The Friends We Keep

Jairus drew her out into the hallway and then down to the kitchen.

“Don’t,” he whispered urgently. “Nothing’s different. Nothing’s changed. Don’t read more into it than there is. I love you, Nicole. I’m not going anywhere.” He grabbed her upper arms and stared into her eyes. “Don’t do anything. I love you.”

She nodded. “I know. I love you, too.”

“Then let that be enough.”

She didn’t say anything. This wasn’t the time or place for the conversation. But she knew what she knew. Loving someone wasn’t enough. Not by a long shot.

*

Friday afternoon Gabby worked late. The twins had a playdate until five, which meant she could put in an extra few hours at the office. She’d stayed caught up all of fifteen seconds before the flu attack had seriously derailed her schedule. She figured if she continued to bring work home, she would have everything done in about two weeks.

She was exhausted from only getting four or five hours of sleep a night. Her boss had given her plenty of praise for what she was accomplishing and had hinted she would like to hire Gabby full-time. The thought of having more responsibility had nearly made her weep.

If she had to work forty hours to get paid for twenty, what would it mean to be responsible for forty hours of output? An eighty-hour week? At half pay? Not that she would mind so much if she liked what she was doing, but she didn’t. She wanted to be excited about what she was doing. She wanted to look forward to showing up at the office and hey, she wanted to be paid for the time she put in.

She pulled into the driveway and parked with the car windows down. Despite the detailing, the smell of vomit lingered. She had a bad feeling it was never going away. She got her tote and her handbag, then walked into the house.

For maybe five seconds, there was blessed silence. Just the empty living room and her own quiet breathing. Then Boomer bayed from somewhere in the back of the house and the twins came running out to greet her. She hugged them automatically.

“When did you two get home?” she asked. “I thought I was picking you up at five.”

“Daddy sent Cece to get us,” Kennedy informed her. “She’s staying with us tonight.”

What? Cecelia? But that would mean that she and Andrew were going out. Was there an event she’d forgotten about? Some work function or fund-raiser she would have to rally for?

The thought of it made her want to sink to the carpet and sob. She was bone-weary. She hadn’t totally recovered from the flu before jumping back into everything. She felt as if she hadn’t seen her kids in forever. She wanted to sit and read to them, to bake cookies with the twins and Makayla. Speaking of the teen, nothing had been settled, so that still loomed. Going out? It couldn’t be lower on her list of priorities.

“Where’s your dad?” she asked.

“In his study.”

Gabby dropped her bag and tote onto the sofa, then walked down the hallway. Everyone trailed after her, including Jasmine who trotted to the front of the parade and meowed to be picked up.

Gabby obliged. Stroking the soft fur always made her feel better. Hearing the rumble of the purr eased her tension. She walked into Andrew’s office.

Her husband looked up at her. “You’re home. How was your day?”

“Fine. Why is Cecelia coming over?”

He smiled and rose. “I’m taking you to dinner. I know how hard you’ve been working. I thought you could use a night out.” He winked at the twins. “It was a surprise. Thanks, girls, for not telling Mommy.”

“Yes, thanks, girls,” she said. “Could you please check on Makayla? We were going to bake tomorrow. Does she still want to help with that?”

The twins grinned at the prospect of one of their favorite activities. They went careening down the hallway, Boomer following on their heels. Gabby kept hold of Jasmine as she carefully closed the study door and faced her husband.

“Hi,” she said tightly. “I don’t want any more surprises. I don’t mean that in a bad way, Andrew. I just can’t take on one more thing.” She thought about the full-time job offer and knew this wasn’t the time to discuss it.

“Don’t you want to go out to dinner?” he asked. “I’m sorry. I thought I was helping.”

“I know.” The road to hell and all that, she thought. “Look, you’re very sweet and I appreciate the effort, but I have a question. Why do we hire Cecelia?”

“Because the twins are too young to be left on their own.” He frowned. “I don’t...” His expression cleared. “You’re not asking that, are you? You want to know why Makayla doesn’t babysit sometimes.”