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Are you sure you locked the door?
I smiled the thought away and slipped into my car.
Willa and Barrett were already there, their truck parked in the driveway. I wondered who else was coming. I slid in at the curb across the street behind a motorcycle, and slowly extricated myself from my car, hooking my purse over my elbow and balancing my cookie platter across my forearm before grabbing the salad bowl.
Bracing my hip against the open car door, I bumped it closed.
Do you have your keys?
I had them. I purposefully dropped them into my purse before I got out of the car.
Are you sure? What if you’re ready to leave and your keys are locked in the car? You’ll be trapped.
Check.
I sighed.
It wasn’t worth the risk.
Lots of things weren’t worth the risk.
I liked to think my OCD was in remission. The fact that I lived my life through it, around it, alongside it, and didn’t allow it to take over my entire day as it used to, meant the doctors considered it to be in remission.
But remission was a long shot from eradication.
It was an insidious beast. No sooner had I conquered one symptom, subtype, or trigger, than another took its place.
Ezzy assured me if I continued to exercise trust in myself, I would continue to improve.
I had improved.
And I lived my life.
But OCD remained, hovering in the background, while its’ shadow conjured a vague sense of dread, supplied a disturbing array of shocking visuals, and promoted an unhealthy dose of self-doubt.
Resting the cookie platter on the roof of the car, setting the salad bowl beside it, Iopened my purse. My keys were in the pocket where I always placed them.
Are you sure those are the car keys?
I looked hard, then laughed at myself. Who else’s keys would they be?
Crossing the street, I caught sight of dark, bouncy curls rounding the side of the house toward the back. Mara, Willa’s sister. I followed her around back rather than trying the front door.
Willa’s thirteen-year-old niece, Olivia, shuffled along nervously, sandwiched between her parents with her forefinger hooked through the back beltloop of Zale’s jeans. I slowed to allow Olivia time to acclimate herself.
Being Willa’s shadow, Olivia knew Junie and me well, but she’d be nervous until she saw who else was there and assessed the setup. Although she’d been to Junie’s place a few times, Junie had since moved into Lenny’s house and Olivia had never been.
Their little family stood just inside the gate while Olivia took in the scene.
Junie caught sight of her and bellowed at her from across the yard. “Olivia!”
Olivia startled and stepped back for a moment before her sweet face split into a grin as Junie barreled down on her.
“I’m so happy to see you!” Junie exclaimed, stopping a good arm’s length in front of her to wait.
Olivia stepped into her space until they were almost nose-to-nose, or they would have been if Junie had a couple more inches on her.
“I’m taller than you,” Olivia stated smugly.
