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So I persevered with my job at the diner and hoped one of the other hundreds of applications I’d sent off would work out.
Parking at the supermarket, I turned to Sofie. “What do you feel like for dinner?”
“Lasagna.”
Her enthusiasm for lasagna was only surpassed by her love of glitter.
Tapping her nose, I undid my seat belt. “Let’s get the ingredients, then. And maybe a pie for dessert? Frozen, of course.”
She giggled. “Of course.”
We found a shopping cart, and Sofie hung off the side while I pushed it through the aisles.
“Auntie Thea, why do you have fish in your hair?”
My hand snapped up to my head, frantically searching for the bit of tuna I must have missed. “Someone threw a sandwich at me at work today.”
Sofie stretched up and plucked it out of my hair. I wrapped it in a tissue and stuffed it in my purse. I hoped I’d remember to get it back out. “Thanks, honey.”
“I think they need to be put in detention as well.”
I chortled. “Definitely.” Reaching for a pack of Oreos, I mentally calculated how much I could spend without overdrawing my account. Since the answer was not much, I pulled my hand back, leaving the cookies where they were. I could do without.
It was something that had become my mantra over the last few weeks.
We finished our shopping, and I cringed when I paid for our food, hoping my card would work. I’d opened a new account to signal my independence. I still had my old account, and it was incredibly tempting to use it, but I wanted to do this on my own.
The sigh of relief when the card worked must have been audible two blocks away. Sofie had been chattering away the whole time, thankfully oblivious to my worries.
We drove back to the house and deposited everything in Everleigh’s kitchen. Then we made lasagna, something I’d perfected over the last month.
I used to do the cooking when I still lived with my mom, but back then, it was mostly Hamburger Helpers and anything that came out of a can. And when I was with William, Jacques was there to spoil us. I’d been taking cooking lessons from him, but I doubted Sofie wanted to eat any of the fancy and unpronounceable dishes he’d taught me.
My phone rang as we placed the dish in the oven. Closing the door, I set the timer and dug through my bag for my phone.
The display said “William,” and I answered with a smile on my face.
“Darling,” he greeted me. “When are you coming to visit? We haven’t seen you once since you moved out.”
He asked me the same thing every time he called. I’d put off going to visit him, too afraid that I’d regret walking away when I saw exactly what I’d left behind. William had been my world for so long that moving out—and, as a result, on—almost felt like a real breakup.
Has moving out been a mistake?All I’d felt since leaving was loneliness despite living close to Everleigh. But she had her own life, and the last thing I wanted to do was intrude.
“How about Saturday?” I asked, knowing I couldn’t put this off any longer. And Saturday was my next day off. I’d planned on living on my couch for the day, but spending time with William and Ciel sounded much better.
“Done. We’ll get Jacques to make those potatoes you’re obsessed with.”
Laughter bubbled out of me. “You mean potatoes dauphinoise?”
“Yes, that one. You could get him to make you anything and you choose potatoes.”
“Not just any potatoes. They’re the most delicious potatoes ever made. And Jacques cuts them extra thin.”
He groaned, since I’d said the same sentence to him many times over the years.
“If that’s what it takes to get you to visit, then I’ll even make them myself.”
“Please don’t.”
