AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Which means I go back to school tomorrow, right?” Sophia chimed in.
“I don’t know,” Megan said as she headed to the kitchen off the family room.
“Mom, I’m fine. Even the doctor said so.”
Megan turned to her and frowned. “If you wake up tomorrow without pain, I’ll think about it.”
Sophia jumped to her feet, rushing to kiss her mother. “Thank you, Mummykins. I’m going to call Bree.” She took off up the stairs, dialing as she went.
Jesska grabbed for Seth’s ring. Sophia’s nickname for her mother brought memories back of her beloved Sethykins.
“Megan?” Cameron called from the foyer, and Jesska heard the front door close.
“Can I hide?” Megan asked.
“Probably not,” Jesska said.
“Back here, Cam.”
Cameron strolled into the room, slipping his keys into his pocket. “Hey, Jess.”
“Hi. How are you?” she asked in a sing-song voice.
He grinned. “I’m good. How are you?”
“Curious.”
“Of course you are.” He turned to Megan. “Where’s Soph?”
“Upstairs,” Megan said.
“Cool. Let’s talk, huh?”
“About what?” Jesska asked.
Cameron raised an eyebrow.
She rose to her feet. “Fine. I’ll go find Sophia.”
“Thanks, sissy.”
“One day, you will tell me what’s going on, so help me God.” She pointed a finger to Cameron and then Megan. “Your little pow-wows are really beginning to piss me off.”
“Love you,” Cameron and Megan said in stereo as Jesska walked slowly up the stairs.
She knew they waited until she was out of hearing distance before they started to talk... and the reason she knew that was because she could no longer hear them.
The next morning, Jesska woke up with the hangover from hell and called in sick. It was only the second sick day she’d taken in three years, but she still felt guilty about taking a day off of work because she’d drunk too much the night before. And alone. She’d eaten an entire carton of Ben & Jerry’s and a bottle and a half of red wine. She was officially pathetic, and admittedly, maybe a bit more like her mother than she was willing to admit. She didn’t cut herself, so that was a positive. Right?
After napping most of the morning away, she forced herself out of bed, grabbing a beer and making herself a sandwich. A little hair of the dog and food helped take the edge off, and she felt well enough to take a shower... but that’s about when her day went to crap, starting with the phone call.
“Hi, Megan.”
“Hey. Can you do me a huge favor?”
Jesska squeezed her eyes shut, knowing she was going to regret her answer. “Of course.”
“Sophia’s at school and having some stomach pain, and I’m stuck in court.”
