“So, run this by me again,” Jack said. “Why are we buying groceries when your mom is supposed to be taking over the responsibilities at your place?”
“Because I need food in the house to cook for the next two weeks,” I said, “and Mom has to work the big tip nights at the casino. Believe me, this is much easier than listening to Cathy whine for candy and snivel when I buy veggies or Kevin complaining that he’s bored.”
“Or trying to round up the twins when they want to run amuck in the toy department,” Jack agreed. “Thank goodness you can still keep Chrissy contained in the cart.”
“You got it.”
When we were in the store, we grabbed two carts. By now, we pretty much had a system since we’d been doing this for six months. I stocked up on staples like flour, sugar, shortening, spices, cake mixes, cereals, bread, and paper products. Jack headed for the produce, dairy, frozen food, and meat aisles. We met up in canned goods. I was in the middle of comparing prices on mushroom soup when I heard someone call my name.
I turned and saw Adam Chambers sauntering toward me. His cart had several bags of chips and a case of sodas. I nodded at him. “Hi. What’s going on?”
“Not much.” He eyed the carts that Jack and I pushed. “Is that for the food drive? Okay if I get a photo for the paper?”
I laughed. “No, this is just groceries for my family. We won’t be shopping for the food bank until the weekend before Thanksgiving. What are you up to?”
“Just loading up on junk food.” Adam shrugged. “A bunch of us have to put together headlines for the paper. It always goes faster when I feed the troops.”
“That makes sense,” I said. “So did you have anybody at the rec cheer competition today? We came in second in our division.”
“I was there and so were a couple other reporters.” Adam stuck around, asking questions about the rec cheer schedule.
I answered while I finished loading up on soups, canned fruit, vegetables, and beans. Adam had more things he claimed he’d forgotten to ask regarding the food drive all the way to the cash registers. I paused long enough in the apparel section to grab a couple packages of cloth diapers to go along with the disposable ones I already had in the cart. Now, I wouldn’t have to count on Rick returning the kids with clean laundry tomorrow night, much less with completed homework.
Okay, so Mom was supposed to step up. How could she? If she worked until seven or eight in the morning, came home and got some sleep, she’d be lucky if she wasn’t a zombie when she had to go back to the casino. After another swing shift, she’d be back about ten tomorrow night. By that point, I’d have bathed the kids and put them to bed. I’d be in the middle of my own homework.
Adam finally finished up his questions about everything under the sun, from the student council to the food drive to recreational cheerleading, when we were out in the parking lot. He helped us pack the bags of groceries into the car then went off to deal with his newspaper reporters. I shook my head and glanced at Jack. “What do you suppose that was really about?”
“I have no idea.” Jack stepped close to me. He feathered his thumb over my mouth. “If I was the jealous type, I’d think he was making a play for my girlfriend.”
“No.” I tiptoed up to kiss him. “He didn’t look at me that way. I’d have felt the vibes if he was interested in me as a person, not a story for the school paper.”
“I have no idea what the guy wants, and I really don’t care.” Jack leaned down. He brushed his lips across mine. “Let’s get this stuff back to your house and go find some pie before Rocky calls to see what we’re doing.”
“Sounds great.”
* * * *
Sunday, November 17th, 8:40 a.m.
Shamrock Stable didn’t open until noon on Sunday. I’d forgotten about that when I set up internship hours with Rocky. When Sierra and I finished watering and feeding the horses, we returned to the house to find Autumn and her mom dressed for church. Rocky pointed to the bathroom. “Hustle up, ladies. We don’t want to be late.”
“I don’t mind staying here by myself,” I said. “I haven’t been to church a lot in the last six months.”
“We get to go have pancakes first,” Autumn told me. “At the café. Come on, Vicky. They have berries and whipped cream.”
“In that case, I’m rushing,” I said.
Sierra grinned at me. “You can use Mom’s bathroom, and I’ll use this one. Race you.”
