“This is so awful, Court.” I glanced behind her to all the kids happily laughing and playing. None of them knew the true ugliness that existed beneath the surface of the world, and gods how I wished they’d never find out. “There must be something we can do for Mrs. Williams. Even if it’s just reaching out and letting her know that she’s not alone.”
“I still have the flyer she gave me with her number on it,” she confessed. “I’ll call her as soon as we get back home but...” She shook her head. “What can anyone say or do right now that’ll make her feel better?”
I didn’t give her an answer, because we already knew there was only one.
Sue’s phone went off, stealing my attention.
“Hello?”
“Hey, Sue?” Ringing bells and voices stacked on louder voices crowded Micah out. “Hey, can you hear me?”
“Yeah, what’s up?”
“It’s my pickup day for Lily, but it’s looking like I’m going to be late coming back,” he said. “This meeting is running long, but I can’t lose this potential client. Would you mind picking Lily up from—”
“Yes, I can do it,” I blurted. “I’ll pick her up and—and actually, I’m going to pull her out a few hours early.” I flashed Courtney my resolved face. “We’re enjoying a picnic at the park, and I want Lily to join us.”
“Yeah, whatever,” he breezed, springing a smile to my lips. “Just make sure you’re both back at the house by four, and that’s four o’clock our time, and not four o’clock Sue-time. Layton’s giving Lily these piano lessons for free, so don’t jerk him around.”
“Why don’t we just cancel the piano lessons?” I asked, slipping into the use ofwequicker than I knew what to do with. “Nari said she’d rather learn the drums.”
“—right, yeah. Just a sec— Sue? Sue,” he called. If possible, it was getting even louder on his end. It sounded like someone was straight up screaming. “Look, I’ve got to go, but it’s a hard no on switching instruments again. The deal was Lily would stick with the piano for three months, and then if she wasn’t into it, she could try another instrument. It hasn’t even been three weeks.
“Stop letting her play you, Sue, andstartknowing what the hell’s going on with our kid.”
“Yes,” I said easily. “That’s exactly what I’m going to do.”
“All right, I’ll see you and that tasty pussy tonight. Keep it sweet, wet, and ready for me.”
My face caught fire. “Micah!”
“Buh-bye,” he signed off, laughing himself off the phone.
I rolled my eyes even as a giggle escaped my lips. Keep my pussy ready for him? That was something else I was going to do.
“DID YOU HAVE FUN TODAY?”
“Yeah!” Lily shrieked, throwing her hands up. “Auntie Courtney is the best, Mommy! She said I get free cupcakes from her shop whenever I want them!”
“Yes, she did say that, and it’s the best news you’ve gotten all day because you’re a sugar fiend!”
“No!”
“It’s true,” I carried on. We turned down the final street leading to home. “You’re the sugar bandit! The sugar swindler! The sugar master. The Sugar Claus,” I belted. “You better be nice, not naughty, or the Sugar Claus is coming for your cookies! And those elves better watch out too.”
“Ahhh!” Lily squealed, laughing so hard she tipped over in her booster seat. “Mommy, you’re silly!”
“No, you’re the silly one.”
“No, you’re the silly one!”
This kicked off a repetitive, but hilarious, back-and-forth that had both our sides in stitches. I only stopped when we rumbled through the gates and I saw Mr. Layton standing on the front steps, waving at us.
A glance at the clock told me it was fifteen minutes before four, so we weren’t late. “Even so, we’ve got to put our sillies away now, Lily,” I told her. “Your teacher is being very nice and giving you free lessons on his own time, so we’ve got to be serious.”
“Aww, okay.” She sat up, a pout stealing away her smile. “But can we be silly after?”
I reached back and tickled her, teasing out another squealing giggle. “We can absolutely be silly after. Tell you what, when you’re done with your lesson, we can have a spa afternoon with nail polish, face masks, and big, fluffy robes.”
