Balance Check

by M. E. Carter

  I chuckle. “Uh, no. I suggested purple since it’s the favorite color right now.” Elena sniggers. She’s got three girls. She knows the phases. “But Joie really helped me put it all together. She’s really creative.”

  “I’ll say.” She runs her finger tips over the dresser as she looks around. “I may have to hire her if I ever get around to decorating my girls’ rooms.”

  We stand there for a few minutes, me looking at her as she looks around the room. After being away for so long, it feels surreal to have her right next to me. I could spend the night just watching her and be perfectly content.

  And then her stomach lets out an angry growl. It’s a good thing, too. My creepy, stalkerish thoughts were starting to freak me out.

  “I guess you’re hungry,” I laugh, as she covers her face in embarrassment.

  “I can’t believe that just happened.”

  “Your stomach always gives you away. Come on.” I grab her by the hand, intertwining our fingers and lead her out of the room. She lets me, which makes me smile even bigger, if that’s possible. “Let’s go finish cooking so we can get you fed.”

  We make our way into the kitchen to finally get dinner going. I wish I had started baking the chicken earlier. It may have been her stomach that growled, but mine isn’t far behind.

  Handing her a glass of her favorite wine, Elena tells me all about her new job at the elementary school, and all the drama that happens outside of the classroom. Homeschooling looks like a viable option for Peyton’s future if this is what teachers are really like. Who knew there was so much scandal behind the scenes?

  “Having a day job looks good on you,” I remark as I rub more seasoning on our dinner. And it does. She looks happy. Settled. Content.

  Licking her lips after taking another sip, she sets her wine glass on the counter. “I think I just like being useful. Not that I wasn’t before. But now that the kids are a little older, they aren’t as dependent on me for everything. I guess I got a little bored being home all day and not having adult interaction at night. This seems to balance me out a bit.”

  “Does Max go to daycare?”

  She shakes her head. “My mom and Callie switch off days keeping her.”

  “Callie keeps her?”

  Quirking an eyebrow at me, she says, “Have you met Christopher? Having Max over keeps him entertained for a few hours so she can get things done.”

  “I’m surprised those two don’t destroy her house when they’re together.”

  “Oh they do,” she jokes. “But no more than if he was by himself.”

  “What about Fiona and Maura?”

  She shifts on the stool and watches as the chicken finally goes in the oven. Just thirty more minutes until dinner. I hope we can hold out that long. “Usually they come home with me. I got so lucky getting a job at their school.”

  “Sounds like it.” Setting the oven timer, I thoroughly wash my hands, because salmonella would be just my dumb luck, and dry them on the new hand towel Joie insisted on getting me as a house warming gift. Cheapskate. “I don’t have to start the pasta for about fifteen minutes. You want to hang out in the living room while we wait?”

  She nods and slides off the stool, making her way to the couch and sinking down on the cushions.

  She practically purrs, “I love this couch. I missed this couch. It’s so comfortable.”

  I missed her on the couch. Mostly because of all the memories I have of her laying on it with me on top of her. But I’m not going to go there tonight.

  Pushing the memories aside, I situate myself next to her. I can’t help myself when I grab a lock of her hair from off the head rest and twirl it around my finger absent-mindedly. She turns her head to look at me, but doesn’t pull away. That’s a good sign.

  “How was San Antonio? Was Peyton ok? I worried about her the whole time she was living with that guy.”

  I smile. This is another thing I love about Elena. There was no “out of sight, out of mind.” She loves my child enough to worry about her safety and well-being. I’m glad I get to reassure her.

  “Aputi was a huge surprise,” I admit. “I thought for sure Libby had gotten herself involved with some crazy dude. But he was great.”

  “Aputi? That’s an unusual name.”

  I chuckle. “He’s an unusual guy. He’s this huge Samoan dude. Played football in college and liked San Antonio so much he stayed. He’s really interesting.”

  Elena smiles evilly. “You got to know him? I bet that pissed Libby off.”

