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“Good, because you’re a cold witch, and I don’t want anything to do with you or your kid.”
Anita gripped the receiver, ready to deliver her own insults, but Glenn hung up.
One second, he was breathing fire at her, and the next, the line clicked off.
Anita was stunned. Glenn had gone from a gregarious, complimentary—if a bit cheesy—guy trying to get a date to a spiral of viciousness. She set the receiver in its cradle, then sank onto a kitchen chair, resting her head in her hands.
What a creep. She should be glad to be rid of him, but tears stung her eyes anyway. Dating as a single mom wasn’t easy on her end, which was why she’d put it off for so long. She always had to consider Carly. But would every man think like Glenn? That she was full of baggage?
“Mom?” Anita snapped her gaze up to see Carly in the kitchen, Sassy in her arms. “What’s wrong?” she asked.
Anita quickly wiped her eyes and tried to think of what Carly might have overhead. “That was Glenn. He...we broke things off. Not that we were doing a lot of dating anyway.”
Carly smiled, petting Sassy. “Good. He smelled.”
This wasn’t what Anita expected at all. “What do you mean he smelled?”
Her daughter’s nose wrinkled. “Like he used a whole bottle of cologne before he came over.”
She smiled. “Yeah, he does like cologne.”
Carly exaggerated rolling her eyes. “Like it? He must have a mail subscription that comes every week.”
Anita laughed, and it felt good. “Well, I’m glad you’re not heartbroken over it.”
Carly scoffed. She set down the cat, then moved to the stove. “What’s for dinner?”
“Oh.” Anita pushed to her feet. They were changing the subject, and that was good. “Chicken tacos.”
The rest of the week was fine—pleasant, in fact. Carly came home straight after school and didn’t complain about being grounded. Anita made excellent progress on her projects, and she got Mr. Barton’s portrait delivered.
Friday after school, Carly burst into the house. She rushed past Anita, who’d just come in from the garden, and shut herself in her bedroom.
“Carly?” she called, heading down the hallway. Sassy trotted after her and stopped in front of Carly’s door. Anita paused by the door, hearing sniffling. “What’s wrong?”
She heard a mumbled, “Go away.”
Anita closed her eyes and leaned her head against the closed door. The school hadn’t called, so it wasn’t an administration problem. She hadn’t gotten into trouble again, right? Then she remembered Carly had had a gnarly math test today.
“How did math go?” she asked through the door.
“Fine.” Carly’s tone was tight, but at least she was still speaking.
Anita released a slow breath. “Can I come in? And Sassy too?”
There was a pause, then Carly said, “If you want.”
Gratitude flooded her as she turned the doorknob. At least her daughter was willing to talk. They could fix whatever this was, together.
Carly was curled on her bed, tears staining her cheeks, and this brought Anita up short.
“Oh, honey, what’s wrong?”
Then she started to cry in earnest. Anita sat on the edge of her bed and wrapped her arms about her. Sassy jumped up on the bed and nudged Carly, purring. After several long moments, she was composed enough to say, “Samantha and Evie are mad at me.”
Anita drew in a breath, not sure how to react. “What happened?”
Carly wiped at her cheeks, then drew away from her embrace. She scooped Sassy onto her lap and held her close. “They wanted to walk into town to get milkshakes and skip the period after lunch. I told them I couldn’t skip, or I’d be grounded for longer.” More tears dripped along her cheeks, and Anita handed over a tissue.
