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Not a good idea.
Her mother held up a hand, anticipating Olivia’s protest. “If my depression comes back, I’ll just tell myself it’s for Matt’s sake and power through it.”
An even worse idea. “Mom, you can’t just half your dosage without talking to your doctor first. You could have some bad side effects.”
“If that happens, I’ll restart the full dose and call my doctor for another appointment.”
Except when depression hit, her mother was notoriously bad at getting help. Olivia took the bills out of the envelope and put them on the dash. “No. Go to your appointment. Leave the debts to Matt and me.”
Her mother tapped her fingers against the steering wheel.
Olivia could tell she hadn’t given up the idea. “Really, your health is the most important thing. I’m going to tell Carson not to accept money from you under any circumstance.”
Her mother sighed.
“I’ll be fine,” Olivia insisted. “You know I can take care of myself.”
“You shouldn’t have to.”
Maybe, but that had never stopped it from being the truth. She’d gotten resourceful fast. But her responsibilities stretched beyond that. Olivia had known since sixth grade that she was the thread that stitched her family together. She hadn’t allowed herself to break back then and wouldn’t do it now.
Olivia changed the subject, and for the rest of the drive, they talked about the plans to go see her grandma. Olivia didn’t press the point about her mother rescheduling her next appointment, but if need be, she’d call the doctor’s office herself and schedule one for her. Wouldn’t be the first time. She was also going to call Matt again and tell him that their mom was threatening to go off her medication in a misguided attempt to help him. Hopefully, that information would encourage him to work hard and pay off the debt faster.
Olivia set a reminder on her phone for tomorrow with the notes: Text Mom to keep her from calling the police. Guilt Matt into acting like a responsible human being.
Who said she had nothing good planned for the summer?
* * *
Usually,the last day of school—even though it was a half day—dragged on. This time, the time flew by. At the beginning of every period, one of the students asked about the suitcase and trash bags of belongings stashed behind her desk. She told them she was going on a trip after school but didn’t elaborate. When pressed for details, she simply laughed and said teachers had to keep their private lives hidden so students couldn’t take pictures of them and post them on social media. She wasn’t lying about that.
Fortunately, Carson had texted her that he’d set up a mattress for her in the attic room, so she didn’t need to bring an air mattress and sleeping bag up too. Those would have garnered even more questions.
She’d packed up a lot of her classroom over the week and stored what she could in her mother’s garage, but there were always more things to go through on the last day of the year. It would probably take her half an hour after school ended. She’d told Carson she wouldn’t be ready to leave until noon and to text her when he got to the parking lot.
All through the last period, she kept checking the clock. What was she getting herself into? Carson was going to work her like a dog. She had to keep reminding herself that the renovations were only going to take a little over a month. She could endure anything for that long.
Ten minutes before the bell rang, a knock sounded on the classroom door. Olivia’s first thought was that Carson had come early. A paranoid reaction. He wasn’t supposed to arrive for another forty minutes. And besides, the front office wouldn’t let him waltz back here just because he said he was picking her up.
As she walked toward the door, she checked to see if he’d texted. Nope. No messages.
Noah, the boy closest to the door, opened it while she was scanning her phone.
“Carson Clark!” he exclaimed, “What are you doing here?”
Olivia’s gaze snapped up.
Carson stepped into the room, blond, handsome, all brawn and swagger. He made everyone look so short in comparison. “Your teacher and I go way back. Didn’t she tell you?”
All the students left what they were doing and began to move in Carson’s direction. “You and Miss Travers are friends?” Noah asked, astonished.
“We went to school together,” Olivia answered so Carson wouldn’t have to clarify that no, they weren’t actually friends. The kids were still gawking. “You shouldn’t be so surprised,” she said. “You know that Mr. Clark went to Lark Springs High.”
“Yeah,” Gabe, another of the students said, “but we didn’t know thatyoudid.”
Only because they didn’t pay attention. She’d said as much at the beginning of the school year.
Carson grinned. “Yep, Leelee-bug and I were the same grade. You should ask her about high school sometime.”
