Chapter 14
Angie
And suddenly you know:
It’s time to start something new
and trust the magic of beginnings.
~ Meister Eckhart
Thanks to EJ, I made it to work before my first customer.
My last customer is under the dryer right now.
I’m sitting in my chair, waiting for her color to set.
“Are you sure the girls don’t mind if I crash tonight?” I ask Laura.
She doesn’t have a customer right now either. She’s sitting in her chair, next to mine, filing her nails. “You’re a girl, aren’t you?”
“I am. But I’m a couple of years older than most of them. I wasn’t in your group in high school. You’ve all stayed so close. So many of the women I went to school with moved away after college.”
Laura looks up from her filing. “We’re not in high school anymore. Stop overthinking and come by. Jayme’s been stuck in her novel. She’s stress baking. There’s so much food it would take the town a few days to eat through it all.”
I chuckle. Jayme is notorious for stress baking. I do know that much. “Okay, okay. I’ll be there.”
After I cut and dry my customer’s hair, I leave a little earlier than usual. EJ stops by to walk me to my van.
At home, I feed the boys their dinner and give them their baths—complete with all the firefighter water toys.
Despite my earlier hesitation, I’m getting ready to go out to girls’ night and actually looking forward to spending some time with adults.
EJ stepping up this week has settled something inside me in a way I didn’t know could happen—especially not this quickly.
I haven’t left my boys at night in ages.
But this time when Laura asked, I said yes almost without thinking.
I hesitated later, but my knee-jerk yes came easily.
And I know it’s because EJ has been going out of his way to paint a picture of my future—our future—that includes him.
I honestly don’t know how long it’s been since I hung out with a group of women. Daily at the salon, of course. But for fun? Outside work? I can’t even remember. Tonight, that changes.
Mom pops in my bedroom. “Angie?”
“Yeah, Mom. What’s going on?” I hold up two shirts in the full-length mirror, switching from one to the other in front of myself.
“The red one,” Mom says. “And I’m so sorry.”
“Why are you sorry? What did you do?”
“I didn’t do anything. But Linda Mae fell on an ice cube in her kitchen.
I guess it was more than one cube. You know how they can just pop out of the icemaker and land on the floor?
Well, she stepped wrong, and down she went.
So I told her I’d come by and help her out tonight.
Jeanie was going to do it, but she has to watch her grandkids. ”
“You were going to watch your grandkids.”
“True. True.”
“It’s okay,” I tell Mom. “I’ll cancel my plans.”
“Well, actually, you don’t need to bother.”
“Why not? I can’t take the boys with me. And it’s not a good idea for you to take them to Linda Mae’s. They need to get to bed on time.”
“I know all that, sweetheart. That’s why I took the liberty of arranging for another sitter.”
“You did?”
“Yes. Very trustworthy. Loves the boys.”
I don’t have a chance to ask her who she hired. A knock on the door carries through the house.
“I get it!” Levi shouts.
Mom and I both shout, “No! Wait for us!” and follow one another quickly down the stairs to find Levi’s hand on the knob.
“You don’t open the door without Mommy or Gramma here. Okay?” I tell Levi.
“Okay, Mommy.”
Jack stands up and walks over to the entryway. Mom steps back.
I open the door and cannot believe my eyes.
My mouth pops open and I stare, unable to find words.