  “I didn’t know him well. Just a little chitchat here and there when we would pass Pey back and forth. The first time I went to go pick up Peyton, though, ohmygod, I had no idea what he’d be like.”

  “He’s the one that answered the door?”

  I snort. “Libby didn’t even look up from her phone when I got there. She sat on the couch while we sized each other up. Here Aputi was, all tatted out with this menacing look on his face. He stood there staring at me, his arms crossed. I thought for sure he was going to try to kick my ass.”

  “I take it he didn’t.”

  I shake my head. “Not even close. We stood there for a second, but I never backed down. Finally, he said, ‘I’ve got a daughter. Her mom moved and took her away.’ What do you say to that, ya know?”

  Elena nods. She gets it. There was no good way to respond to him.

  “But then he said, ‘I respect a man that uproots his whole life so he can still be with his kid’.”

  Elena gasps.

  “I know,” I respond. “That wasn’t what I expected either. Anyway, Pey came running up behind him and wrapped her arms around his legs, peeking around him. As soon as I saw the way he stroked her hair to reassure her, I knew she was in good hands.”

  “Wait,” Elena interrupts. “Why was she afraid of you?”

  “She wasn’t. As soon as she realized it was me, she came running out the door and jumped in my arms. But knowing she felt comfortable enough that he would protect her, that made me feel comfortable, too. Aputi and I got along great after that.”

  “I don’t get it.” She turns to face me, making the lock of hair fall away. “If he was such a great guy, why did Libby leave him?”

  I shrug. “That’s the million-dollar question. Before I left, I made it a point to go back over and thank Aputi for being so good to Pey. He was really tight-lipped about what happened, but I could tell the break up wasn’t his choice.”

  “Aw. That’s kind of sad.”

  “Yes and no. I hope he finds someone wonderful someday, but I know from experience, Libby is probably not it.”

  We sit and stare at each other, not really sure what else to say, but knowing we’ll never have enough time to say it all.

  “I really missed you, you know?” I finally whisper.

  “I really missed you, too.”

  Stroking her silky hair again, my gaze wanders to her lips. I’ve missed those lips so much and I can’t stop myself from wanting to taste them. A quick glance in her eyes find her looking at my lips, too. Knowing we’re on the same page, I lean in, anticipating the moment when I finally get to kiss her again. My mouth is just centimeters from hers…

  And the smoke alarm goes off. And not one smoke alarm… all of the smoke alarms begin screaming at the same time.

  The home inspector wasn’t kidding when he documented that they all work.

  Jumping up off the couch, I race to the kitchen and throw the oven door open, waving away the thick black smoke as it billows out. Once I can see a little better, I grab the pan of chicken with a hot pad and drop it on the stovetop, while still flapping the hot pad to move the smoke out. Everything on the pan is all charred and black.

  “I opened the front door.” Elena walks into the room, her hand moving to and fro in front of her face and grimacing. She immediately opens the back door, too, and the breeze blows through almost instantly, making it easier to breathe. “What happened?”

  I look down at the oven
again. “What the…? How did I turn it up to six-hundred degrees?”

  “I didn’t know ovens go up that high.” She looks over my shoulder and points to the knobs. “Probably because the timer is right next to the dial. I bet you bumped it.”

  I shake my head. This could only happen to me, just when I’m about to make-out with the woman of my dreams.

  It takes a few minutes to disable all of the blaring smoke alarms—pretty sure every single one in the house went off—and get most of the smoke cleared out.

  Looking at our ruined dinner, I realize this is worse than I thought. “I think I might need to go oven shopping.” Not to mention, not only do we not have much to eat now, but the moment of seduction is gone. Damn cockblocking oven.

  Then Elena giggles and nothing else matters. I haven’t heard that carefree, happy sound in so long. As cheesy as it sounds, it’s almost makes me feel like I’ve finally come home. It’s wonderful.

  “How in the world did you burn it all so badly?” She glances over my shoulder at the charred remains, still giggling.

  “I have no idea. Most of the appliances were replaced so I assumed this one worked, too.” She quirks her eyebrow at me. “Yeah, I know. I made an ass out of you and me and all that crap.”

