I would be smarter next time. I would never let myguard down. I would never get comfortable.
“Frankie, can you pick Juliet up tonight or not?”
“I can get her,” she agreed. I could feel that shewanted so say something more. Whatever it was swirled in the air between us,clogging up the line, stifling all the breathable air.
“Be ready to go,” I ordered, cutting her off beforeshe made me question myself.
I hung up our call and slipped it into my pocket. Itwas so much smaller than my other phone, I barely noticed it.
“Hey, Mags,” I called, stopping by her office in aneffort to implement my plan immediately. “I got a call from daycare and theysaid Juliet is super sick. She started throwing up earlier today.”
Maggie’s expression immediately fell with concern.“Oh, no. Is she going to be okay?”
I waved a hand in the air and furrowed my brow. Ineeded to be concerned but not overly so—this was just the flu. And I was aveteran parent. “Yeah, she’ll be fine. She just caught a bug or something fromschool. It’s that time of year when all the little kids start wiping their snoteverywhere.”
“Do you need to go?”
“I called Francesca and she’s going to grab her sinceshe’s closer, but I’m wondering about tomorrow. Her daycare’s policy istwenty-four hours without a fever. And she’s throwing up and who knows whatelse is wrong with her. Would it be possible to get the day off? I know thatputs you in a bind but—”
“Oh, stop,” she ordered. “We’ll be just fine for oneday.” She pointed a finger at me. “Just make sure it’s only one day though.Otherwise things start to fall apart and I’m too old to deal with all that.”
My smile wobbled, despite my years of training and myability to lie. I didn’t want to do this. I didn’t want to hurt Maggie or leaveher. “It might end up being two days. Or even a week. You know how these thingshang on.”
She sobered and moved closer to me. “Are you worried,darlin’? She’ll be okay. It’s just the touch of the flu.Nothing that she can’t handle.” I was full-fledged crying now, weeping like acomplete moron and total guilty party. “Oh, no, Caroline. Did I say somethingto upset you? I’m so sorry.”
I moved around the desk and met her halfway, clearlyconcerned for me. I threw my arms around her neck and started sobbing againsther shoulder. She hesitated, but eventually hugged me back. It was the firsttime we’d ever embraced. Neither Maggie nor I were the touchy-feely types, sothere had never been anything more between us than an occasional high five.
Realizing how strange I was acting, I pulled back andstarted wiping my eyes. “Sorry,” I hiccupped. “I don’t know what came over me.Sometimes the single parent thing is really hard.” And I started crying allover again, because that was true but it was also a lie. And I found that Ididn’t want to lie to Maggie. I didn’t even care about protecting her. I wantedto confess, to spill everything just so she could give me guidance. I’dsurvived five years on Maggie’s good, wise advice and it sucked that the time Ineeded it the most I couldn’t ask for it.
“Caroline, you’re worrying me.”
Laughing nervously, I took another step back. “I’mPMSingor something. I’m acting like an idiot.”
“Are you sure you’re okay? Is there something you wantto talk about?”
Yes. So much.“I’mreally okay,” I promised her. And it wasn’t a total lie. This was hard. Thiswas unbearable. But saving Juliet would make it worth it. Keeping Francescaaway from her psychotic family of criminals would make it okay. “I’ve just beenstressed lately and I keep everything bottle up. That was the cathartic releaseI needed.”
Her frown deepened. “You’re a terrible liar.”
I wasn’t. I was the best liar. Which meant I could liemyself out of this situation too. “I’m going to go check on cabin ten. Theycalled earlier to say their dishwasher was acting funny. I’ll find out if weshould call the handyman or if it’s a simple fix. Then I’ll take off for thenight, okay?”
She still had that concerned look on her face. “You’llcall me if you need me?”
“Of course. Thank you for offering.”
I was halfway through the door when Maggie added,“Give my love to Juliet. Tell her when she gets better you two can take me outto dinner.”
Her suggestion made me smile. “Oh, wow, Maggie, that’sso generous of you.”
She smiled and her brows relaxed, transforming herface from drill sergeant to stunning. “If you’re good, I might even let youtake me to a movie.”
My head tipped back and I laughed a real, genuinesound that I was beyond grateful for. “You’re so full of it.”
It was her turn to laugh. “You love me for it.”
Heading toward the front door, I was grateful for thenatural opportunity to reply, “I do love you for it. Very much.”
By the time I stepped outside, I felt marginallybetter. Maggie and I were parting on a good foot. On Friday when I still hadn’tshown up for three days, she might hate me. And I wouldn’t blame her. But todaywe were as good of friends as always. And I would remember this goodbye for therest of my life.
