Thursday Afternoons

by Tracey Richardson

  “Although I’m not sure there’s room enough for two big egos around here.” Kate laughs and nudges Amy to show she’s joking.

  “Careful, Hendy, we don’t want to scare Dr. Kirkland away.”

  “True, that. Hey, listen. I want to have a little barbecue at my place next weekend. Nothing special, just a few people from here. Will you come? You too, Erin?”

  Amy jumps at the invitation immediately. She’s not working next Saturday, which is a miracle in itself, and she hasn’t had a chance to socialize with her best friend in weeks. In fact, she’s had zero social life lately, other than her time with Ellen. And the lone dinner date with her sister, but that wasn’t exactly relaxing.

  Erin stutters, as though she’s been backed into a corner and has no idea how to escape. “I…I’d love to but…”

  “Really,” Kate presses. “I know you’re new here and all, but we’re actually nice people.” She winks at Amy. “Well, most of us, anyway.”

  Erin squirms some more. “I really would like to, but the thing is, I’m not sure if I can get a babysitter on such short notice. My sister is away this weekend, and my—”

  “Say no more.” Kate clasps Erin’s hand in both of hers. “Bring your daughter. Seriously. It’ll be fun. I love kids. Even Dr. Spencer here has a soft spot for kids.”

  Amy rolls her eyes. Older kids, yes. Toddlers? Not so much.

  Erin carefully surveys them both. “Really? You’re sure you wouldn’t mind?”

  “Absolutely not,” Kate says. “It would be wonderful.”

  “All right. Cool. I’d love to get to know more people here, and yet when I get a chance to spend some time with my daughter, I hate to miss out. So this is perfect. What can I bring?”

  “Nothing. I’ll text you the details later if you give me your number.”

  “You got it. And thank you.”

  After Erin departs, Kate clutches Amy’s arm like a conspirator.

  “What?”

  Kate lowers her voice to an insistent whisper. “I hear through the grapevine that our young Dr. Kirkland is into women, did you know that? And she’s single.”

  Amy gently shakes her head. “Gee, thanks for the newsflash. And what do you propose I do with that information?”

  “Nothing. Except that you’re single too. And into women.”

  “Whoa, wait a minute. Not interested, thank you. And for your information, you’re single and into women too.” Amy winces a little belatedly. It’s the first time she’s mentioned Kate and single in the same breath in the time since Kate’s wife died. “Sorry, Hendy. I meant no disrespect.”

  Kate’s eyes well up. “I know you didn’t, hon. It’s…hard to think of myself as single, you know?” It’s no doubt why she continues to wear her wedding band on her left hand.

  Amy hugs her friend. “I know. And I’m glad you’re having this little barbecue. I think we could all use a little something to help us decompress.”

  “Ames, you’re welcome to bring someone, you know.”

  How she would love to bring Ellen as her date, show her off to her colleagues. Hell, Kate would probably faint upon seeing how gorgeous Ellen is. And how nice she is. But it’s way too soon for anything like that. In fact, it’s an impossibility, but a girl can dream.

  “Sorry, buddy, but I’ll be on my own. As usual. And I’m not looking for a hookup, thank you very much.” Already got one of those, and I wouldn’t trade her for anything.

  Kate lets out a dramatic sigh. “Fine. Some other lucky woman will have to discover Erin, I guess.”

  * * *

  “All rise.”

  Ellis and Mia stand as the judge, a short, white-haired woman, enters the courtroom like a black gown-clad tornado. Ellis flanks Mia along with the lawyer she’s hired for Mia. They’ve already had a hearing with the judge, where Mia pleaded guilty to shoplifting; she’s been let off on the marijuana charge with a stern warning. Today is the sentencing portion of the proceedings.

  “Good morning,” the judge says.

  “Good morning, Your Honor.” Ellis nudges Mia until she repeats the same greeting.

  The judge peers over her reading glasses at Ellis and the lawyer. “All right, anything else I should know about before I render my sentence?”

  The lawyer clears her throat. “No, ma’am.”