  She laughs even harder, which makes me smile, and suddenly I want to keep this oven if burning things will make her smile. But we still have the problem of dinner.

  “So I haven’t had time to go full-on grocery shopping yet,” I admit. “Which means the only thing left for dinner is pasta and green beans.”

  Rounding the corner, she grabs her purse of the couch and gestures for me to follow. “Then it’s a good thing you know your next-door neighbor. I know for a fact she’s stocked with all kinds of things to eat.”

  Racing to catch up to her, I grab my keys and lock the front door behind us. The back door can stay open for a while. With a privacy fence backing up to more neighbors, I doubt anyone will even notice.

  “Oh yeah? What does she have that we can make quickly for dinner?”

  She flashes a flirty grin over her shoulder as she answers. “Hot dogs.”

  And I just fell in love all over again.

  We never did get that moment back. But we had a good time hanging out. Once I got over the initial irritation at how it all came about, I realized I can enjoy having Greg in my life again. Dating or not, he’s funny and sincere, and he’s still my friend. He’s always been my friend. Even when we were dating, the friendship came first. If that’s the only thing we ever salvage, it’ll be enough.

  Maybe.

  Ok, who am I kidding? It’ll suck because I love him. Yes, I admit it. I love him.

  I just hope I can get a handle on my fear.

  “Girls, don’t step in that ant pile,” I yell, as they run through the yard to Greg’s house and the birthday party in the backyard. From what I gather, he’s tried several ways to kill the colony that’s trying to take over, but so far, the buggers won’t die.

  I’m pretty sure I heard Greg let out a battle cry the other day when he realized he’d lost yet another round, but I didn’t ask about it. The war over control of the yard makes him twitchy.

  Before I can catch them, the girls have followed the balloon trail through the open gate to the rear of Greg’s house. And yes, it’s a balloon trail. He strategically tied purple balloons to some sort of stakes and made a path to party central. It’s genius. It keeps dirt from being tracked through the house to a party that’s outside anyway. Why didn’t I think of that?

  Making my way around the side of the house, I see a giant inflatable slide shaped like a castle. I look up just in time to see Christopher lose his balance at the top and tumble all the way to the bottom, bouncing at the end and landing in the grass. I stop and watch what he does before reacting, but he sits up, shakes it off, and runs to the beginning again.

  He’s fine.

  “They just gave you your old job?” I hear Callie inquire as I walk up to them both. Greg puts his arm around me and kisses the top of my head. Callie quirks a questioning eyebrow at me quickly so Greg doesn’t see, but I do. I quirk mine right back in a silent I’ll tell you later.

  “It actually worked out really well,” Greg explains, keeping his arm draped over me. “Dave, my boss, couldn’t find the right person to run the gym here, but he had a great candidate in San Antonio that they were about to hire when I decided to move.”

  He tenses slightly, but I reach up and pat his arm, letting him know we don’t have to pretend he wasn’t gone. Him leaving has never been the issue. It was sad, but understandable.

  “When everything changed, that guy still hadn’t found a job, so Dave snatched him up as soon as I called him.”

  Callie sucks the straw of her Capri Sun and glances up as Christopher does that tumbling thing again. She doesn’t even flinch as he tumbles a good fifteen feet to the ground. I guess his new acrobats started long before we showed up. “That doesn’t really sound good for the other guy though. To be unemployed for that long?”

  “It’s not like managing gymnastics operations is a huge field,” Greg banters. “Especially ones that specialize in, and are successful with, competitive teams.”

  “Then I would have thought it would have been easier to find someone to run the facility here,” I throw in. “They went through what, two managers while you were gone?”

  “Three,” he counters.

  “See? I lost track. It was nuts,” I say. “You could tell the instructors were starting to get really frustrated. You’ve only been back a couple weeks and the atmosphere is already so much better.”

  Greg smiles down at me. “Thank you. That means a lot.” I smile back up at him and we stare at each other, lost in a moment. I know he wants to kiss me. I kind of want him to kiss me, too. But before we can make any sort of move, Callie clears her throat, breaking the moment.

