“Easy?”
“Yep. I have plans for a hot bubble bath while Uncle Derek spends some time with his favourite niece.”
“Nice. Well, good luck to him. I’m off.”
Without a word, Mia shuffled around the counter, wrapped her arms around my thick waist, buried her head on my shoulder and just held me. I didn’t know I needed it. I didn’t ask for it. And I didn’t invite it. But the moment her warmth seeped through into my skin, I felt better. “You’re an amazing mum, Jo…”
“No. I’m really not.”
“Yeah, Jo, you are. That little terror loves you and that’s all that matters.”
Feeling the tears threatening again, I hugged her tightly. “Thank you,” I whispered into her ear before pulling back and making my way out the door.
I didn’t look back. I couldn’t. Right now I needed to forget everything I was worried about and pull up my big girl panties and get to work. Climbing into the front seat of my banana scented car, I made a mental note that I needed to wash the car seat tomorrow. Taking the longest route possible, I pulled into the gravel car park with ten minutes to spare. After checking my appearance in the rear-view mirror and groaning heavily, I knew it was as good as it was going to get, I forced myself to get out of the car and stomped my way inside.
Pushing open the heavy door, Jenna noticed my entrance and offered me a half smile. Weaving my way through the tables, I headed straight towards the office to drop my purse. After stuffing my phone in my back pocket, I huffed out a deep breath, settled my game face on, and got to work.
“Hey.”
Jenna greeted me warily. It wasn’t so much as what she said but the way she looked at me that gave her secrets away.
“Hi!” I replied overly cheerily. I knew I was trying too hard, but I also knew myself. If I didn’t, I wasn’t sure I wouldn’t break. “How’s it been today?”
“Pretty quiet.”
“That’s good. Think it will stay like that?”
“Not a chance.”
“Oh?”
“Did you forget about the football carnival that’s in town?”
“Shit!” Yep, I’d completely blanked on that little fact. While I didn’t pay attention to the details, Derek had said something about three other teams migrating into town for some prestigious competition. At least that’s what I made of it. I could be completely wrong though. That’s what happened when my eyes glazed over and I completely tuned out to the world around me.
“All good. I’m staying ’til closing, so we should be fine.”
I knew she’d already been here for a handful of hours and I wasn’t sure doing another eight hours would do her any good. “You don’t have to do that,” I protested. For Jenna, I wanted her to go home and put her feet up. But the selfish bitch part of me, which today was more than likely the dominant part, was thrilled she was staying. I couldn’t deal with a hard night feeling the way I was.
“Let’s just play it by ear. If it’s quiet, I’ll head off early.”
“Sounds like a plan. Right then, what do you need me to do, Boss?”
I watched as Jenna scrunched up her face in protest. She hated being called Boss, or Ms. McLaren, or really anything other than Jenna. It wasn’t weird, just who she was.
“Everything’s pretty much done.”
“Oh.” I’ll confess I was slightly disappointed. With so many thoughts bouncing around in my head, I needed to keep my idle hands busy. If I was busy, I wouldn’t have time to over analyse and fret, something I was a gold medallist in.
“Actually, can you go check on him?”
Jenna pointed to the dark and dingy corner of the room and my eyes followed her finger. The moment I spied the man hunkered over in the shadows, I forgot to breathe. Coughing and spluttering, I straightened my back in the same moment Jenna slapped my back.
“You right there?”
Grabbing a glass from the tray, I quickly poured myself some water and downed it. “Yep,” I assured her breathlessly.
Fuck me, I was an embarrassment.