  “All right then.” The judge looks down at the papers on her desk and begins reading out loud. “Mia Hutton, you’re hereby sentenced to eighty hours of community service, to be at your probation officer’s discretion, but I want that community service to be completed in the next six months over the duration of your probation. You will also reside with Ms. Hall until school resumes in the fall, at which time you will go back to residing with your grandparents. If your grandparents aren’t an option at that time, you will come back to me and we’ll find a suitable living arrangement for you. Any questions?”

  Ellis has already agreed to the conditions, since Mia is a minor. But now she informs the judge that she’s planning to move fifty kilometers east, to be closer to work.

  The judge looks intently at Mia. “This might actually be good for you to get away from your current influences and habits for a couple of months. A chance to press the reset button, if you will. Do you have any objections, Miss Hutton?”

  Mia’s trying to look tough, but Ellis can feel her trembling next to her. “No, ma’am.”

  “Good.” The gavel crashes down. “And don’t let me see you up on charges again, young lady. Find your path. Choose to do some good in this world. Lord knows, the world needs all the help it can get.”

  In the car, Ellis tells Mia it will be a big change moving away for a couple of months. She reminds her that there will be house rules and that she’ll be away working a lot of hours so there’s a trust factor they’ll need to develop.

  “You don’t have to try to be friends with me, Mia, or even to like me very much. But we’re going to have to figure out how to live together for a little while. And that means respecting one another. Being respectful of one another, abiding by rules. Do you think you can handle that?”

  Mia nods.

  Oh, no, Ellis thinks. What am I getting myself into? She hasn’t lived with anyone in the years since she walked out on Mia and her mom. And now she’s going to live with a surly teenager who really doesn’t like her very much? But Ellis will find a way. If she can make three-hundred-million-dollar budgets work, she can navigate her way through this too. Plus there’s the fact that Mia, like Ellis, is an only child, though little else about their circumstances are the same.

  “All right, then. Next weekend you’ll come with me to see the place I’ve put a rental deposit down on. A week after that we can move in, which is perfect timing because you’ll be done with school.”

  Mia sulks the rest of the way home, but Ellis is beyond caring. She’s too busy watching the clock on the radio display. In sixty-eight minutes, she’ll be in Abby’s arms.

  Chapter Nine

  Funny how it takes a couple of days to come down from her Ellen high, Amy muses as she pops a cranberry-brie bite into her mouth (her friend Kate always has the best party munchies). Her head is somewhere up in the clouds, light and floating, because her hotel hookups with Ellen are like a shot of dope in her blood. If she’s to parse it out, she can’t really say what makes her so happy, so replenished, following these Thursday afternoons. Sure, it’s partly the sex. She’s come to appreciate how regular toe-curling, skin-tingling sex is good for the soul as well as the body, to the point where she wonders why she didn’t embrace regular sex years ago.

  But there’s more to it than that. There has to be, because she isn’t the type to get this distracted, this consumed, this thrilled over sex with someone she hardly knows, almost to the point of obsession. Christ, she’s even got those slinky panties of Ellen’s stashed under her pillow. Yet this is definitely not about love. She’s not in love with Ellen because she doesn’t know Ellen and hasn’t spent enough time out of the bed
room to be seduced by the notion of love. She’s also never been one to mistake good sex for love. So what is it, exactly, that has her so enthralled?

  Amy decides she’s not going to solve this little mystery right now, so she might as well have another drink. And more food. A delectable-looking cheese ball is calling to her.

  “Erin,” she says on her way to the food table, which is underneath a canopy to keep everything from frying in the hot sun. Kate’s backyard has some nice leafy trees that offer shade, as well as a garden with a water feature that looks as if it came from the pages of a gardening magazine, but nothing truly softens the heat from the late June sun in what is the southern-most part of Canada. “I haven’t met your little one yet.”

  A dark-haired little girl stands next to Erin, holding her hand tightly. She looks up at Amy with huge blue eyes that are both curious and shy.

  Erin touches her daughter’s back encouragingly. “Eliana honey, this is the nice lady doctor I was telling you about, Dr. Spencer. Dr. Spencer, this is my daughter, Eliana.”

  “Amy, please. No titles today.” She crouches down and sticks out her hand for Eliana to shake. “Hello there, Eliana. I’m very pleased to meet you. How do you do?”

