Thursday, at least, was a win in my book. I made sure to slip Jade her iPad, which was supposed to be off-limits until the end of the day, right after my mother left. By the time Jessie arrived, Jade was glued to the screen, and there was an atomic level meltdown that occurred as Jessie fought to separate the child from her game to take her to therapy.
But even with this win, I was forced to admit that I was exhausted by the time Jessie left on Thursday night. As soon as my mom got home, I excused myself and dragged my sorry butt to the casita, where I flopped onto my bed to squeeze in six hours of sleep before I had to dress and leave for work. Thanks to my determination not to leave Jade alone with Jessie, I was going straight from a full work shift to a day with my sister and her bull-headed teacher. That left me time to sleep between four and ten every evening before I got up and started all over again.
As I dozed off, I came to the conclusion that something was going to have to give. And I had the awful feeling that it just might be me after all.
7
Why I Don’t
Jessie
Thursday evening, after Mrs. Allen had relieved me of Jade, I climbed into my car and leaned my head against the steering wheel. One more day and this horrible week would be over.
How was I going to make it through the summer? Full-time nannying, because if I was honest, that’s what I was really doing, was hard enough without having to be on my guard every second for Derrick’s next attack.
My phone buzzed, and I answered without looking at the name.
“Hello?”
“Jessie! Please tell me you got my text.”
“Hi, Madison.” I put the phone on speaker and pulled out of the drive. “What’s up?”
“I know you didn’t want to go on that double date, so I canceled.”
“And I thanked you for that.” I rubbed my eyes. “Several times.” So why was she bringing it up now?
“You’re going to like this so much better. Sam set up a night out at Donny’s for the staff for whoever—”
“I know. My mom told me.”
“Then why don’t you sound excited? Or respond to my texts?”
“I’m sorry, Madison. It’s not that. I’m just more exhausted than I can even begin to—”
Madison sighed. “Jessie, Sam told me not to tell, but I’m going to anyway. He set this night up for you when he realized you’d never been to any of the extracurricular staff functions.”
Despite my exhaustion, my heart jumped a tiny bit. “Sam set this up?”
“Yes. What did you think it was? Some sort of trick to get you on another date?”
I laughed. “All right, fine. You’ve got me. I’m in.” Maybe I did need a night out, something that would distract me from the annoying owner of the red truck I could see in my rearview mirror.
There was a pause.
“Wait…fine?”
I nodded, still glaring at the red truck in my rearview mirror. “I’ll be there.”
“Wow. That was easier than I thought.”
“You were right. Sam was right. I need a distraction.”
“Great!” Madison squealed. “Meet me at—”
“Let me guess. Donny’s Bar at seven.” As if there was anywhere else to go in Jacksonville.
“Actually, it’s six-thirty. But yes. You’re the best, Jessie.”
