The Friends We Keep

Andrew paced the length of his study. “I can’t describe how much I loathe and despise that woman. Makayla is her daughter. No one wants her to be pregnant, but she is. We have to take care of her. To bail on her like that...”


He moved with controlled fury. With another man, Gabby might worry that he would throw something, but that wasn’t Andrew’s way.

“I know what you’re thinking and you can’t have her arrested,” Gabby said flatly.

“I know that.”

“I’m serious, Andrew. This makes her a shitty person, but it’s not illegal.”

“She’s violating the parenting plan. I could take her to court for that.”

“Yes, and then what? She’d be ordered to spend more time with Makayla. How does that help? The problem isn’t the time, it’s that she doesn’t want to deal with this. She’s abdicated any responsibility. Worse, she’s hurt her daughter. You think I don’t want to bitch-slap her? I do.”

Gabby thought about all the teen had been through. “I’ll admit Makayla and I haven’t always had the greatest relationship, but this is different. She’s scared. Boyd is gone, her friends have abandoned her. She only has us and we have to be there for her. But does Candace care about that? Of course not. She only cares about herself. I’m sorry, Andrew, but you made a sucky choice when you picked her.”

Her husband stared at her for several seconds before crossing the office, grabbing her and pulling her close.

“I did,” he said as he kissed the top of her head. “But I made up for it when I found you. Just so we’re clear, I’m never letting you go. You’re amazing.”

Gabby let his love wash over her and give her strength. They would figure this out, she told herself. Get through all of it.

“I feel so bad for her,” she admitted. “The hits keep on coming. Candace’s timing really sucks.”

“Because it’s all about her,” he said. “Damn that woman.”

She stayed where she was for about a minute, then drew back. “I’m sorry, but I have work to do.”

Andrew frowned. “You’ve brought home work every night this week.”

“I know. It’s just the load is incredible and with me working only twenty hours a week, I can’t possibly get it done.”

“Gabby, they hired you part-time but you’re putting in full-time hours.”

Something she was very aware of. “I know and I’m concerned, too. What I haven’t figured out is how much of my struggle is them piling it on and how much of it is me being slow because I was out of the workforce for so long. Until I find that line, I’m not going to complain.”

“They’re taking advantage of you.”

“Maybe.”

Right now that was the least of her problems. More important to her was how much she didn’t like her job. Had she lost her work ethic or was the job really not what she wanted to do? Hard questions considering how long she’d been imagining herself back at the office. She’d wanted this and now that she had it, she hated everything about it.

But to complain about it seemed wrong. She was so lucky, not to have to work if she didn’t want to. She could do anything and sadly, she had no idea what she wanted.

“Don’t wait up,” she told her husband. “I’ll be a few hours. And I’ll check on Makayla before I go to bed. In case she can’t sleep.”

He kissed her again, this time on the mouth. She drew back reluctantly and headed for the makeshift office she’d set up in a corner of the family room. Her back hurt and she was exhausted, but those files weren’t going to read themselves.

It was for the greater good, she told herself, although at this moment, she had no idea what the greater good might be.

*

Nicole told herself that she looked fine, that she had a handsome date and everything would be perfectly okay. Except for the handsome date part, she wasn’t sure how much of it she believed. Going to your ex-husband’s movie premiere was an event designed to get nerves quivering and stomachs roiling. She’d made herself eat because she’d known that no food wasn’t a good thing. But the protein drink she’d forced down an hour ago now sat like an unhappy rock, low in her belly.

“I’m scared,” she admitted, as they pulled up to the valet. A young man opened her door and she stepped out. Mostly because staying in the car didn’t seem like a reasonable option.

Jairus, all sexy in a dark gray suit, complete with a tonal shirt and deep blue tie, walked around the car to stand next to her.

“Let’s work this through,” he said lightly. “We have tickets, we each have a date, although mine is much better-looking than yours. Did I mention you look totally hot in that dress?”

“You did and I appreciate it.”