Chapter 2
AN HOUR LATER, CARLY CAME into the backyard, where Anita had set up a utility table next to the herbal garden. Her latest creation was a commissioned piece from an older lady who’d wanted her late husband’s likeness created out of plant material and leaves. He’d been an avid outdoorsman before his death, and the widow had mailed photos of him, along with his favorite flannel shirt.
“Is that from the dead guy?” Carly asked, recognizing the project.
“Be respectful,” Anita said.
Carly puffed out a breath. “Well, he’s dead, right? What else should I say?”
Was her daughter really going to start with the attitude an hour after her suspension? “His name was Roger Barton, so you can refer to him as Mr. Barton.” Anita set down the bit of rosemary she’d been using to create the effect of hair. She folded her arms. “Well?”
Carly shifted from one foot to the other. She’d combed her hair into a ponytail, and it looked like all the curl had fallen out. Like Anita, she had no natural curl, and it could only be achieved by wearing curlers all night or using their old curling iron that didn’t get very hot anymore. Her daughter usually opted for the curlers.
“I called all of the places,” Carly said, her tone sounding uncertain. “And...”
Anita waited, wanting her to take ownership in this process.
“And...the assisted living place said I could come and play games or read with the old people.”
Anita winced. “Old people? You mean the residents?”
“Whatever.”
She tried not to bristle. “All right. That’s a good idea. When are you going?”
Carly’s eyes widened. “Uh, tomorrow, I guess. But I don’t want to go alone.”
Anita sat back in her chair. “I can take you to the place, but this is your service, Carly, not mine. I have plenty to do here.”
Carly looked down at the ground, her sandal scuffing the paving stones. “They said I needed your permission.”
“I can send a note.”
Carly looked up again. “I think they want it over the phone. The lady is waiting right now to talk to you.”
Anita shot up from her chair. “You left her on the phone and waited to tell me?” She didn’t pause for an answer, hurrying to the back door that led to the kitchen.
“Hello-oo, Anita! Oh, is that you, Carly?” Phyllis had come out into her backyard, which shared a fence with theirs.
How long had she been standing there and what had she heard?
“Hi, Phyllis,” Anita said. “I need to answer the phone.”
“Oh, you go right ahead.” Phyllis held up rose clippers. “I’m just trimming a few roses. By the way, Sassy is over here, and I fed her some tuna.”
“Oh, all right. Thank you.” Anita stepped into her house. She found the receiver on the kitchen table. “Hello? This is Mrs. Gifford. Sorry to make you wait.”
The woman’s voice that came through the phone was completely nonplussed and cheerful. “No worries, Mrs. Gifford. This is Nancy. I’ve had a nice chat with your delightful daughter, and we’re looking forward to seeing the two of you tomorrow.”
Delightful daughter?“I think there’s been a mistake,” Anita said. “This is a service project for Carly. I’ll drop her off, then pick her up when she’s done.”
The other end went silent for a moment, then Nancy said, “I think there’s been a misunderstanding, perhaps? Since Carly is a minor, she needs to have a parent in the building while she’s spending time with the residents.”
Anita frowned and turned to gaze out the window overlooking the garden. Carly was crouched near the late tulips, inspecting something. “Well, I wasn’t aware of that.” She dragged in a breath. “I have a busy schedule just now, and I’m happy to sign a permission form. You see—”
“We can’t accept that,” Nancy said, her voice still kind. “I understand busy. I raised three kids myself—on my own. I’ve been in your shoes as a single mom.”
Anita’s mouth parted. What had Carly told this stranger over the phone?
“But sometimes, you have to make the sacrifice of time,” Nancy said. “Carly told us she needs eight hours, and so we are accommodating your family, not the other way around.”
Well. The woman was certainly direct. And right. “I’m sorry,” Anita said. “I didn’t mean to...I guess what I’m trying to say is...” Her thoughts were so jumbled that she had no idea what she was trying to say.
“Look, Mrs. Gifford,” Nancy continued in her gentle, calming voice, “Carly’s a good kid. You showing up for her will only strengthen that relationship as she’s adjusting to adolescence. We all make mistakes.”
“Did Carly tell you that . . .”
When her voice dropped off, Nancy said, “She explained everything. And if you can agree to our terms, we’ll see you tomorrow afternoon from two to six p.m., and then again on Sunday. Same time.”
Anita had no idea if her daughter had called the other places, or if they also required that a parent be on the premises. “All right. That’s fine. We’ll be there tomorrow at two o’clock.”
Nancy cheerfully gave her directions, which Anita decided not to interrupt, though she already knew where the assisted living facility was. After hanging up, she found Carly in the garden. She was still crouched next to the tulips, and on her hand crawled a ladybug.
The sight brought back a flood of memories of Carly as a little girl, following her around the garden, asking nonstop questions, helping do small tasks, and her endless fascination with the bugs. Anita’s irritation abated.
“I talked to Nancy.”
Carly looked up.
“Next time you have someone waiting to speak with me, tell me that first.”
Carly nodded. “Okay.”
“I guess I have to go with you,” Anita said in the most even tone she could muster. “Go get your homework done, and I’ll let you know when dinner is ready. You’re on cleanup duty, and tomorrow morning, you’ll have some other chores before we go to the facility.”
