Chapter Nine

Chapter Nine

Struggling with her emotions and her embarrassment, Kate headed to Melissa’s to pick up Emma, but continued to think about her latest escapade with the local scenery. How could she have been so foolish? Tripping because of a guy—not once but twice in just a few days? She tried to shake off her jitters from her encounter with “the famous tree man,” imagining what kind of impression she must have made.

Turning her thoughts to something where she had a better grip, Kate mused about what to serve for dinner. She decided to ask Emma what would be to her liking. Kate hadn’t thought about how Emma would react to having someone over for dinner this soon. Especially a man. Allowing Emma some input would probably help her feel more comfortable. It had already been a big day. A big day for both of them. Emma had made a new friend. Kate had started a new job. Kate had reunited with an old friend. Kate had seen “the famous tree man” leaving a woman’s house. Kate had fallen into the bushes. Yep. A big day indeed. And tonight they would be getting their tree. Kate tried to imagine Jake delivering the tree. She didn’t want to get herself in a tizzy thinking it could be Kevin.

Pulling onto Miller Lane, she parked in Melissa’s driveway. This time it wasn’t blocked by a truck. His truck.

She confidently strutted to the front door, where she was greeted by Emma and Victoria. “Mommy! Mommy! Look what we made!” Emma proudly presented her mother with a piece of kraft paper covered in doilies. “It’s snowflakes! Lots of them!”

“That’s just beautiful!” Kate gushed. Her little girl was doing just fine. Now if only she could say the same for herself. She was going to have to do a lot of self-analysis.

“Hey, Melissa! How did everything go today?”

“The girls got along really well. I gave them this little project while I sorted out the decorations. I want the house to be festive when Greg gets home.”

Kate tried desperately to stay away from that dark place that was forming in her head.

Yeah. Festive and homey. Is your boyfriend going to be there too?

Kate shook her head as if she was trying to get a bug out of her ear.

“You okay?” Melissa looked concerned.

“Oh, yes. I think I got some water in my ear this morning. It’s so annoying.” Kate quickly recovered from her wandering mind.

“Don’t you just hate when that happens?” Melissa’s singsong voice was about to get on Kate’s one last nerve.

Kate knew she was being secretly mean—even jealous. Wow. Feeling that way was something she was hard-pressed to remember. When was the last time she felt that way? Right. Earlier that morning.

“Okay, honey pie. You ready to get a move on?”

“Yes, Mommy, but can I come back again?” Emma looked a little distressed.

“If Mrs. Sullivan says it’s okay. And you can also invite Victoria to our house! How about that?”

Emma’s cheerful disposition immediately returned, and she gave her new friend a kiss on the cheek. “Thank you, Mrs. Sullivan! Bye-bye!”

The two little girls were adorable together. Face it. They were cute kids. Then again every parent thought their kid was cute and smart.

“Thanks again, Melissa. Maybe next week? I don’t have my full schedule yet.”

“No problem. No problem at all. You just let me know. Buh-bye now.”

Kate revisited her feelings of annoyance. Buh-bye? Okay. Stop it. She’s very nice, and she was nice to Emma.

Emma climbed into her seat, and Kate buckled her in. “Did you have a good time with Victoria?”

“Oh, yes, Mommy! We had lots of fun!”

“I am so happy to hear that. So, listen. I went to my new job today, and I ran into an old friend of mine from school! His name is Brian. He’s a nurse at the hospital. I invited him to come to dinner tonight. Is that okay with you?”

“Sure, Mommy! Guess what? Victoria’s Mommy had a friend come over today, too! Yep. Victoria told me that a man who wasn’t her daddy came today. She didn’t know who he was. But said he was nice.”

“Oh, really?” Kate’s interest went through the roof. “What else did she say about the man?”

“Nothing. Just that he was a friend of her mommy’s.”

Kate knew it would be like trying to pry an oyster open with a noodle to get any other information out of Emma.

“Must be friendship day today! Right, sweetie? You, me, and Melissa all found friends!”

Kate thought she was going to scream. Friends my behind.

