The Friends We Keep

Kenzie leaned over and picked up Jasmine. The cat submitted to being half carried, half dragged to the master closet. Boomer followed on his own, then flopped down in the doorway. Kennedy immediately draped across him, while Kenzie sat in the middle of the floor, prepared to offer fashion advice. Jasmine settled next to her and proceeded to lick her fur back into order.

Gabby picked up the sheet of paper Andrew always left for her on Friday evenings. It was his schedule for the upcoming week. His assistant emailed her his travel schedule every time a trip was added or changed, but Andrew took care of making sure she knew where he was all the time. It was something he’d started when they were first married. She remembered following him through the apartment they’d shared while they were waiting to close on the house.

“When will you be back?” she’d asked, knowing she sounded petulant. “It’s hard when you’re not here.”

He’d turned to her, his blue eyes dark with concern. “Are you worried about being alone in the apartment? Do you want me to get an alarm installed?”

“No, silly. I just miss you.”

He’d stared at her for a long time. She’d watched confusion change to understanding, relief and love. He’d hugged her so tightly, she hadn’t been able to breathe. But that was okay. Andrew was more important than air.

The next morning she’d received her first email from his assistant. The following Friday, Andrew had brought home his schedule for the upcoming week. Because that was the kind of man Andrew was. He didn’t want her to worry. He didn’t want her to be concerned about anything.

From the night they’d met until their wedding had been nearly a year. He’d told her about his first marriage and what he thought had gone wrong. She would have sworn she knew everything about him. But until that night in their small apartment, she hadn’t really understood what he’d been saying.

Candace hadn’t cared. She hadn’t bothered to keep track of his travel schedule or asked when he would be home. She’d rarely made time for Makayla. Her work was her one true passion. Gabby could understand loving a career, but not at the expense of people.

Now she looked at his schedule and saw the various meetings he had.

“Daddy’s going to be home all week,” she told the twins.

“Yay!”

“Can we make him brownies?” Kenzie asked.

Gabby thought about her inability to fit into her dress the previous Friday. Since then she’d been thinking she had to do something. “Um, sure.”

She could ignore the brownies, she told herself. Just because they were in the house didn’t mean she had to eat them.

She sorted through Andrew’s suits and shirts. Even with the pile of shirts to go to the dry cleaner’s on Monday, there were still plenty to choose from. She held up a gray suit with a pale blue shirt.

“Which tie?”

Only Kenzie considered the question. “The one with the blue and pink stripes.”

Gabby found it. She hung the suit, shirt and tie and moved on to the next selection.

While Andrew was perfectly capable of picking out his own clothes, she liked doing this for him. It was a connection, a way to quietly say she was thinking about him and that she cared. Like him leaving her his schedule.

When they were done, she led her posse back to the kitchen. She didn’t need her wardrobe laid out and Makayla wasn’t back yet from her mom’s. Even if she had been home, she’d made it clear she didn’t want or need the help. She was fifteen, after all.

Gabby briefly wondered if she’d been difficult at that age and figured she probably had been. It came with the territory. But knowing that didn’t make her any more eager for Makayla’s return. Sunday nights after Candace weekends were always difficult. The visits rarely went well and Makayla usually came home both hurt and angry. She needed someone to pay for what she’d been through and that person was usually Gabby.

She’d tried talking to Andrew about the temper, the snide comments, the door slamming. But Makayla was always careful to act out when her father wasn’t around and if Andrew had a weakness it was his daughters. Not just Makayla but all three of them.

A trait she admired, Gabby reminded herself. So she would take the high ground. Or at least try. It was the only advice her own mother had given her when Gabby had been getting ready to marry Andrew.

“Being the second wife is hard. I’ve watched several of my friends go through it. Think before you speak and take the moral high ground whenever you can. It will make things easier.”

Gabby had appreciated the advice and the love behind it, so she’d listened. She tried to keep her Makayla-based whining to a minimum and be as patient as possible. She wasn’t perfect, but she did her best.

The dryer buzzed. She left the twins coloring at the kitchen table while she carried a load of clean clothes to the master. Although it wasn’t her day for whites, she’d wanted to have the special crop pants done when Makayla returned. She wasn’t sure if the gesture would be seen as caring or taunting, but she knew her motives were pure and told herself that would be enough.

Andrew strolled into the bedroom and crossed the carpet to help her. He picked up impossibly small socks and smiled at her.