Love and Sorrow (Small Town Secrets Book 5), стр. 74
There was another long pause, not so chilly, when she said, “Of course. I think it would be a good idea for us to meet the man in your life. How long have you been dating?”
My brain did some quick gymnastics because no way was I going to tell my mother we were living together—not yet anyway. As for dating? Well…what we’d done I wouldn’t exactly consider dating. But I needed to say enough to keep her satisfied. “We’ve been together off and on for about a year.”
The following silence made me feel uncomfortable, as if I were a teenager again. Finally, though, mom asked another question. “Is this the man you had the date with a while back? When the kids stayed with us?”
Why the fuck did my voice sound so weak? “Yeah.”
“Definitely bring him with you. Your father and I would like to meet him.”
A feeling of relief relaxed my muscles. “Great. What time should we be there?”
“Probably around one, but you can come earlier if you like. Any special dietary concerns we should know about for…Justin?”
“Nope. He eats just about anything.”
And, like that, Justin was accepted into my extended family.
Later on, though, when I told him about it, he simply said, “You want me to meet your parents?”
Holy shit. That was it. I knew it. He wasn’t happy. He was beginning to regret everything.
But then an overwhelming calm overcame me as he smiled and said, “All right.” Sarah and Devon also liked the idea. Maybe things were getting better. Perhaps I had something to be thankful for after all.
Chapter Twenty-seven
Requesting Thanksgiving off from work had been a formality. But when I asked, just as a courtesy, Kathy said, “Sorry, Randi, I’ll need you to work a shift on Thanksgiving—and probably Black Friday, too.”
“Why? You said I could have it off.”
“That was last month. Thanks to staffing problems, I’ll need you here.” I was fuming, but before I could respond, she continued. “I’m sorry, Randi, but I need you that day. We have too many new employees—and most of the staff asking for Thanksgiving off covered for you when you were out. You missed a lot of shifts when you were sick, Randi.” As if I were an imbecile, she added, “You remember that, don’t you?”
“I understand that. I do. But you said you rearranged my schedule since to ‘make up for it.’ I was planning to take my kids to visit their grandparents. Devon doesn’t have to stay with his dad this year—”
Kathy’s voice was almost a growl, a tone I’d never heard from my boss before. “You don’t seem to be taking your job seriously, Randi.”
Goddamn. So many curses flowed through my head that I couldn’t even begin to think of a sane retort. After all I’d done for Play It Again—all the extra shifts I’d taken when Kathy had desperately called, all the additional tasks I’d taken on voluntarily to help her out, all the times I’d actually come in and worked when I’d been sick, not to mention when I’d put in fifty-plus hours a week the month Kathy had had her hysterectomy—and this was the treatment I got?
My mind weighed the possibilities in an instant: I could quit and just walk out, and damned if that wouldn’t feel fucking great. But doing it that way, in a self-righteous huff, would screw me out of getting a good reference, even with my previous history as an excellent employee. Or I could suck it up, just like I always had. I could pick a shift and find a way to make it work even spending part of the day at my parents’ house. As I pondered the options, I didn’t feel comfortable quitting without a backup job, even with Justin’s help.
Again, before I could respond, Kathy said, “I promise I’ll give you Christmas day off.”
Yeah…unless something else happened between now and then. I’d fucking been there before. But I shook my head, backed into a corner. Kathy already knew I wasn’t happy. Saying anything would just make it worse. Instead, I asked, “What shifts do you need covered on Thanksgiving?”
“Just two—opening and closing—but we’re opening later than usual, so the shifts will be shorter.”
After discussing the particulars, I took the late shift. It meant we’d have to leave before all the Thanksgiving festivities were over, but at least we wouldn’t miss the main meal.
If I hadn’t needed the job, though…
By the time I’d finished closing that evening, I’d let go of most of my sour mood—and, when I got home, I was surprised. Although the porch light and a lamp in the living room were on, every other light in the house was extinguished. I peeked in all the bedrooms and found not just my kids asleep but also Justin sprawled across my bed.
Our bed.
So I took a quick shower and then curled up next to him under the covers, resting my head on his chest, breathing in the scent of his skin.
How the hell had I gotten so lucky?
When Justin spoke, he sounded sleepy. “There’s my Rascal. How was work tonight?”
“Don’t ask.”
“What happened?”
It was late. He was tired. I was tired. So I kept it short and simple. “I have to work a shift on Thanksgiving—so I’m taking the late shift.”
When Justin sat up, I followed suit. He asked, “Do you want to skip going to your folks’ house then?”
“No. Maybe. I don’t know. I was thinking we could go anyway and just leave early. I don’t have to clock in till five-thirty.”
“Whatever you wanna do is okay with me.”
“Maybe I should sleep on it.”
Justin’s lips found my neck. “I can help you do that.” My reply was kissing him back as his hands grabbed the bottom of my t-shirt to pull it off my torso. Soon, he helped me forget everything on my mind, even if just for the evening.
* * *
Everything in my life was looking up. It turned out the kids were okay with