The Friends We Keep

“You’re sure?”


“I’m not happy, if that’s what you’re asking. But I’m going to guess you’re not happy, either. We’ll deal. Nobody hates you.”

Makayla nodded. For a second Gabby was afraid she was going to ask the next logical question. Do you love me? Of course she would say yes, but she wasn’t sure it was the truth. Loving Makayla wasn’t easy. The teen pushed her buttons. And right now, well, it wasn’t anything she wanted to talk about. But Makayla didn’t ask, so there was no need to lie.

Less than ten minutes later, Makayla was in bed. Gabby pulled up the chair from her desk and sat close. The only light came from the half-open door and the hallway beyond.

She’d thought Andrew might return to say something, but he hadn’t. While Makayla had been in the bathroom, Gabby had crept into the twins’ room and pulled out a couple of books. Now she opened the first one.

“You’re not going to read to me,” her stepdaughter said. “I’m too old.”

“It will help you fall asleep.”

Gabby opened the first book. It was a chapter book by Jane O’Connor in the Fancy Nancy series. “Nancy Clancy, Super Sleuth,” she began. “Chapter One.”

It took a while, but eventually Makayla fell asleep. Gabby put the chair back, then walked out into the hall. She left the door open a little and the overhead light on. In case the teen woke up. Then she made her way downstairs.

She was tired. No, bone-weary. In a few short hours, everything had changed. She didn’t know how this was going to end, but it wasn’t going to be good. She could feel it.

She walked into Andrew’s office. He sat behind his desk, staring at the wall. When he saw her, he rose and crossed to her. After taking her hands in his, he looked into her eyes.

“I’m sorry. I was wrong. About Boyd and the kissing. I should have listened to you.”

She nearly melted with relief. “I had no idea they were so involved. This is a mess. It’s been awful, trying to act normal, waiting to tell you.”

“You had to. We couldn’t discuss this with the twins around.” He pulled her close. “I hate that sniveling little shit for doing this to her, but that’s beside the point. We have to figure this out. Talk about a giant fuckup.”

Despite everything, she giggled. “That’s one way to put it.”

He looked at her. A smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. “No pun intended.”

“Too bad.”

He put his arm around her and led her to the sofa under the window. “What do you think we should do?”

“Talk to her and find out when this all happened. Talk to his parents. Present a united front.”

He nodded. “That makes sense. I also have to make things right with Makayla in the morning. I need to remember I’m upset with the situation, but she’s still my daughter.” He squeezed her hand. “I’m so lucky to have you, Gabby. We’ll figure this out and go forward together.”

Exactly what she wanted to hear, she thought, as she smiled at him. As long as they were united, they would get through this.

*

“I know why they didn’t want that one,” Rob said as he stared at the murky purplish-brownish color on the side of the paint can. “It had to have been a mistake.”

“I hope so.” Hayley pointed to another can on the shelf in the back of the hardware store. “What about these?”

“Yellow? Not my favorite. You know, we could just buy the color we want. It’s paint. We can probably afford it.”

Hayley shook her head. “Come on. Think of this as a challenge. Or a scavenger hunt. We’ll use the money for something else.”

She had a feeling he was thinking window coverings or carpeting while she was thinking Switzerland, but they were having such a good time this morning. There was no reason to mention that.

“If we don’t find anything we like, we’re picking a color.”

“Agreed.”

They continued to study the shelves of discounted paint cans.

“Hey, look at this one.” He held up a can with a brush of sage green on the side. “It’s kind of nice.”

She walked over and studied the color. It was just the right shade of green. Not too yellow and not too dark.

“I like it a lot. How many cans are there?”

“Three. Which should be enough. We’ll need to do a coat of primer because the walls haven’t been painted in so long but we can get that tinted.” He glanced at her. “They tint for free, so don’t freak.”

“I don’t freak.”

“About money? Yeah, you do. So we’re sold on the sage?”

“We are.” She smiled at him. “You’re so handy.”