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“Aren’t men supposed to take their sons on outings like that?” Marcie asked.
Emily merely stared at her. “Derek and Ken? You have to be kidding.”
Marcie gave in to the urge to laugh. “You have a point, though I’d pay big money to see it.”
“Me, too,” Emily agreed, handing her two dishes piled high with shortcake topped with huge strawberries and a mound of whipped cream, then picking up a tray with the other bowls herself. “Let’s go sweeten them up with dessert. Who knows what we’ll be able to talk them into after that.”
Paula, Emily’s favorite coworker at school, had just undergone breast cancer surgery and it had all of the female teachers jittery. There was a sudden interest in breast self-exams and a flurry of appointments being made for mammograms.
Shaken more than she liked admitting, Emily came home from visiting Paula at the hospital and headed straight for Marcie’s, where the coffee was waiting, along with a sympathetic ear.
“How is she?” Marcie asked.
“Scared to death,” Emily told her. “The surgery’s almost the least of it. They want to do both radiation and chemo. She’s looking at a long, tough road with unpredictable results.”
They both fell silent.
“Did you call and make an appointment for a mammogram?” Emily asked eventually.
“First thing this morning,” Marcie told her. “My appointment’s for next week. You?”
“I’m scheduled to go in next week, too. I thought we were too young to be worrying about this. We’re only thirty-two, for crying out loud. I thought we had years before we had to start getting tested, but Paula’s only thirty-three. If she hadn’t found that lump, she’d never have known. She teaches the health and PE classes at school, so she’s the one woman who’s on top of these things.” She frowned. “I just hope to God it wasn’t too late.”
“Don’t even think like that,” Marcie admonished. “She’s going to be fine. She’s tough.”
Emily nodded. “And her husband’s been a real rock so far. Dave’s been by her side every step of the way, bless him, and I don’t see that changing.”
“I knew I liked him when you had them over for dinner last year during the holidays,” Marcie said. “And I’ve enjoyed getting together with Paula at your house to talk about books. She and I have the same taste and she always knows when the good books are being released and gives me a heads-up. I’m so glad you introduced us.”
“Maybe you could return the favor while she’s recuperating, take her a few books from time to time. She turns her nose up when I try to get her to read the classics.”
“Probably because she had to read them all in school. Now a good mystery, that’s always fresh.”
“Murder and mayhem, you mean,” Emily said. “I’ve seen your to-be-read pile. I don’t know how you sleep at night after you read that stuff.”
“Oh, for goodness’ sakes, I’m not reading thrillers about serial killers,” Marcie retorted. “They’re cozy mysteries with amateur sleuths. Hardly a drop of blood anywhere. It’s all about solving the crime.”
“Whatever,” Emily said, grinning at the defensive note in her voice. “I love teasing you about your reading material.”
“Really? Don’t think I don’t know about the stash of romance novels you have hidden under your stacks of Charles Dickens and Jane Austen,” Marcie countered.
Emily flushed. “How do you know about those?”
“Caitlyn, of course. She and Dani have been sneaking them to read.”
“I swear, I am going to kill my daughter,” Emily grumbled. “As my child, she’s supposed to be reading great literature.”
“She’s ten,” Marcie noted, her lips twitching.
“Well, there are plenty of great children’s books for that age.”
“Obviously her taste is as varied as her mom’s. Just be grateful she’s reading at all.”
“I should be, shouldn’t I?” Emily said, then sighed, her thoughts returning to their sick friend. “Can you think of anything else we should be doing for Paula?”
“Besides being there for her?” Marcie said. “I imagine that’s what she needs most—friends who will stick by her, take her to appointments, whatever. If you see her again before I do, tell her I’ll do that, by the way. I’m free most days. I can take her anywhere she needs to go.”
“She’ll appreciate that, I know. Now I’d better get home and think about getting dinner on the table.”
“I knew you’d be running late today, so I made an extra lasagna, if you want it.”
“Have I mentioned lately what an angel you are? What would I do without you?”
“Starve?” Marcie inquired wryly.
Emily grinned. “Not as long as half the restaurants in the neighborhood deliver, but you do give my children an opportunity to experience a home-cooked meal from time to time. For that, I am eternally grateful.”
Marcie chuckled. “So are they. Dani asked me the other day if I could teach her to boil water so she’d know more than mommy.”
“Ha-ha,” Emily retorted. “Very funny.”
“Well, she did,” Marcie insisted. “Seriously, both girls want me to give them cooking lessons.”
