Chapter 11
Annie plopped down next to me on the bleachers at swim practice on Monday. She hefted a bag off her shoulder and put it our feet, then engulfed me in a hug. She was a hugger.
“Emmy, thanks so much for giving me such great advice over the weekend! I really appreciate your support.”
After what she had given me, a little advice was the least I could do. “I’m not exactly a relationship expert,” I warned her. That was putting it mildly. “But I’m glad I could help.”
She nodded at me. “You did. You gave me a lot to think about. You’re so tough! I’m going to try to be tough, too.”
I was anything but tough. Every time I had closed my eyes the night before I had dreamed about Cassie. And every noise I heard in the house made me jump up to the ceiling.
“I think what will really help me is a project,” Annie continued.
She pulled an ultra-slim laptop out of her bag and woke it up.
“I need a distraction. I think we should redecorate Luke’s house.
And by that I mean, decorate it in the first place!
He doesn’t even have enough furniture for the five of us to sit on in the living room! ”
I was instantly wary. I had been feeling a little cautious toward my situation with Luke since he told me…that thing he told me on the deck on Sunday. “Maybe he would want to do it himself,” I suggested.
Annie stared at me. “Are you kidding? He’d rather do Bikram yoga than go furniture shopping! So,” she adopted a very brisk tone, “we’re going to use this app. I used it when I did my house and no one can believe I did everything myself. I didn’t use a designer at all.”
She was clearly waiting for a response, so I said, “Wow, that’s impressive!”
Annie preened. “I really have an eye. If I wasn’t so busy with everything, maybe I would go into interior design.
” She got a faraway look in her eyes. “You know what? Maybe I will now!” She directed herself back to the laptop.
“But first things first. I already put in the dimensions of the rooms of his house. I’m just guestimating, but I’m sure it’s close. I’m really good with spatial stuff.”
My eyebrows shot up. “Really?”
She shoved my arm. “Interior spatial stuff, ok? And I’m doing much better driving with my glasses.”
“Um, Annie, about that…Charlie kind of ratted you out to Luke about the whole bike incident.”
She sighed. “That’s ok. I certainly would never ask a child to lie about something like that.”
“I don’t think Luke’s mad. I explained it.”
“Oh, I’m sure he’s mad,” she said breezily.
“I’ll be hearing about it. Anyway, the house.
It’s kind of quaint and cottage-y, right?
I mean, not my style. But I don’t think we should go all-out country.
A few pieces of chippy furniture, but mixed with some more industrial looking things, that’s what I was thinking.
I know some great places to go antiquing.
We even could go the Ann Arbor antique market this summer!
But what do you think? I have to have your opinion on everything! ”
“Yeah, that sounds nice. I don’t really have a lot of experience decorating. Unless you count buying a rug at Ikea.”
“Oooh, sometimes you can get some really interesting accents there! I’m totally not a decorating snob,” Annie assured me. “Are there any pieces of furniture that you particularly love in your house now?”
I was confused. “Um, my Nana’s dresser? It’s not worth anything, but I love it.”
“Oh, I know the one you mean! It’s really pretty. It’s in the bedroom where—" She stopped. “I helped clean up a little so I was in there.”
“Thank you,” I said quietly.
“Anyway, let’s start with the master bedroom, then. We’ll put the dresser here.” She resized a rectangle with two fingers then dragged it into the master bedroom area marked on her screen. “I’ll put it on this wall. I’m just guessing on the dimensions of the piece, so we’ll have to measure.”
I was confused again. “Why would Luke take my Nana’s dresser?” I asked her.
“I mean, you’d bring it with you when you move in!” Annie exclaimed.
I got really hot. It was really hot in the pool that day. “You’re assuming too much, Annie. We don’t have any plans to move in together.”
She scoffed. “Please! I have eyes, don’t I? And I know Luke. He’s not one to hesitate in getting what he wants!”
“Annie—” I broke off.
“You wear a lot of blue—is that your favorite color? Are there any other colors that you really love, or ones we should stay away from? Here,” she opened her bag.
“I brought a ton of decorating magazines. Sometimes it’s helpful to just look at stuff to start to find your style, if you don’t really know yet.
Unless you already have Pinterest boards.
I have a ton for décor. But Pinterest can be so overwhelming if you’re just starting out! ”
“Yeah, overwhelming.” I felt a little sick and I stood up.
“I’m going to go get some water. I’ll be back.
” I hurried, stumbling, off the bleachers and went around the corner to the drinking fountain.
I stripped off my sweater and leaned my cheek against the cool tile wall for a moment.
When I had calmed myself down, I went back to my seat and let Annie talk while I blindly turned the pages of her magazines.
