Tucker slid his arms around my waist and nuzzled my neck. Simply the feel of his body against mine made my tired muscles sigh. “You know,” his lips brushed my skin, “you don’t have to be Superwoman. We could hire someone to help out.”
I smiled, turned the water off, and twisted to face him. “I know.” I straightened his tie. He looked devilishly handsome in his gray suit. I kissed him. “I should get the kids up.”
“Uhh…they’re at school already.”
“What?” I glanced at the clock on the stove. 9:13. “Oh, my gosh. Why did you let me sleep that long?”
He shrugged, smiling. “You needed it.”
“Yeah, but….” It felt like I’d only closed my eyes for a few minutes. I couldn’t believe half the morning was gone. “Tabby needed a lunch.”
“Got that.”
“And Scooter needed—”
“Some papers signed. Got that, too.”
“But…the kids didn’t get any breakfast.” I looked around as I said it. A cereal bowl and some other dirty dishes sat on the counter, and empty glasses remained on the table.
“Oh, they ate.”
I gasped. “They ate at the table while I was sleeping there?”
He twisted around then walked to the table. “Yup. Your snores covered most of the noise.”
He turned back with the dirty glasses in his hand. I swatted him. “I don’t snore.”
He set the glasses on the counter then drew me into his arms again. “Oh, yes, you do.” I opened my mouth to protest, but he cut me off. “But they’re very cute snores.”
I grabbed his lapels and jerked him closer. “I’m going to miss you today.”
“Oh?” His eyes lit up.
“Uh-huh.” I kissed him, but before the kiss went much deeper he pulled away.
“I’m serious about getting some help, Dani. I’m worried about you.”
I dodged out of his arms. “I’m fine.” Plugging the sink with one hand, I reached for the Dawn with the other, which made me think about Tara’s visit the previous day. “Did I tell you Tara stopped by yesterday?”
“I feel you’re changing the subject…but, no. That was nice of her.”
I squeezed some Dawn into the water and swirled my hand around to get the lather going. “Yeah. Maybe.”
He got a Handi Wipe to take care of some stray jelly on the counter. Looking at me sideways, he raised an eyebrow. “Maybe?”
“Well,” I contemplated telling him about it while plopping bottles, nipples, rings, and lids into the water. He waited for an answer. “She had this silly proposition for me.”
“Oh?”
“Yeah. Kind of crazy.”
“In what way?”
“Well, first of all,” getting excited I turned toward him, “did you know Tanya and Robert are pregnant?”
“Really? That’s awesome.”
“Er…Tanya is pregnant. Robert was only the impregnator.”
“Okay, I’m going to burn that image from my brain.”
I laughed then sobered. “But apparently she’s been spotting.”
He frowned. “How serious is that?”
I shrugged. “Can be a sign of problems, or it could be nothing. Doctor’s taking no chances. He has her on bedrest.”
He absorbed that information as he found a dish towel and dried his hands. “Which leaves Tara really short because that girl she didn’t like moved away. She probably would be happy to even have her back.”
“Oh, I don’t know about that. Remember that party she had? The Going Away party that the person going away wasn’t invited to?”
He scratched his head with a grimace. “I remember a good portion of that night….”
I laughed. “Yeah. You were hurting.”
“I still say Mike made those margaritas way too strong.”
I raised an eyebrow. “So it was not the quantity you ingested?”
He folded the dish towel carefully and set it back on the counter. “I’m a lawyer. I know my rights. And I’m pleading the fifth on that.”
“Good idea.”
He cocked his head. “So…Tara wants you to work for her.”
My mouth dropped open. “How did you figure that out so fast? It took Tara like a half hour and several ounces of Dawn dish detergent to lead me there.”
“You forget, darling. I’ve had a full night’s sleep. I don’t know why you don’t wake me. I wish I heard him cry, but, as you know, when I sleep, I’m dead to the world.”
“I’m not getting you up. You have to work during the day.”
“So, do you.”
I dipped a shoulder in dismissal. “Anyway. Yes, that’s what Tara wanted. She even got Mrs. McCovey to agree to take Myles while I worked, pro bono.” I added another ring to the towel I had out and became cognizant I was putting everything on the towel in order. A row of bottles, a row of rings, nipples, and the matching lid in columns. That was weird. I purposely put a yellow lid with a green ring.
He rubbed his chin. “That would give you both a break. But I rather you come home and get some sleep.” He stepped behind me again and rubbed my shoulders. “Or go to a spa or something.”
I groaned. His hands were magical. “You’re a prince, you know that?”
He kissed my cheek. “That’s what this one princess keeps telling me.”
I glanced at the towel. The mismatched lid got under my skin, but I pointedly looked the other way, catching the time again. “Honey, you better get going.”
He checked the clock, too. “You’re right. Jeanie will be waiting to kick my butt.”
This was kind of a running joke with him. He made Jeanie out to be some big ogre, when she was actually one of the sweetest people I knew. I moved the lid to its proper place on the towel, irritated I had to do it and couldn’t leave it be.
