I look at the back door of the restaurant. Shit. I’m locked out here now. Good thing I can walk around the building and go in the front door. I’ve locked myself out back on more than one occasion, but that was back when I was leaving my apartment door open and I could just go up and get my spare restaurant keys. I’ll need to be extra vigilant now that I’m keeping it closed and locked when I’m not home. At the very least, I need to keep my keys in my pocket, like they are now.
As I reach the front corner of the building, I see Nick and Jared crossing the street in front of me and can’t stop the grin from taking over my face. Jared waves and jogs over to me.
“Tina,” he says with a smile. “I’m starving. What’s for dinner?”
My face scrunches up as I realize I have no idea what’s for dinner. I mean, I can guess what’s cooking because I bought the groceries, but after leaving my mom in there with Carson and my dad doing prep work, Jared’s guess is as good as mine. “You know, Jared, I’m not sure. Why don’t you go in and find out? Be careful, though. My mom and my aunts will definitely try tohug you. They surrounded my part timer in a group hug not long ago, and it took him a while to escape.”
Jared’s eyes light up. “Hugs? I love hugs.” He runs to the door and throws it open, yelling, “Get your free hugs.”
Nick gets to me as I’m laughing at Jared’s announcement. “I didn’t know he loved hugs that much,” he says with a shake of his head. “I’ll have to be sure to hug him more.” He turns to me, the smile dropping from his face, and I can tell something’s wrong. Then he says it. Those four dreaded words. “We need to talk.”
Shit, shit, shit. There’s no way this day could possibly get any worse. I open my mouth to make an excuse, because I can’t handle any more bad news today, when my phone rings. I hold a finger up for Nick to give me a minute, then look at my caller ID.Gloria Freeman.My heart jumps into my throat.Holy shit, this is it.I can’t tell if I’m more excited or scared.
“Hello?” My voice shakes when I answer.
“Tina. It’s Gloria Freeman calling. I got your application paperwork.”
“Did I get everything you needed?” My heart pounds in my ears.
“Yes, everything is filled out properly. I will need confirmation of suitable housing, of course, but assuming you get that, and pass the background check, you’ll be able to take the foster parent classes.”
Relief floods me, and I exhale with a whoosh. “Thank God. I was worried that he’d have to move somewhere else.”
“Wait a minute, Tina. I said you’ll be eligible to take the classes, not that he’d come to live with you now. That could take up to six months—”
“Six months?” I interrupt Gloria with a yell, making Nick look at me with concern. I wave him off and turn away, not wanting him to be involved in this conversation. Not wantinghim to see me cry tears of frustration. Tears of anger. I’m about to fly apart with worry. “Six months? Will he... where will he go for six months?”
“That’s actually why I was calling you,”Gloria says, her voice sounding more cheerful that I think this situation calls for. I kind of want to punch her in her cheerful face.“For privacy reasons, I can’t give you any details, but given how concerned you were that Carson would have to leave town, I wanted to let you know I found a place for him right in Tuft Swallow. He won’t have to switch schools. He’ll be around just as much as he was before.”
I look at the sky, one hand pressed to my chest as I force myself to breathe. He won’t be with me, but he’ll still be in town. I can still look after him. “You had me worried for a second there, I won’t lie. Pretty sure this has been the most stressful two minutes of my life.”
Gloria’s laugh tinkles through the phone.“Sorry about that. I didn’t want to leave you hanging. I could tell the first time we spoke how much you care about Carson.”
“Well... thank you. I appreciate the head’s up.” I pause for a moment, then add, “This place he’s going to? It’s good? He’ll- he’ll be okay?”
I can almost hear her smile through the phone.“He’ll be fine, Tina. In fact, he stayed there last night. I have another client staying there right now, too. It was supposed to be temporary, but the foster dad recently gave me the okay to start work on placing the kid permanently. While he’s there, Carson will have a foster brother who’s about the same age. And before you ask, yes, that kid is a good kid, like Carson. He’s been in the system a long time, but has somehow managed to hang on to all of his kindness. I think Carson is really going to like it there.”
“I’m happy to hear that. Thank you for calling me.” A heaviness weighs on my shoulders, a new worry caused by thisnew information.Would Carson be better off with this new family than with me?I hold the phone away to hide my sniffle. “I should get going, unless you have anything else for me?” I need to get off the phone before I burst into tears. This day has been one thing after another, and I don’t know how much more I can take.
“That was it. I didn’t want to leave you hanging until I’m back in the office tomorrow.”
“I appreciate that. I guess we’ll talk soon?”
“I’ll call you when I have more information. Bye, Tina.”Gloria hangs up before I can return her goodbye. Just in time, too, because the first tears spill down my cheeks as I pull the phone away from my face.
“Tina? Is everything alright?”
Shit. I forgot about Nick and his four stupid words.We need to talk.
“Come upstairs. We can talk there.”
I'm Not Ready
Nick
As Jared and Icross the street to get to Wings and Pizza, he spots Tina coming around the side of the building before I do.
“Tina,” he says, jogging over to her. “I’m starving. What’s for dinner?”