  “Ok, seriously. You guys need to hurry up and either shit or get off this pot.”

  “Callie!” I exclaim as Greg chuckles.

  “No really,” she continues, handing her drink to her son when he races up to her side. “You used to do this back and forth flirty stuff all the time, and here we go again. It’s obnoxious and is not entertaining at all. I’ve seen musicals with less tap dancing than you two do around each other.”

  “Booze is in the house, Callie,” Greg mentions. “First cabinet on the right, right above the stove.”

  “Thank god,” she grumbles, stomping off in the direction of the door.

  I step out of Greg’s embrace and turn to him, eyes still wide from her outburst. “What the hell was that?”

  He runs his hands up and down my arms, giving me chill bumps that I’ll never admit to. “Ben is giving her more shit.”

  I groan. “What is it this time?”

  “I didn’t get all the details but it has something to do with taking their vacation money and using it to turn one of the bedrooms into a media room instead.”

  If I wasn’t wearing makeup, I’d rub my hand down my face in exasperation. Callie’s not even a TV watcher and Ben spends all his time online. How is this a necessity over a week on a cruise ship with twenty-four-hour child care?

  “Let her drink it off. Between the two of us, there are plenty of beds for her to pass out on.”

  “It’s not her passing out that I’m worried about,” I mumble, watching Christopher tumble down the slide, yet again, this time getting tangled up with Max and taking her down with him.

  Greg looks over at me, trying not to laugh. He’s doing a crappy job of it. “I’ve got extra Benadryl in the cabinet just in case.”

  “Good man.” Handing him Peyton’s gift, I add, “Here. Take this.” He puts the present up to his ear and shakes it, grimacing when it rattles. I roll my eyes and make it a point to reassure him. “What do you take me for? A monster? It’s not beads, paints, or a drum set. Just some pink and purple Legos that make all kinds of princess shapes.”

  He begins to
smile, and then it drops and his eyes narrow at me. “They’re the tiny Legos with instructions in Spanish that I’m going to have to try and interpret while I make the damn things myself, aren’t they?”

  Patting his shoulder, I try hard not to smile too big. “Be glad it’s not a puppy. That was Maura’s suggestion for a gift.”

  “You’re a family full of evil people, you know that?”

  Flashing a grin, I spread my arms wide and yell, “Welcome home!”

  He kisses me on the cheeks, making me flush, and shakes his head as he walks under the pergola to place the box with all the rest of the presents.

  Looking around, I notice quite a few people I don’t know. None of them look even remotely familiar, except for Libby. She’s sitting in a lawn chair, nursing a beer next to a woman that looks a lot like her, except older and more worn out. The years seem to have been really kind to the woman, but she looks tired. I guess when you’re practically raising a three-year-old because her mother is too busy gallivanting around town to stay home, it can get daunting.

  As I move toward the slide to better monitor the children, Peyton comes racing around the corner and crashes into my legs. Instinctually, I grab her to make sure she’s not hurt.

  “Are you ok, Peyton?” She looks up at me and cocks her head, like she’s trying to place me. And then the lightbulb goes off.

  “Lena!” she squeals and jumps up in my arms, pointing at all the kids and naming everyone she can remember. “Look, it’s Cwistopha! And, and Max! And, and… I don’t know that gul.”

  I can’t help but laugh. “That big girl is Fiona. She’s Max’s sister, remember?”

  “Yeah!” she yells as her arm wraps around my neck, clinging to me. “Fiona and Mawa!”

  “That’s right. Fiona and Maura. You’re very smart.”

  Pey grabs my face with her chubby little hands and looks right into my eyes. “I miss you, Lena. I wuv you,” and then she hugs me tight. Tears prick my eyes, even though they’re closed, and I hug her back. I knew I missed this girl while she was gone, but I think part of me refused to admit how much. It’s strange loving someone else’s child sometimes. Briefly, I wonder if this is what my teachers feel like when their former students visit them.