Breakfast followed by a cheerful service started my day off great. We came back and opened the farm to do pony rides, lessons, and trail rides. I was in charge of the indoor arena today, teaching the basics to beginning level students. Autumn decided she was my senior rider. She happily led her pony Dream, a black and white Shetland pinto, both directions around the ring. When we started class, Autumn demonstrated how to mount up. She took charge of the balancing exercises and taught what her mother called ‘the first fifteen.’
Those were the maneuvers every horseman needed to know, including how to stop, start, back up, turn left and right, along with more balance work. Whenever anyone sniveled that their horse wouldn’t do something, Autumn favored them with a stern glare. “Don’t be silly. ‘Course your horse doesn’t wanta do his work. Twenty hours a day, he wants to eat. Four hours a day, he wants to sleep. It’s your job to wake him up and keep him focused. Now, do what I do.”
If she’d been ten years older, I was pretty sure that she’d be doing my job. I wouldn’t mind if another teenager took over, but being shown up by a seven-year-old could be a bit tricky. Trying not to laugh, I took charge of my class and encouraged the students to do their best.
At the end of the hour, Autumn nodded satisfaction. “You’re learning. Soon, you’ll know as much as me.”
“I’ll keep studying.” I said, biting back a smile. I watched her demonstrate how to lead the line of ponies back to their stalls. She did have a point. If she could do a task, the other kids wanted to copy her.
Jack arrived in the middle of chores to take me home. He didn’t do what my stepdad used to do, start hollering for me to leave before every animal was fed. Instead, Jack took over pushing the wheelbarrow while I doled out flakes of hay. No wonder he was my guy.
I never admitted how much I cared about him. I just wasn’t going to give him up for anyone. If some other girl looked at him, she was toast. “How’d your day go?” I asked.
Jack waited while I fed the next mare. “Good. I took Nitro out, and we rode at a walk around the farm. He amazed me.”
“Why?” We stopped outside the fifth stall, and I dropped a flake of eastern Washington grass into the manger. “What did he do?”
“He just walked. He didn’t spook or try to bolt. I can ride a little, but the doctor doesn’t want me to stress. No gaming until January. It was like Nitro knew that, but I don’t remember seeing him at the clinic when I got my instructions.”
I laughed and fed the last of the hay. “He’s smarter than you think.”
“Way smarter.” Jack parked the wheelbarrow in its place. “Robin just about freaked when she saw Lassie and the pups following us. She said she was afraid my evil horse would kick one of them, but he didn’t even try. We only took them with us on our version of a doggie walk. We had to stop and wait for your favorite to catch up when he chased after a butterfly.”
“Awesome. Next time I’ll go with you.” Holding hands, we left the barn and headed up to the office to check out with Rocky. It only took a few minutes for me to set up the next week’s schedule. I’d be back on Wednesday for a riding lesson, Friday for a training session before the football game, and next Sunday to work. Rocky said she wanted me to ride guide with Sierra and take beginners out on the trails. It was always another adventure at Shamrock. Rocky didn’t say anything about the barn manager job and neither did I.
I would have to make time this week to discuss it with Mom. She always said we were short of money, so my getting an actual job with a real paycheck would be a help, not a h
indrance. As soon as Jack pulled into the cul-de-sac, I saw Rick’s new Jeep Liberty waiting in the driveway in front of our house. I glanced at my watch. “He’s an hour early.”
Jack pulled up behind my stepdad’s rig. “Yeah, but if he kept the kids any longer, he’d have to feed them dinner.”
“Oh my Gawd. Have I ever said that I hate it when you’re right?” I climbed out of his pickup and walked up on the passenger side of the Jeep. One of the back doors popped open and Kevin jumped out, followed by Lance. “Hi, guys. How was your visit?”
“Okay, but Chrissy just pooped, and wow, does she stink.” Kevin announced. “You gotta take care of her.”
“I will.” Catching the odor of baby crap, I glanced at my stepdad sitting in the driver’s seat. “How long has she been waiting for me? Why didn’t you deal with it?”
“I was out of diapers,” Rick said. “When are you going to housebreak her?”
“What good would that do? You didn’t take her to a bathroom.” I lifted my youngest half-sib out of her car seat.
