central Minnesota – it was at least an 8-hour drive. Even the flights, when you factored in security and the drive from MSP to Moose River, took several hours. “I was just surprised, that’s all. I’m sure Sophie will be excited to see you.”

She looked at Will. “You must be Will, right?”

He nodded. “Yep.”

This was the first time he’d met his stepsister’s mother and I could tell he was curious about her. He’d seen photos, of course, and even exchanged a few words with her when he walked by during one of their Skype conversations, but this was the first real-life interaction. I could tell he was dissecting her appearance, making note of her similarities to Sophie. They both had blond hair, although Stella’s was about six inches shorter. She wore it in a blunt bob that accentuated her blue eyes and square chin, both features Sophie had also inherited.

If she noticed Will was staring at her, she didn’t let on. “Sophie has said a lot of nice things about you,” she said. She added, “About all of her new siblings.”

“New?” Will asked.

It was a valid question. Jake and I had been together long enough for the term “new” to raise an eyebrow.

Stella’s cheeks turned a light shade of pink. “I guess it has been a couple years, hasn’t it?”

Jake rolled his eyes and I could tell that he was annoyed not only with her comments but by her surprise appearance. My interactions with Stella had always been benign and pleasant, but we usually communicated from a distance. And I’d never been married to her. Jake, however, had zero patience when dealing with his ex-wife and had a hard time hiding his feelings, even at a distance.

“Are you staying through the weekend?” I asked, changing the subject.

Stella shook her head. “Unfortunately, no. I need to get back to Miami tomorrow, so it’s just a quick trip.” She nodded at Jake. “I mentioned to Jake that it would be great if I could take Sophie out after the play tonight. Just for ice cream or something. I wouldn’t keep her out too late.”

“Of course,” I said, glancing at Jake. His expression was impassive. “I’m sure that would be fine.”

I couldn’t tell by his expression whether or not that would be fine with him, but I wasn’t sure what other response was appropriate. Even dropping in at the last minute, Sophie had a right to spend time with a mother she saw very little of in the first place.

Stella’s eyes rested on me. “That’s a nice hat.”

My hands flew to my head. I’d forgotten I was wearing the beanie. I debated pulling it off, but knew my hair would be a total mess underneath.

“My mom is banned,” Will blurted out. “She thinks the hat is disguising her.”

Stella raised a perfectly plucked eyebrow. “Banned?”

“It was a misunderstanding,” Jake said quickly. “That’s all.”

“Ah, okay,” she said, nodding, clearly not interested. Then she pointed at the theater entrance. “I’m going to head in so I can make sure I get a seat up front. I can’t believe so many people are here for a dress rehearsal.” She looked at me, then Jake. “I’ll find you after?”

We both nodded and she smiled again and joined the crowd of parents walking into the theater. She looked foreign, out of place in her tailored black suit and designer heels, and several moms wearing yoga pants and Moose River sweatshirts stared at her as she passed them.

“Why would that be fine?” Jake said, lowering his voice. “Why would it be fine that she just shows up and can take her out for ice cream or chicken nuggets or coffee or whatever?”

“Uh, because Sophie doesn’t get to see her that often?”

He jabbed a finger in the direction of the theater. “Because that’s her choice. Let’s remember, when I broached the subject of moving up here, her response was ‘Oh, that wouldn’t be a problem at all.’ Do you recall that?”

I did because it had shocked me so much. Even though Jake had full custody of Sophie, he hadn’t felt right about just picking up and moving their daughter without her mother’s consent. And I’d agreed. The last thing any kid needed was to get caught in a war between their divorced parents, and Jake and I had gone to great lengths to avoid those wars, as had our former spouses. So I hadn’t gotten my hopes up when he told me he was going to bring it up with Stella.

To my surprise, she hadn’t objected in any way. When we’d found out shortly after that she’d accepted a job in Miami, Jake surmised that she’d already been considering the move and that he’d essentially cleared the way for her to do it without looking like she was bailing. I hadn’t cared what the reason was. I was ecstatic, because it meant there were no obstacles to Jake and Sophie moving to Minnesota.