  The girl stares unblinking at her but dutifully shakes her hand. “Are you my mommy’s boss lady?”

  “Hmm, well, sort of. I’m more like your mommy’s teacher right now.”

  The girl nods her understanding, then points at Kate, who’s materialized behind Amy. “Are you my mommy’s teacher too?”

  Erin laughs and says to her daughter, “At this point, sweetie, everyone here is my teacher.”

  “Eliana,” Kate says and claps her hands once. “Would you like to come and see the goldfish in the pond?”

  The kid lights up like it’s Christmas and eagerly takes Kate’s hand, any sign of shyness having quickly evaporated. From over her shoulder Kate tosses a daring wink at Amy. Dammit, Kate, I told you I’m not interested in Erin. Or anyone, for that matter. Anyone except, perhaps, for Ellen. But Ellen isn’t here and never will be here or anywhere with me as my girlfriend.

  Without warning comes a flashback of Ellen in bed two days ago, looking at her with eyes all soft and moist with unmistakable tenderness. Ellen looked so content, so happy. And Amy was pretty sure the same look was mirrored in her own eyes. So why not, then, take the next step? What’s stopping them from exploring a dating relationship? If there are practical reasons why they shouldn’t, fine, but Amy’s logical side would like to know what those are. She has her own reticence, thanks to her exhaustingly failed relationship years ago with Lisa, but what’s holding Ellen back? Should they at least talk about this? Throw it out there like a math problem to solve?

  On the spot, she decides she’ll initiate a discussion next Thursday about whether they have a future that involves more than holing up in a hotel room for a couple of hours each week. She’s not suggesting anything that involves a U-Haul, but couldn’t they talk about the possibility of going out to a restaurant together? Even if only as a hypothetical?

  “So,” Erin says, and there’s the smallest amount of discomfort, of bashfulness, in her tone. “Can I ask you something kind of personal?”

  Crap, Amy thinks, don’t tell me Kate has said something to her about setting us up. The thought horrifies her enough to dispel this little fallacy right now. “Look, Erin. I really like you. You’re nice, you’re smart, you’re gorgeous. But I’m not interested in anything other than a collegial relationship, okay? And it’s not you, it’s me. I—”

  Erin bites her bottom lip, touches Amy’s arm apologetically. “I’m sorry. You thought I was going to ask you out?”

  Amy wants to die on the spot. She vows to give Kate a good scolding next time she gets a chance, but in the meantime, thoughts of retribution do nothing to arrest her total humiliation. “I, ah, well, I sort of did think that. Jesus, you must think I’m a complete idiot.”

  “You’re not. At all. In fact, you’re kind of my hero.”

  “I am?”

  “Yup. If I wanted to be a surgeon, I would want to be exactly like you. You’re a good doctor. A great doctor. And an awesome teacher. But I…” Her eyes find Kate, who’s at the fish pond with Eliana, bending down and explaining something that has her daughter’s rapt attention. Erin smiles nervously and that’s when it strikes Amy. Holy crap.

  “Oh, I see. I… You’re wondering about Kate?”

  “Sort of. I mean, yes. I am. She’s really nice, and has a great sense of humor, and she’s a rock star at her job. I’d like to know her better. She’s single, right?”

  Amy gives Erin a quick rundown on Kate’s history—that she’s thirty-five, that indeed she is fun and nice and excellent at her job. And yes, she’s single, but not by choice.

  “I heard something about her wife dying a couple of years ago. How awful. And now you’re going to tell me she’s not ready to move on with anyone else. Am I right?”

  “Yes. I think.”

  Disappointment falls like a curtain over Erin’s face. “Okay, I understand. I won’t ask her out.”

  “That’s probably wise. But Erin?”

  “Yes?”

  “Be her friend. She can always use more of those.”

  Erin flashes a hopeful smile. “All right. I will.”

  Kate and Eliana return as if they’ve been somehow magically summoned.

  “Mommy! There’s fish in the water. Six of them! I got to feed them and give them all names.”

  Erin lovingly pats her daughter’s head. “That’s so awesome, sweetie. Did you thank Kate for showing you the fish?”

  “Thank you, Kate!”