Carly nodded again, her expression sheepish. Then she headed past Anita, who noticed she had the ladybug latched on to her wrist.
Anita hid a smile, then stood for a quiet moment in the garden. As much as she wanted to return to her project, she should probably preempt her car’s maintenance troubles. She guessed that most auto shops closed at five or six p.m., which meant she had to start calling now to track down a battery.
After a handful of phone calls, she had the battery priced out. Everyone would be closed on the weekend, so it needed to be her top priority on Monday. Surely her car could behave until then, even if it required another jump-start.
Meanwhile, she pulled out a box of Hamburger Helper. Not her favorite meal, but a childhood favorite of Carly’s. There was hamburger meat in the freezer, so she took it out and set it in a pan of warm water to begin thawing. She should have started this all earlier, but Carly’s original plans had been to hang out at Samantha’s house tonight, and have dinner there. Anita had planned on having a sandwich solo.
Just as she was pulling out a few salad fixings from the refrigerator, the phone rang. She answered, and it was Samantha on the other line.
“Carly, it’s Samantha,” Anita called out.
In record time, she appeared from her bedroom.
“Keep it short,” Anita said before Carly picked up the receiver.
“Hi,” Carly said, then headed down the hallway, the long cord trailing after her. “I can’t. I’m grounded.”
That was the last Anita heard of the conversation before Carly disappeared into the bedroom. She wondered if Samantha was grounded. And what about Evie? Was grounding the right thing to do with a fourteen-year-old? Would something else be more effective? She didn’t want to push Carly too far, but she also didn’t want her daughter suspended from school.
She began to rip up the iceberg lettuce. She’d make a Caesar salad because Carly was sure to eat that. When Anita had been in school, she’d never considered stealing or vandalizing. But then again, her single best friend hadn’t been the type to do that either. So maybe she had just been lucky with her friend choice. Not that she had a ton of choices. She seemed to say awkward things in social situations, so she hadn’t been the type of teenager to have a gaggle of friends or get invited to the cool-kid parties. She’d kept to herself most of the time, unless she was with her best friend.
The conversation between Carly and Samantha was officially past “keep it short,” but something tugged in Anita’s heart, and she couldn’t bring herself to give Carly a warning. She set the bowl of lettuce aside and checked on the thawing meat. It was mostly soft, so she set the frying pan on the stove and turned on the element. The meat began to sizzle right away, and she filled a pot with water to begin boiling the pasta from the Hamburger Helper box.
A few minutes later, Carly came out of her bedroom, her expression sullen.
Anita couldn’t help but ask, “Are your friends grounded too?”
“No,” she said. “Their moms are letting them hang out tonight.” She turned her sad eyes on her mother. “They want me to come over.”
Anita wished she could say yes—she wanted to say yes—but wasn’t getting suspended from school kind of serious? And why were the other parents not being more strict? “No, I can’t go back on our agreement.”
Carly huffed and walked back to her room.
What were the chances she was actually doing homework? Again, an ache pinched Anita’s heart as she wished she had her little girl back. She stirred in the pasta, added a dash of salt, then used the spatula to dice up the hamburger into smaller pieces.
The phone rang again, and she wiped off her hands to answer it.
“Anita?” the deep voice said. “How are you?”
Her arms broke out in goose bumps, and she didn’t know if it was in a good way. “Hi, Glenn.”
“What are you doing?”
The question irritated her because after their last date, he said he’d call her the next day and figure out something to do the next weekend. He’d never called. And now it was the following weekend, but Anita wasn’t going anywhere with Carly stuck at home. Carly would probably love her to leave, so that was out of the question.
Anita had attempted dating this past year. Previously, she hadn’t wanted anything to interfere with raising Carly, even though she knew that having a father figure in her daughter’s life would be of value. With Carly’s social life picking up on the weekends, it gave Anita a little more freedom than she was used to.
“Making dinner,” she told Glenn. “What are you doing?”
“Hmm.” His voice was a low rumble, which might have been sexy, but it was only irritating right now. “What’s for dinner?”
“Hamburger Helper.”
Glenn laughed. “I haven’t had that in forever. Which box? Maybe I’ll come over.”
“Uh...” Anita was already tired of the twenty-questions game. “Doesn’t really matter because I don’t want any company tonight. It’s just me and Carly.” For some reason, she didn’t want to tell him about Carly’s suspension.
“Girls only, huh?” Glenn asked, then lowered his voice. “What about after hours? Carly goes to bed around ten, right?”
They’d been on three official dates, and a couple of meetups at city events. Anita sensed that Glenn liked her more than she liked him, but that he wasn’t exactly fully invested. He sort of disappeared for a while, then suddenly reappeared. They’d almost kissed on the last date, but then it hadn’t happened. Anita had been disappointed at the time, but right now she was feeling kind of glad. Strange.
Was her heart still that messed up from Carly’s dad?
“Let’s talk next week sometime.” Anita felt more than a little hungry. She didn’t want to deal with Glenn right now, which was another strange thing. When she’d met him, she’d been charmed and was excited he’d asked her out on a date. Life had been much simpler then—and the past few hours had changed all of that.
“Sure thing,” Glenn said in an easy tone, as if he were already thinking of someone else. “We’ll talk next week.”