Switching the channels in her head, Kate asked Emma, “So what would you like to have for dinner tonight?”

“Pizza!” Emma exclaimed.

“Oh, honey, I promised Brian I would cook something.”

“You can cook pizza!” Emma exuded enthusiasm with just about anything.

“Not really. We can heat it up, but I think we need to actually cook something. Chicken? Beef? Tacos? C’mon. I know you can come up with something special!”

Emma tapped her pointy finger on her chin. It was uncanny. That was something Roger would do from time to time. DNA. Scary.

“Can we have the not-so-crunchy kind?” Emma was referring to soft tacos.

“Excellent plan! Let’s stop at the grocery store and pick up what we need.” Kate put the car in gear and headed toward Costco.

Emma was a very well-adjusted child considering the crazy scheduling during Kate’s residency, and now the big move. Kate was very mindful and grateful for having such a good kid.

A few minutes into the trip to the grocery store, Emma asked, “Mommy, is ‘the famous tree man’ bringing our tree tonight?”

Just when she thought she was safe from thinking about him , her well-behaved little girl derailed her . I know where she got the finger-on-chin gesture, but where did she get that steel-trap memory? Oh, yeah. Probably from me.

“Sweetie, I don’t know who is bringing the tree, but it will be so much fun! I think you will like Brian. He’s fun and funny.”

“Is he your boyfriend, Mommy?”

“What? No! He’s a guy friend. Not daddy-type friend. You know what I mean, right, sweetie?”

“I think so. Daddy friends live with you and other friends don’t. Right?”

“Yes! Correctomundo!” Kate thought she had just dodged a birds-and-the-bees bullet. Emma was too young to even notice these things—but it was a different world from when she had grown up.

“Are we ever going to go Daddy shopping, Mommy?”

Kate burst out laughing. “One of these days. Just not today!”

Kate pulled into the parking lot of the big warehouse store and looked around for an empty cart.

Just as she was about to grab one, she noticed Betty Palmer leaving. Her stomach started that butterfly thing again. Betty, Melissa, tree man. It was almost too much.

“Why, hello, Kate! Emma! Did you have fun with Victoria?” Betty addressed Emma directly.

“Sure did.” Emma yawned as she was starting to wane from the day’s activity.

“Just rushing through to pick up a few things.” Then she lowered her voice. “And this one needs a bit of a nap.” She winked at Betty and practically skipped away. “See you at the tree lighting! Have a good afternoon!”

Betty looked a little perplexed. “You too!”

Kate knew she had been a little rude. It was a “thing” to chat when you ran into somebody, but Kate rarely had time. “Chatting” wasn’t in her bailiwick—at least not idle chatter.

Kate realized Emma was slightly bedraggled, so she lifted her into the main part of the shopping cart. The kid seat wasn’t up to Emma’s standards. She started making a fuss when she turned four. “It’s for little kids!” she would protest. But riding in the big cart was okay, according to Emma.

Kate hurried to the back of the store, where the meat, vegetables, and bread were on gigantic display. The dairy section was just to the left.

Calculating in her head what items she needed, Kate headed to the register as Emma was about to doze off.

Managing the food and a thirty-seven-pound child was going to take some balancing.

Strapping her sleepy child into her seat, Kate put the groceries in the back as well.

She headed home. Their home. And a friend was coming over for dinner. Their first guest.

When they got to the house, Kate carried Emma inside and put her on her bed for a nap. She was out like a light. Kate decided a short nap would be okay since the evening ahead would be jam-packed, what with company coming over and the tree arriving.

Kate thought she should probably take a nap as well. She put the groceries away, headed for the sofa, lay down, and pulled a toss pillow over her face. She couldn’t stop thinking about events of the morning. Seeing Kevin in Melissa’s driveway. Falling into the bushes. She had to remind herself that she had also gone to the hospital—a place where she felt most in control. Yes, she would concentrate on that. Then her mind wandered to the little boy with the crushed leg. Then back to Kevin and the dog. She turned onto her stomach. Then onto her back again. No nap for her. It just wasn’t going to happen.