Luke came over to dinner that night, bearing grocery bags and a recipe. “I’m going to cook ziti with sauce and vegetables,” he announced, giving me a kiss hello. “I brought more eggs we can scramble if this goes sideways.”
Charlie and I helped him measure, chop, and stir. Well, I did the chopping. As someone with a background in dissections, I felt very qualified.
“You were quiet at dinner,” Luke said, as I washed the dishes and he dried. “Did my culinary skills overwhelm you?”
Overwhelmed. Yes. “Dinner was good,” I told him. “Nice job.” I paused. “Hey, did Annie talk to you about redecorating your house?”
“Mmhmm. She said she was clearing everything with you.” He seemed fine with that. “I told her not to go too crazy, because we’ll tear it up when we renovate.”
We.
“Is this dirty or scratched?” He held up the glass lasagna pan up to the light.
“Scratched.” I turned off the water, dried my hands, and took a deep breath. I had to talk to him about this.
Luke spun me around and kissed me. He had a huge smile. “I have a surprise for you. It’s outside.” He took my hand and led me through the back door, followed by a giggling Charlie.
A brand-new, dark grey Toyota Highlander sat in our driveway. I stopped dead on the porch. “What is that?”
Luke stepped to my side and kissed my cheek. “It’s your new car. And it’s not a Porsche, so you don’t have to be afraid of it.”
“Do you love it, Mommy? I mean, Emmy?” Charlie asked.
I walked slowly down the steps. “Luke, what? You bought me a car?”
“It’s not very fancy, which I thought you’d like, and it has four-wheel drive, and plenty of room for all of Charlie’s stuff for meets. Your name is the only one on the title, but I’m picking up the insurance, all right?”
I ran my hand down the shiny new hood. “I don’t know what to say. Thank you. Thank you so much.”
“You don’t sound excited, Emmy,” Charlie said, his smile fading. “I helped Luke pick it out. Now you don’t have to worry anymore, right?”
I pasted a bright smile on my face. “Are you kidding? I’m so excited! I love it!” I threw my arms around Luke, and kissed his cheek. “Thank you!” Then I grabbed Charlie in a hug. “And thank you for helping. You guys have great taste! It’s the perfect car for me! Let’s take it out for a spin!”
When Luke handed me the keys, he took my hands. “You’re shaking,” he said, looking at me questioningly.
“I’m just excited,” I explained. I was terrified.
∞
I was at the NGS on Tuesday morning when my phone rang, and it was the school. My heart leapt to my throat.
“Hello? What’s wrong?”
“Hello, Emily. This is Sylvia Ferber, principal at Whitaker Elementary. Charlie is fine. I’m calling because we have had a disciplinary issue today, and I’d like you to come down to the school to discuss it.”
“Disciplinary issue? What’s wrong? Is he ok?” My voice had risen to frantic pitch. Nothing could happen to Charlie.
“He’s fine,” she repeated, “but this is really something we should discuss in person. Immediately.”
“Ok, um, let me call my manager to see if she can come, and I’ll be there as soon as I can.”
Martha hurried to the NGS to take my place. “Take a deep breath,” she told me. “I’m sure it won’t be that bad. It’s Charlie, for heaven’s sake! It must be some kind of mistake.”
That’s what I repeated to myself as I drove my new car like a demon over to the school, whipping into the parking lot, then running down the hall to the office. It must be some kind of mistake! Charlie would never get into trouble.
He was sitting, slumped in a chair, outside Mrs. Ferber’s office. I darted across the room to him, and knelt down. He raised his tearstained face to me. He had an icepack on a scrape on his cheek.
“Pal, what happened?”
Charlie leaned into my shoulder and started crying. “It was Rivers,” he choked out, then lapsed into sobbing.
“Miss Brennan? Emily?”
I stood, pulling Charlie to his feet and hugging him tightly. “What happened to him?” I angrily demanded.
Mrs. Ferber gestured to her office. “Why don’t you both come inside?”
I sat, and Charlie sat in the chair next to me, making an effort to pull himself together. Mrs. Ferber adjusted her glasses. “Well, this was a very unfortunate situation that we had here today. Charlie and another child were involved in an altercation during class. A physical altercation.”
“What?” I was stunned. “Pal, what happened?”
He stared at his hands, balled up in his lap. “Nothing.”
“Something happened!” I exclaimed.
“Apparently, there has been some tension between Charlie and the other boy. It erupted today in science.” Mrs. Ferber looked at Charlie. “Charlie, perhaps you could explain it to your aunt.”
I looked back to him. “Charlie? Please tell me what’s going on here!”