As soon as she saw me, tears bubbled up in her big, blue eyes. She held out her hands to me. “Mama Vic. Mama Vic. All bad.”
“No, you’re a good girl.” I dropped a kiss on her forehead and swung her up in my arms. “Come on, sweetie. Let’s go deal with you. Kevin, get her diaper bag and your backpack. Cathy, help the twins.”
Chapter Nine
Sunday, November 17th, 6:30 p.m.
It took a while to get the kids moving toward the house. Linda cried when her father wouldn’t get out of the Jeep to hug and kiss them goodbye. Instead, as soon as I had the four of them on the sidewalk leading to the front door, Rick backed out of the drive and left. When I looked, Jack was gone too. I ignored my disappointment. I’d wanted to spend a few minutes with him and now I couldn’t. I wasn’t five so I didn’t wail like the little girls, but oh, I wanted to.
Kevin marched beside me toting his pack and the diaper bag. Dirt covered his jeans, and he had ketchup and mustard stains on his shirt. “How long do we have to stay with him? He was mean all weekend.”
“Tessa wouldn’t come out of their room today so we didn’t have no lunch or snacks,” Lance told me. “She was sick yesterday too. Daddy took us to Grandma’s all day. We had a sleepover, and he came to get us after breakfast.”
I ushered them up the walk to the front door. “Was it fun?”
“Yes,” the boys chorused, but Cathy shook her head. “She likes boys better than girls. They got to have their snacks in front of the TV, but me and Linda had to have ours in the kitchen.”
I listened to the rest of the stories about the weekend for the next twenty minutes. Kevin saw to it that the backpacks ended up in the laundry room. He took Lance off to their room to change to clean clothes. Cathy and Linda went to ours. Toting the youngest on my hip, I carried Chrissy into the bathroom. She stood while I stripped off her overalls and T-shirt. Poop ran down her legs, so I boosted her into the tub. Okay, so Mom had a lot to deal with, but she was hearing all about this. I heard footsteps in the hall and glanced over my shoulder.
A red-haired woman about my mother’s age came to a stop in the doorway. “Hi, I’m Darby. Kevin told me I’d find you here. Want some help?”
She wore a white tank top and shorts. Pink polish glittered on her toenails, matching her fingers. No way would I turn my baby sister over to someone dressed that nicely. I smiled at her. “Thanks, but I’ve got this handled. Could you give the kids some crackers and milk? I’ll fix dinner for them as soon as Chrissy’s cleaned up.”
Before she answered, the doorbell rang. She shook her head. “I’ll start with that and then do supper.”
She didn’t come back. Kevin did, eyeing our baby sister where she stood in the tub while I took off her T-shirt. “You’re gross, Chrissy. Guess what, Vicky? Jack’s here, and he brought us pizza.”
“No way,” I said.
“Yes, way.” Kevin beamed at me. “Cheese pizza, but Darby and Jack say we have to drink milk. Can’t we have soda tonight?”
“Maybe later.” I peeled the diaper off a dancing toddler. “You could probably handle it, Kev, but the little kids can’t. Not if they didn’t have lunch or snacks. I don’t want to be cleaning up puke too. This is yucky enough.”
“I didn’t think of that. I’ll bring her clean clothes from the laundry room.”
“Okay. Thanks for the help.” I flicked him a quick glance. “Sometimes I forget to say I appreciate how good you are with the little ones.”
A big smile and he was gone. Great, my new strategy of divide and conquer was working. Right now, he was on my side. If I remembered to treat him like he was my assistant and not the same age as the twins, my life could get easier.
I focused on my immediate concern, the actual baby. She offered up a crooked grin. “Stinky poo.”
“Yes, but you’ll be all clean real soon.” I reached for the covered diaper pail, grateful to find it empty. Mom must have done the last load of diapers yesterday. I dropped in the gross one, wondering what her grandma fed Chrissy. I turned on the water, letting it warm up in the tap before I grabbed the handheld shower attachment. “Time to wash off, baby girl.”
A short while later, I strolled into the kitchen, Chrissy happily holding two of my fingers. “I hope you guys saved us some pizza.”