Resigned to staying awake, Kate started moving some furniture to make room in the corner for the tree. They had considered several different sizes, and they were all so pretty. It was hard to decide, but Jake had been very helpful as she described her cottage to him.

Before she knew it, the clock showed it was almost five. “Emma! Honey! Get up, sleepyhead!”

Emma dragged herself from her room. “Mommy. I don’t feel so good. My tummy hurts.” Her face was flush, and Kate touched her forehead.

“What did you eat for lunch?”

“A sandwich.” Emma went from rubbing her eyes to rubbing her stomach.

“What kind of sandwich?”

But before Emma could answer, a gush of vomit flew from Emma’s mouth.

Kate ran toward Emma before she could redecorate the living room with the remaining contents of her stomach. “It’s okay, honey. Let Mommy help you.”

Kate carried Emma to the bathroom, where she proceeded to remove the puked-on clothes and set her in the tub. “Sweetie. What did you have for lunch?” Kate was trying to diagnose the root of the problem.

“We had bologna sandwiches.”

“What else?”

“Don’t be mad.”

“I’m not mad, honey. Just tell Mommy what happened. What else did you eat?”

“Victoria had a box of chocolate mint cookies.”

“And?”

“And we ate all of them!” Emma was about to cry.

“Just the cookies? Anything else?”

“No. But. But we were so thirsty.”

Kate was trying to be patient and not panic. “What did you drink, Emma?”

“Pineapple juice.” Tears were rolling down Emma’s face at that point.

“Pineapple juice? And chocolate mint cookies? Was that all?” Kate wanted to be sure Emma didn’t leave out any important detail.

“Yes. We drank a whole big can of it. I don’t feel so good.”

Kate’s stomach almost turned over thinking about that combination. “It’s okay, sweetie. We’ll let Mr. Bubble wash away all the gunk.” She turned on the faucet and let the warm water mix with the bubble bath. “Should we wash your hair, too? I think I see some cookie crumbles in it!” Kate was trying to lift Emma’s wilting spirit.

“I’m sorry. I promise I will never, ever eat bologna and cookies and pineapple juice ever again.” It came out more of a groan than a proclamation.

Kate laughed softly. “It’s okay, honey.” She wiped Emma’s face and gave her hair a quick scrub. “Now dry off. I’ll go get you a fresh pair of PJs.”

“But what about the tree man? What about our Christmas tree?” Emma was definitely distressed.

“Don’t worry. We’ll have our tree, and we can decorate it tomorrow, when you feel better.”

“What about your friend? Will he come back tomorrow?”

“I think he may have to work. But I’ll be sure he helps put the lights on, so you and I won’t have to work so hard when we decorate. Okay with you?”

“Yep!” Emma blew some bubbles from her nose.

“Okay. Let’s get those jammies on and back to bed. Feeling a little better?”

Kate was startled at the sound of the doorbell. “Geez, I didn’t realize what time it was!” Then she yelled toward the door, “Be right there!”

She ushered Emma to her room, wiped the remaining bubbles from her hand, and headed to the front door. “Brian! So glad you could make it tonight. But we have a little issue happening.”

“Everything all right?”

“Yes. Just a bad combination of bologna, cookies, and juice. Emma got sick. I just gave her a quick bath and put her back to bed. Come in!”

She showed him into the living room. “Take a seat. Pinot Grigio, if I remember correctly?”

“Great memory! No wonder you aced all your tests!” Brian had always been in awe of Kate’s ability to recall what seemed to be every inch of the human anatomy.

“Make yourself comfortable.”

“I will! My dogs are barking!” He kicked off his loafers.

Kate went into the kitchen and poured Brian a glass of wine and checked the cabinet for some children’s Pepto-Bismol. Frowning, she returned with the wine and handed it to Brian.

“I need to run to the drugstore. Emma is in bed, and the Christmas tree is about to be delivered. Do you mind tree and kid sitting for about fifteen minutes?”

“No problem. But would you rather that I go?” Brian offered.

“It’s okay. I’ll only be a few minutes.” She grabbed her keys and wallet and dashed out the door.