Emily shrugged. “Then by all means, go for it. Let me know if Dani’s any good at it. If she is, maybe I’ll be able to stay out of the kitchen altogether.”
“You hate cooking that much?” Marcie asked, her expression incredulous.
“I hate most things I’m lousy at. Cooking tops the list. Sewing’s a close second with household organization right on their heels.”
“All my favorite things,” Marcie said. “How on earth did we ever become such good friends?”
“Proximity?” Emily suggested. “And the fact that you’re one of the nicest people I’ve ever known.”
Marcie grinned. “Ditto. Now let me get you that lasagna.”
She handed Emily a baking dish big enough to supply dinner for at least three nights.
“Are you sure you didn’t confuse my family with Josh’s Little League team?”
“You’ll have leftovers for another night,” Marcie said. “Want some cookies for the kids’ lunches?”
“Good heavens, no! I still have the ones you sent home with me yesterday. You need to take a day off from baking.”
“And do what?” Marcie asked with an expression that said she honestly had no idea what she’d do with herself.
“Spend the day with Paula,” Emily suggested at once. “And take a few dozen cookies to the nurses, so they’ll treat her right.”
Marcie’s face lit up. “I’ll do it first thing tomorrow.”
“Give her another hug from me and tell her we miss her at school. Let her know I’ll stop by the hospital after work with all the gossip.”
Marcie walked outside with her. “She’s going to be okay, you know.”
“I know,” Emily said automatically as she slipped through the opening Josh had cut in the hedge between the houses. She just wished she could believe it.
Chapter 4
Emily had barely left the house, when Marcie heard the garage door open and realized Ken was home, hours earlier than usual. Her stomach immediately tied itself into knots. Whatever had brought him home at this hour couldn’t possibly be good. Still, she took a quick look at herself in a mirror to check her hair and makeup, then plastered a smile on her face as she waited for him.
When he finally came inside, his tie was askew, his collar open and, if she wasn’t mistaken, he’d been drinking. Her smile immediately faltered.
“Ken, what’s wrong?”
“The bastards fired me, that’s what’s wrong,” he said, immediately going to the liquor cabinet and splashing several inches of Scotch into a glass, then taking a gulp that clearly wasn’t his first of the day. “I’ve worked my butt off for those jerks for how many years now? Fifteen? And now I’m history.”
“Did they tell you why?” she asked hesitantly, knowing as soon as the words were out of her mouth that it was exactly the wrong thing to ask.
His face flushed an even brighter shade of red. “Because they’re idiots, that’s why. One little mistake and none of the accounts I brought in, none of the work I’d done for them mattered.”
Marcie smothered a desire to point out that if the mistake had been so small, surely they would never have done such a thing. Ken had worked hard for them for years. She might not know a lot about the corporate world, but surely they wouldn’t have fired him over something insignificant. Had she said such a thing, though, Ken’s already precarious mood would have turned even darker. She doubted she’d ever hear the whole story. Ken never admitted his failures. It must be killing him just to confess he’d been fired.
She also had to swallow all of the questions she had about what came next, whether they’d offered him severance at least. There was little use in admitting to her own panic at the thought of him being unemployed. Underneath all of Ken’s bravado, she was sure he was fearful enough for both of them. Nor was he likely to have any of the reassuring answers she wanted to hear. It was too soon. Her role, of which she was very much aware, was to boost his self-confidence, not to add to his troubles or make him feel worse.
Although she was silent, he scowled at her as if she’d voiced her thoughts. “Well, don’t you have anything else to say? I’m sure you think this is my fault.”
“I never said that. You’ve given a lot to that company and it’s their loss that you’re gone. Another company will snap you up, I’m sure of it.”
“Aren’t you just little Mary Sunshine,” he said sarcastically.
Despite his nasty attitude, she was determined to think positively. That’s what he needed from her. “I just think it’s important to be optimistic. This is the opportunity you’ve been waiting for, Ken. You could finally open your own company. You have more than enough experience to do that.”
For the first time since he’d walked in, the anger seemed to fade from his eyes. The fear Marcie knew he was trying to cover drained away as well. He sank into a chair at the kitchen table and regarded her with a bewildered expression. “How’d I make such a mess of things? I blew off one meeting. I didn’t think it was a big deal, but apparently it was to the client. They were nervous about our campaign and me canceling the meeting made their anxiety escalate. They told my boss I was unreliable and that since they obviously couldn’t count on me, they’d go elsewhere. If it had been any other client, it might not have mattered, but this was our foot in the door and I destroyed our chance to get more work.”
