Fifteen
Because Sam was working late, Nina made breakfast for dinner, something she and the girls loved.
Pancakes, bacon, lots of butter, and real maple syrup from Vermont.
A bowl of strawberries. She loved the easy evenings when she didn’t have to put up an entire dinner for Sam, complete with a salad to start and dessert to finish.
Some nights the girls would hang out with her well past cleanup and have a cup of tea and become a little chattier than usual.
Not tonight. Bridie had a test to study for.
Clara had run upstairs the minute she was done eating, claiming homework and needing to practice for her Godspell audition.
Nina settled on the sofa with a book, enjoying the quiet of her living room.
The next thing she knew, someone was banging on the door, and she woke with a start; she’d fallen asleep in front of the fireplace.
She had been dreaming one of the girls was outside and locked out and Nina’s legs were like molasses and she couldn’t get to the door to rescue her daughter.
As she sat up, she realized the banging wasn’t in her dream but at her door, and she had the irrational thought that it was Sam’s mother or father pounding on the door, back from the dead, “The Monkey’s Paw” come to life thanks to the universal undo.
Who would bang on the door at two in the morning?
As she reached the vestibule, she heard Sam’s voice and almost tripped over the rug with relief.
She turned the lock and opened the door to find Sam with someone who looked vaguely familiar.
A very young, very good-looking man. “Well, hello there,” she said, looking at Sam whose arm was slung around the stranger’s shoulders.
He was quite drunk. “What have we here?”
“He’s okay,” the young man said. “A few too many Manhattans. He was insisting on driving home, so I took his keys. Can we come in?”
“Of course.” Nina opened the door wider and took one of Sam’s arms as he tripped over the threshold. “Sam, sit down.”
“Love to!” he shouted.
“Quiet. The girls are sleeping.” She turned to the young man.
“I’ve never seen him like this.” They each took one side of Sam and sloppily maneuvered him into the living room and onto the sofa, where he promptly passed out.
The man started untying Sam’s shoes. “You don’t have to do that,” Nina said.
“Not a problem.”
“I’m sorry, but your name—”
“Garret.”
“Have we met?”
“We have. At the conference in California. I work at PARC on the development end of things.”
“Right. Yes. Nice to see you. I didn’t realize you were in town. Sam didn’t say. You could have come for dinner.”
“That’s kind. We had a meeting run late and everyone wanted a nightcap and some”—he gestured at Sam—“wanted a few nightcaps.”
“He’ll be mortified. Nothing like this has ever happened before. Where were you all?”
“I don’t remember the name of the place. I’m not exactly stone-cold myself.”
“Then you must stay. I don’t want you driving.”
“Someone else drove us. I’ll head out now,” Garret said. “Have Sam call me in the morning.”
“Will do,” Nina said. “Thanks again.” As she walked out onto the front step with Garret, she recognized the rumble of a truck’s engine.
She looked over to see the familiar blue-and-white pickup that used to sit in the driveway in front of her old apartment.
It couldn’t be. She followed Garret and, when he opened the passenger door, bent down to see the person behind the wheel. That familiar face.
“Margaret?”
“Hi, doll. Long time, no see.”