Tucker paused at the back door, his hand on the knob. “I really think you should consider taking the job, if you think it’s something you’d like to do. Or at least take Mrs. McCovey up on her offer. I’ll pay her whatever she wants.”
“Tucker. I’m not abandoning our son.”
“It’s not abandoning him. You’d be giving yourself a much needed, much deserved break, which would help you to be an even better mom when he’s home. And if it didn’t work out, you could always bow out. You could even take a painting or photography class if you wanted.”
I’d mentioned an interest in both in passing at one point. I was shocked he remembered, but that was how sweet he was. “Well…I’d like to help Tara out. And it would put Tanya’s mind at ease. Then when she was ready to come back, the position would still be there for her.”
He opened the door, wincing as a gust of wind reminded him the temperatures had dropped. “Think about it.”
I smiled at him. “I love you.”
Myles began to cry. Tucker took a step back into the house. I picked up his carefully folded towel and threw it at him. “Get out of here.” I laughed.
“Okay.” He closed the door behind him, but immediately opened it again. “I love you, too, by the way.”
“Go,” I demanded, but my heart was warm. I slipped another towel out of a drawer and dried my hands, watching him out the window as he got into his SUV. He made me so happy. I sometimes felt guilty for being so lucky. But I got over it quickly.
Two weeks later, after as many sleepless nights, my debate was over. I took the position and Myles spent Monday, Wednesday, and Friday mornings with Mrs. McCovey. It seemed to work out well for both of us as, soon after, he began sleeping through the night. The first time it happened, I was in a panic. I thought maybe he’d suffocated in his crib, or cried himself to death, or something. The better sleep patterns made us all much easier to live with.
And I was already settling into my new job. The kitchen design was remarkably similar to the one I’d worked in before, only with a much larger dishwasher and fewer ovens. We fed about the same number of students, (an average of twenty or so less kids per day), and Tar
a even employed a lot of the vendors I’d used in the past.
The dress code was identical as the one in my old school—nonexistent. I generally wore jeans in the fall, with a long sleeved tee, and, being the unimaginative rule-follower I was, non-skid shoes. I always layered with a sweat jacket as, when the ovens were on, it was hot; when we went in the freezer, it was, by definition, not.
Tara was doubly short-handed for a while before I came on board. She’d used parent volunteers and substitute teachers—even the vice-principal one day—to fill in the gaps, but that put a lot of extra work on her shoulders, trying to do her job, and explain things to others at the same time. She was very relieved when I agreed to pitch in, and even more pleased when my experience helped me to get up to speed quickly.
This particular morning, I was both eager and anxious about a new employee’s arrival. When working with a small crew day in and day out, it was essential everyone get along well. Even when they did, rough patches would still happen; that was only natural. But daily squabbles could wear on a person. I’d arrived early, as usual, and began by bringing lunch trays out from the dish room to stock the line, and getting the napkin dispenser in place. On my return trip, I glanced at the clock. 8:35. The new kid on the block was supposed to have shown and been ready to work by eight-thirty. I’d been in the building since eight.
Tara was making entries in a log on one of the counter areas.
“When is the new girl going to get here?”
“She’s here,” she said without looking up. “Getting her apron on.”
“Oh.”
Before I could say anything more, someone came around the corner of the wall, tying an apron behind her back. I gawked. It was my best friend, Samantha. Samantha? She was supposed to be back in Illinois, where I’d left her.
“You want me to tray up cookies?” she asked Tara.
Tara lifted her head and smiled. “That would be great.”
As I stood with my mouth hanging open, Sam glanced in my direction. “Hey, Dani.” She walked toward the back ovens. “What’s the lunch count?” she asked over her shoulder.
“We’re starting with a hundred and twenty,” Tara responded before returning to her work. She frowned, as she jotted down information. Feeling like I’d either lost my mind or was stuck in a dream, I slowly followed Sam’s path to the ovens.
I said the first thing that came to mind. “What the hell are you doing here?”
A box of frozen cookie dough sat on the counter, and she was in the middle of putting vinyl gloves on.
She looked at me with a quirked eyebrow. “Cookies.” She shook her head like I was an imbecile for asking, and began putting blobs of cookie dough onto the trays in rows of four.
I stared. My best friend came to work at the same school I was at, without telling me? “What is this? Some kind of joke? Are you and Kyle here for a visit and you’re helping out for the day?”
“Nope. We bought a house. Two blocks from yours,” she added, not looking over.
“What?” Was this even possible? “You’re moving here?”
She turned finally, with a smile. “We’re getting the band back together.”
“Ahh! No way!” I screamed. She ran over to grab me and we jumped around.
Tara’s voice was nearby. She must have followed me and listened in on our conversation behind the side of the oven.
We were all laughing. Tara was bent in half, one arm across her stomach with her legs crossed so she wouldn’t pee. “Oh, my gosh,” she said when she could get her breath. “You should have seen your face.”
I left an arm around Sam’s shoulder as I turned to Tara. “How long have you guys had this planned?”
“Only a few days really,” Tara answered.
Samantha nodded. “When you told me you were back at work, and you guys were still short, I got Tucker to give me Tara’s number.”
“And you just…up and moved?”
