Cathy smiled down at her tenderly. “’Night, baby.” She turned off the light, leaving only a nightlight on in the bedroom. She stepped out and closed the door, only part way so that it would be easy to hear if Chloe called her.
Her smile fell away as she walked into the small living room. She pressed her hands against her stomach as she bent at the waist. Her hair swung forward, brushing her shoulders. A boyfriend like everyone else! She thought she was going to be sick. Chloe. Pammy. Vicky. The list of people that she was lying to kept getting longer.
It wasn’t easy to line up a list of sitters for Chloe. Cathy felt that she simply could not leave her with the typical teen babysitter. Chloe was a special-needs child. She needed someone with her at all times who would know what to do if there was ever an emergency.
Cathy was indebted to her friend, Barbara Beasely, who was able to supply a few names of professional nurses that she said could be trusted, and for a while, it seemed to be working out.
The transfer of her work to her home was surprisingly smooth. She was able to accomplish nearly everything from her computer or over the phone. There were days, however, that she did have to go in to the office for short periods of time. On those days, she was usually able to secure the services of a home nurse. However, arranging for a sitter for Chloe for the late evenings, evenings she was supposed to spend with Michael, was more challenging. The acrobatics in organization that it demanded was frustrating. It was difficult, if not impossible, for her to stay overnight with him. She was aware that his patience was wearing thin with her excuses.
Cathy had known it would not be easy, but she hadn’t realized that actually coordinating time with Michael would be even more difficult than she had expected. She couldn’t rely on Vicky or on any of her other friends every time that she was unable to get a home nurse, especially those times when Michael called her at the last minute.
She should have set some boundaries, she thought, but truthfully, that had never been an option. The terms of their arrangement had been the same from the beginning. She was supposed to be free whenever he wanted her to join him, and that was what he was paying for.
Eventually, the day came when all of her resources fell through. She had to cancel with Michael. Then it happened again, and again. She knew that he was becoming unhappy with the way things were going, but there wasn’t anything more that she could do. Cathy was frazzled by her efforts to juggle the pieces of her life and feeling increasing pressure.
One rainy evening, matters came to a head. Michael called to ask her to come over later that night. Cathy was both angered and frustrated. She had just put Chloe to bed for the night. It was impossible to call anyone to stay with her daughter at such short notice. She didn’t want to leave her, besides. Michael was being unreasonable to expect her to just drop everything and rush over. After all, he was aware that she was a single mother.
Cathy quietly closed her daughter’s bedroom door. She didn’t want to disturb Chloe with her end of the conversation. She carried the cell phone back into the living room. She heard the rain drumming outside. “I’m sorry, Michael. I can’t meet with you this evening or tomorrow. I can’t get a sitter.”
There was a short silence. “I think there’s more to it than that. You didn’t have a problem with sitters before. Has your schedule changed? Are you working into the evenings now? I’m willing to work around it, Winter.”
“It’s not that.” Cathy hesitated, reluctant as always to mention anything about her daughter. He wasn’t to know any more than what she had already told him. There was no way that she was going to explain the true situation. “I just have some personal concerns going on in my private life right now.”
“Are you seeing someone else?”
“No, of course not!” Cathy was stunned. The very idea was so far out there that she could only shake her head. When would she possibly have the time to see anyone else?