I hold back a smile. “Yeah,” I tell her, keeping an eye on Teeny. “Could’ve been the mayo.” She nods in agreement and walks away, leaving me and Teeny alone, and Teeny finally lifts her head.
“What’s in the bag?” She curiously eyes the brown paper bag I walked in with, and I reach for it, excited to show her the contents.
“Well, I said movie night,” I say, watching a small smile peek through her bedridden state. “So I brought a movie.” I whip out a DVD copy ofTitanicfrom Blockbuster, and her smile spreads wider. She takes it from me while I dig into the bag once again. “And, to help with that hangover of yours.” I say that last part in a low whisper. “Some waffles from Marie’s.”
She cuddles into me, wrapping her arms around my waist and letting her cheek rub into my chest. I accept her embrace, leaning back into the couch while running my hand over her back. “Thank you,” she whispers.
“You’re welcome.” I waggle the DVD case with the blue and yellow logo on it. “Should we pop this baby in?”
She nods, and I get off the couch to start the movie. We settle with our food, and Teeny brings over a few cans of soda and water, and before we know it, we’re joined by Josh and Andrew. It seems Josh isn’t dealing with the after-effects of last night’s party, at least not as badly as Teeny is, and by the time the Titanic is hit with an iceberg, we’re surrounded by another heap full of snacks and drinks.
“Thank you for taking care of me.” I look down at Teeny. Her head is nestled into the crook of my arm, and her arm is resting over my stomach. She looks a hundred times better than when I walked into her house a few hours ago. She no longer has the look of pain and discomfort, a contented smile in its place, and her energy is back too.
I kiss the top of her head. “You’re welcome, baby.”
CHAPTERFIFTEEN
Teeny
NOW
My kitchen islandlooks like the drapery and paint department at The Home Depot came together, weathered a run through a wood chipper, and spit out all the shreds in a confetti mess of colors and patterns right onto my counter. Fabric swatches and paint samples and backsplash tiles are everywhere. It’s taken me about four hours to sort through every option to present to Eric for our next meeting, ready to move toward a decision with a color scheme for El Cielo’s lobby. But it’s good. Busy and active and hectic are good.
I realized that my way of coping with things—Sadie being away from me for over a month, my pending divorce, Everett—is to keep myself busy. To occupy myself with work instead of trying to mend all the fragile pieces of my life. To avoid the reminder of how close to rock bottom I am.
My phone buzzes on the counter just as I’m matching up small squares of upholstery fabric to wallpaper samples. My face lights up when I look at the screen and see Sadie’s name flash on the screen.
“Hi, baby!” I squeal into the phone.
“Hi, Mommy!”
“How’s camp? How’s the music going? Are you making new friends?”
“The music’s happening,” Sadie tells me excitedly. “And some of the girls from last summer are here, so I’ve been hanging out with them a lot.”
“Oh, that’s good, Sadie!” I’d been nervous about her making friends, especially with her being away from her usual tight knit friend group here, so it brings on a wave of relief knowing she isn’t feeling out of place while being away from home.
“We’re actually doing a showcase in a few weeks. I got grouped with two other girls here, and family and friends are allowed to be here. Can you and Daddy come?”
“Yeah, of course, baby. I’ll have to make sure Daddy’s available, but I’ll be there.”
“Is he going to be busy?”
“Um, I’m not sure,” I tell her, hesitating. “I—I have to see how things are with Uncle Javi?—”
“Mom.”
“Yeah.”
“I talked to Dad on the way here.”
My heart sinks. “Uh—um. What did he say?”
“That he did something that you aren’t happy with, and he has to give you some space. And that he’s really sorry.”
My throat tightens. “He didn’t have to tell you that,” I say hoarsely.
“I’m glad he did. I don’t want you to feel like you have to keep things from me. And I’m not mad at you guys.”
