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“Just make sure you’re back on time today,” I told her.
“Cross my heart and hope to die,” she said as she made a X over her chest. I almost told her it wouldn’t be the end of the world if she did, but I knew the joke would fall flat, and it would likely end any of the goodness left.
I was certain she was running out of the charade she was putting up, and I kept bracing myself for the moment she’d snap.
But if she was going to leave with Lucy again that afternoon, that at least gave me enough peace and quiet to keep going with the project I had underway. And I did have to give it to Jordan, for all the ways she was impossible, she did make some killer cookies.
As I finished breakfast and retreated back to the safety of my office, I refused to let my mind think about how confusing this entire situation was.
I didn’t know why my ex was acting the way she was, and I didn’t know how I should move forward with her. I wanted my daughter to have her mother in her life if it was a good thing, but with Jordan, it was impossible for me to be able to say for sure it would be a good thing.
And, more than that, I missed Cassie.
She had been on my mind most of the week, and I hated the fact Jordan was around, making it impossible to have Cassie there to be the nanny. It wouldn’t make any sense for her to have to sit and endure my ex, and I knew Jordan would make life hell for Cassie.
So, I hadn’t let her come over.
But God, she was on my mind increasingly by the day. I was already working out a way to make sure Jordan was gone by Monday morning. I wasn’t sure how to have that conversation with her yet or what I would tell her. I also had to make sure that she knew she would be leaving by Monday morning, and that she wouldn’t be taking Lucy with her, either.
It wasn’t likely going to be a pleasant conversation, so I had been procrastinating about having it. But it was going to have to happen.
Especially if I had any hope of having Cassie coming to work on Monday.
I missed her for her. Not as the nanny. Not as someone who was working for me. Not even for the way she made me feel when I was around her. I missed her because I was realizing more and more how much I cared about her.
And I couldn’t wait for Monday morning.
Chapter Seventeen
Cassie
“Idon’t know, I just think it’s nice to hang out here sometimes,” Angela said as she looked around her small living room. “I’m gone so much, and I just wanted to be home today.”
“I don’t care; it works either way,” I said.
“I just feel like I’m spending all my time in other people’s homes. I want to go to the coffee shop or something to hang out,” Teresa said.
It was Saturday morning, and after the talk I’d had with my professor the day before, I felt inspired. Even though it wasn’t payday, I had asked my sisters if they wanted to get a cup of coffee and go over a few of the ideas I had for the business. Of course, they both agreed, but Angela had asked for the two of usto come over to her place for coffee rather than going out to the coffee shop itself.
I didn’t mind. I would rather save money where possible, and if I could get out of spending five dollars on a cup of coffee, I was more than happy to do it. I wouldn’t rely on my sisters to pay for it all the time, so going to Angela’s worked just fine.
Teresa wasn’t as happy about the idea, but she came all the same. I wasn’t surprised about how vocal she was with complaining about it, but then, I figured it would also subside after she settled in.
“So,” I said. “I know I’ve mentioned to the two of you before that I have a few ideas on how to expand, and I think we can really start to think about how it’s going to happen.”
“Oh?” Angela asked. “Did you come into some money that we didn’t know we were going to get?”
“Oh, stop,” I said. “It’s going to be a matter of working smarter, not harder. I know you are both familiar with that concept, and after talking to my professor yesterday, I think I know how we’re going to do it.”
“Oh yeah, you did go in for your exam,” Teresa said. “How did it go?”
“I’m waiting for the grade,” I admitted. “But after I gave it to him, he chatted with me for a bit about how he saw my performance over the semester, and how he thought I was going to succeed. It really made me feel like if I dig in and really go for it, we can make this happen.”
“Well, that’s encouraging,” Angela said. “Makes me feel like less of the shitty sister for bailing out the way I did.”
“Oh, you didn’t bail,” I said with an encouraging smile. “You cut back, but that’s not quite the same thing.”
“May as well have bailed,” Teresa said.