“Yeah.” I noted a slight change in her voice, and her smile dimmed a few watts. I studied her, while Tara carried on, oblivious.
After a few minutes, Tara returned to her bookwork, and I began to help Sam with the cookies so we could talk. I gave her another hug. “I can’t believe you did this.”
She shook her head. “Sometimes I can’t believe it either.”
“Did you really buy a house near us?”
“Well, we don’t actually close until next week, but, yes.”
“How did Max take the news?” Maxine was our former boss. “I bet she threw a conniption fit.”
“Uhh…no, actually.” She had adopted that odd tone of voice again. Strained. “She was happy for me.”
Maxi was happy to let her go? Her best employee? Now I knew there was more to the story. I finished my tray of cookies, and carried it over to slide it on a rack. I ran through possible scenarios that resulted in Sam’s move as I came back and started another tray, but none of them made sense. I put my hands on the counter slowly and twisted my head in her direction.
“What’s going on?”
“Hmm?”
She didn’t do innocent well. In fact, she didn’t do innocent at all. “What’s going on? Why did you move here?…Did Bill kick you out of the house?” I was referring to her ex.
“No. In fact, he was fairly supportive of the move. As much as Bill can be supportive.”
I grunted. Bill would only be supportive if something was in it for him. “Now I know something is seriously wrong.”
“Don’t be so suspicious, Dani,” she snapped.
I folded my arms across my chest and stared at her. She continued to persistently place dough on the trays and ignore me.
“Fine.” I returned to my tray. “If you don’t want to talk about it….” I waited for her to break in, but she didn’t, which both astonished and hurt me. “Then I guess we won’t talk about it.”
We silently lined cookies up on trays like little soldiers.
Have we grown apart, and that’s why she’s not telling me?
This awkwardness was so strange between us. I knew Sam was a much more private person than I was. My problem was, I told everyone everything. Early on in our friendship, I figured this difference between us out and decided to not let it get to me. So why was it getting to me now? I answered my own question.
Because I thought we were past all that. That she was comfortable confiding in me.
Sam exhaled, and as if reading my thoughts, spoke. “Dani, I don’t want to talk about it here, now. Okay?”
So it was something that might upset her. That concerned me even more.
Chapter 3
Sam
I wasn’t being completely honest with Dani, and that bothered me. Not to mention, I hadn’t exactly told my husband the truth either. But, being a hockey ref and all, he’s prone to violence—no matter what he tells people—and I didn’t want to feed that.
The truth was, my ex, Bill, was becoming increasingly weird as each day passed—which was saying something—and I needed to put some distance between us. So, while Elise’s problems with school bullies were definitely at the forefront of our move, getting away from Bill was an important added bonus.
Luckily, Dani wasn’t pushing for an answer. And working with her again was fun. The boss may have thought too fun.
Dani and I were standing by the open oven doors as it cooled, fans inside blowing heat on us as we pretended to be at the beach. Hey, we have to entertain ourselves at work, am I right?
“Could you pass the suntan lotion?”
“Sure,” Dani played along. “It’s right here on the table by my boat drink.”
“Ooh. Pass that, too.”
She laughed. “No way. Get your own.”
“Whoa. Check out the guy in the Speedo.”
Tara interrupted us as she stormed to the kitchen door. “Will you two knock it off?” She continued to march out into the hall.
Dani and I looked at each other.
“Who pooped in her p
antry?”
Dani lowered her voice. “I think the new principal is getting on her nerves. She—” Her mouth closed.
“She what?” Dani stomped on my foot. “Ouch! What the—” She took me by the shoulders and spun me. Tara had returned.
“Did you forget something?” Dani asked lightly.
“Yes,” she growled tromping past the bank of ovens. With a loud sigh, Tara walked backward into view. “I’m sorry, you guys. But Attila the Hun has got me a bit cranky.”
“A bit?” I muttered under my breath.
Dani elbowed me. “What now?”
“She told me I have to redo the entire menu.”
“What? Why?”
“Oh. Let’s see. Apparently on Friday when we’re supposed to have cherry cobbler a la mode, we can’t. Because we’d be serving two desserts.”
I didn’t want to point out there was validity in that.
“She’s driving me up the wall. She’s so busy micromanaging everybody…I almost feel sorry for her. Trying to do everyone’s job for them can be very stressful.” She shut her mouth for a second, but it popped back open. “Yeah. I’d be sorry for her if she weren’t such an enormous pain in my ass.” She stamped away to her office, and that was the last we heard from her for a while.
We went back to work. Lunch was well on its way to being finished when Dani brought out a pile of laundry and I helped her fold it. I pretended to not see her when she moved my towels from one stack to another, and in one case, refolded what I’d folded. She could be anal at times. Though best buds now, we’d long ago decided we would have hated each other in high school. She was such a rule follower, and getting away with cheating at dodgeball taught me early in life that rules were meant to be skirted. Dani, on the other hand, could be so rigid in toeing the line that I sometimes called her Sister Danielle. It really was a wonder we got along so well together. But I think she was good for me, and I was good for her. Someone needed to lighten her up.
Satan, Line One Page 4