Marcie couldn’t believe that after years of missing family occasions for work, Ken would skip out on an important business meeting. “Why, Ken?” she asked, not even trying to hide her frustration. “Why would you cancel a meeting? You never do that.”
“I was wooing another potential client. He wanted to play golf. I thought everything would work out fine.”
“Did the new client sign with the firm?”
He shook his head, looking utterly defeated. “No, so it was all for nothing. It was a judgment call and I blew it. What the hell are we going to do now?”
Falling into her familiar role as cheerleader, she stood behind him and massaged his tense shoulders. “It’s not a disaster, Ken. It’s not.”
For several minutes it was so quiet that Marcie could hear the ticking of the clock on the wall, but eventually Ken rested a hand atop hers.
“I’m sorry for yelling at you. None of this is your fault. I just wasn’t expecting this, you know.”
“I know,” she said, moving around to sit in his lap so she could meet his gaze. If ever there’d been a time when he needed her support, this was it. “This isn’t the end of the world. I have so much faith in you, more than you have in yourself, I think.”
His lips curved slightly. “You always did, even way back when we first met. Nobody’d ever believed in me like that. I know I don’t always tell you how much I appreciate what you do around here, but I do. I don’t know what I’d do without you in my corner.”
The rare praise warmed her heart. Sometimes she wondered if he even noticed her at all, much less appreciated her. And his careless words had the capacity to cut her to the quick. A moment like this, though, reminded her of the gentle, sensitive man she’d married. All too often she feared he’d gotten lost along the way in his frantic climb to the top.
She looked into his eyes. “What do you want to do next?” she asked. “If you could choose anything, what would it be?”
He gave her a lopsided, boyish grin. “Take you upstairs to bed?”
Her heart skipped a beat, even though she doubted he could even make it up the stairs on his currently unsteady legs.
“Besides that,” she said, careful to keep her tone light so he wouldn’t take offense at the apparent rejection.
He scrubbed a hand over his face. “Hell if I know,” he murmured sleepily.
“Well, we’ll figure it out tomorrow,” she assured him. “Why don’t you lie down in the den and rest before the kids get home? I’ll let you know when dinner’s ready.”
“Probably should take a shower, sober up,” he muttered. “Don’t want them to know I’ve been drinking.”
“Good idea,” she said, relieved that he was thinking that clearly. “I’ll run up and bring down a change of clothes for you and you can use the shower in the guest suite.” In the doorway, she hesitated, then said, “And let’s not tell them what’s going on just yet, okay? Let’s wait till we have a plan.”
“Sure,” he said, stumbling past her. “You always know the right thing to do, Marcie. Always right.”
At his words, which didn’t sound at all like a compliment, tears stung her eyes, but she had too much pride to let them fall. This was the way things went with Ken. One moment he was sweet as could be and the next he could cut her heart out.
Dani studied Caitlyn’s scared expression. In the five years she’d known her, she’d never once seen Caitlyn scared, not even when they’d ridden this totally awesome, terrifying roller coaster on a trip to Disney World. Because there was a two-year age difference, Caitlyn tried hard to act as grown-up as Dani. Sometimes Dani even forgot she was only ten. At other times, Dani felt that two-year age difference was as vast as the ocean. She felt grown-up at twelve, almost a teenager, and sometimes like now, she felt responsible for the younger girl.
“You okay?” she asked when Caitlyn, who was never silent for more than a minute, hadn’t said a word for way longer than that.
Caitlyn shook her head. “Something’s going on at my house.”
“Like what?”
“I don’t know. Every time I walk into a room my mom and dad get real quiet, like they don’t want me or Evan to know something.”
“You think they’re getting a divorce?” Dani asked, her own voice trembling and barely above a whisper. That was her own biggest fear, that her mom and dad would wake up one day to the fact that they hardly ever saw each other and decide to split for good. She’d never heard them fight, but she knew being apart that much couldn’t be good. Moms and dads were supposed to do stuff together. Even though Mr. Carter worked all the time and could be a real jerk, the Carters still did more things together than her own mom and dad ever did.
Caitlyn’s eyes widened at the question. “No!” she shouted, then promptly burst into tears.
Filled with regret for making the suggestion, Dani moved to her side and draped an arm around her shoulders. “It’s probably not that,” she insisted. “I was just guessing. They probably just had a fight or something.”
Caitlyn shook her head. “I think maybe my dad’s sick.”
Dani frowned. “Why would you think that?”
“Because he’s been home every day this week.”
“Couldn’t he be on vacation?”
“He’s never taken a vacation. He didn’t even take a day off to go to Disney World with us, remember?”