“You know it.” Jack stood and pulled the high chair closer. “Hey, pumpkin. You look gorgeous.”
“And here I thought you never noticed,” I teased.
He laughed, scooped up Chrissy, and tucked her into her seat. He put a plate of cut-up bites of cheese pizza in front of her on the tray. “I was talking to the princess here.”
“You are such a hero.” I sat down next to his chair and grabbed a slice of my favorite super-combo. “Now, I don’t have to cook. Yippee!”
“Yeah, but there’s lots of laundry.” Worry edged Cathy’s sky-blue eyes. “And Daddy didn’t have time to do homework with us. I don’t know my spelling words, and I failed my test on Friday, so I gotta do it again tomorrow.”
“Well, it’s a good thing I’m here,” Jack told her. “I’m the bestest speller in the whole senior class.”
“Really?” A tiny smile tugged at Cathy’s lips.
“Only if you let him brag,” I said. “Of course, my English teacher says Jack has incredible talent when he writes stories. Since she’s majorly tough on spelling, he could be right.”
“I am.” Jack brought me a glass of milk. “Just ask and I’ll tell you again.”
Darby came in from the laundry room. “I’ve switched loads and started up the washer for you. If there isn’t anything else I can do to help, I’m headed for my room. I have the breakfast shift at the casino, and I have to be there early tomorrow.”
“You two are amazing,” I said. “This will be my easiest Sunday night ever.”
“And you may even get your own homework done.” Jack sat next to me, curving an arm around my shoulders. “Book clubs meet this week, so you really need to finish that novel for your Coffeehouse discussion. Weaver’s harsh when it comes to participation.”
* * * *
Monday, November 18th, 7:10 a.m.
I hit the Commons at the same time that Robin did, taking my peppermint latte from her. “Have I ever told you just how wonderful your older brother is?”
“All the time and it’s majorly gross,” Robin said. “Do you know he took my dogs out yesterday where his evil horse could stomp them?”
“He brought pizza for the kids and helped them with their homework last night.” I led the way to one of our favorite tables. “I think this woman who rented the master suite may turn out to be okay. She was a real big help when Rick did his Sunday night drop and dash.”
“Tell me about it,” Robin said, “and then I’ll tell you about my internship yesterday. I got to sew up my first horse. Dr. Larry said I did an awesome job.”
We sat and dished the dirt about our weekend. Wow, I’d missed this. Mom
had been in such a good mood last night when she got home and found everything done that she actually volunteered to get the kids off to school and daycare today and tomorrow. That meant I could have a life, and I so needed one. When Robin paused for breath, I told her about the extended cheer practices so we’d be ready for the next competition.
“If I get stuck, will you pick up the kids for me? The counselor says I’m only supposed to get them on Thursdays, but I really can’t depend on Mom or Rick.”
“That’s a sad state of affairs, but what are friends for? You can count on me, Vick.” Robin paused. “Don’t you have to be the one to get them at the school?”
“Yes, but I’ll ask Ms. Walker for a break so we can run over to the elementary school.”
“Great and I’ll talk to Bill. He’ll give us a ride, and that will really speed us up. What about the daycare? Will they freak if I’m the one who gets Chrissy?”
“Not if we do it the same way. I’ll give you my keys, and you can take them home.”
“Works for me,” Robin said. “I’ll line up Gwen, Porter, and Dani in case something happens and I have a conflict.”
The first bell rang, and we jumped up to head for Homeroom English. I spotted Evie and gave the cheer captain a thumbs up sign. She waved back at me.
Mrs. Weaver waited for us at the classroom door. “All right, ladies. What did you bring for the boxes?”
I blinked. “What boxes?”
“The food drive boxes.” She gave me a look like I was a total idiot and waved to the brightly decorated cartons near her desk. “The winning room gets an ice cream social, and the teacher has all her final exams graded by the rest of the Language Arts Department. I’m the champion, and I’m not losing my title this year. What did you bring?”
“Nothing today, but I’ll bring two non-perishable items tomorrow,” I said.
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