  “You’re very welcome, Eliana. And you’re welcome to come visit the fish anytime you want.”

  Eliana clutches the hem of her mother’s shorts and looks up at her with sheer joy. “Oh, can we, Mommy?”

  “Yes. We’ll visit Kate and her fish again sometime soon, I promise.”

  Amy sneaks a glance at her unwitting friend, who has no idea that she’s cracked the door open to friendship with Erin and her daughter. Amy does a little fist pump behind her back because she would love to see Kate stick a toe in the dating pool. If not now, soon.

  “I’m going to go get Eliana something to drink,” Erin says. “And Kate? Perhaps after that, you could show me the fish pond as well?”

  Ooh, this is going to be fun to watch, Amy thinks with delight. She’s even more delighted to see that Erin is persistent, because without a blend of persistence and patience, she won’t have a chance with Kate.

  “Of course,” Kate says, and she and Amy watch Erin and Eliana depart. Kate’s eyes drop to Erin’s ass, and while Amy is dying to call her friend on it, she won’t, because then Kate will get defensive and deny it all out of embarrassment. Better to let her fall into something (or not) with Erin at her own pace, in her own way, Amy decides. But damn, it takes a lot of restraint on her part not to tease.

  “Hey, I heard something a few minutes ago that could be big,” Kate says, her eyes swinging back to Amy.

  “Oh yeah? What?”

  “That you have a girlfriend.”

  Amy’s heart squeezes, and not in a pleasurable way. How in the hell has Kate found out about Ellen? And if she knows, does everyone know?

  “Whoa,” Kate says, her mouth frozen open in shock. “It was supposed to be a joke. Don’t tell me I’ve hit on something?”

  “No. You haven’t. It’s…the heat. I think I need something to drink.”

  Kate leads her toward the punch bowl that contains alcohol-free sangria. “Sorry, bad joke on my part. You’re not, I mean, you don’t actually have a girlfriend stashed away somewhere, do you? I mean, Jesus, Ames, you’d tell me, right?”

  “Right. Yes. I’d definitely tell you if I had a girlfriend. Stashed away.” But not a fuck buddy, a secret lover, a girl toy, a mistress. Because she most certainly does have one of those stashed away.

  “Okay, good. Listen, there’s a rumor
that something’s brewing at the hospital. Something big.”

  “Like what?”

  “I don’t know. Something about the mother ship wanting to do an audit of absolutely every damned thing at the hospital. If it’s true, it can’t be good news. You know as well as I do how vulnerable small hospitals like ours are.”

  It’s common knowledge that small hospitals have difficulty breaking even. Births, emergency cases, even surgeries are sometimes sporadic. Serving a smaller population means the hospital can’t conduct an assembly line of procedures the way larger hospitals can. The hospital corporation, a county umbrella organization that runs three other much larger hospitals, wants the most bang for its buck. It wants patients in—and out—the doors in turnstile fashion. It comes down to pretty simple math. The corporation, which is reimbursed by the government for all the salaries and all the procedures to keep the place going, even the electricity, wants the hospital run at capacity so that a constant flow of funding is coming in. Not under capacity and not over capacity, but right on the line. Whatever else health care is these days, it’s big business, and funding is volume driven. Even Amy, who hates having to think of the business side of it all, understands that.

  “Thanks for the heads up. I’ll see if I can find anything out on Monday.”

  * * *

  Ellis has to practically order Mia, who’s more interested in sitting on the front steps than helping, to carry one of the boxes to the second floor of the house they’re renting. It’s a large Victorian, their unit completely remodeled inside with two gas fireplaces, granite counters, pristine wood floors, and twelve-foot ceilings. Ellis and Mia have the entire second floor, plus the loft, which Mia immediately claimed for her bedroom. What mostly drew Ellis to the place was the spectacular living room turret, which offers a clear view to Lake Erie a kilometer or so away. It’s also walking distance to where she’ll be working, and besides, she’s never lived in a house that’s more than a century old. All of this is so new to her—moving to this area of the country and now living in a town with fewer than eighteen thousand inhabitants—that she figures she might as well make the leap and try living in a very old house. The landlords, who occupy the first floor, are a sweet older couple who have adopted the habit of calling her “dear.”