That had been the easy part. But back in her car, with pen in hand, she drew a blank. She wanted to make the person who received the card smile. To take them away from whatever they were facing for a few moments. Maybe make them a little less homesick—at least while they were reading her letter. But how? Well . . . talking about the weather probably isn’t going to cut it. Hey, you think you’ve got it bad, buddy, I’m a spinster who lives with her brother. Wait—why not vent to a stranger? At least give them a version of the truth. It was pretty much the only unusual thing to happen to her in recent history, and there was an entire piece of paper to fill.
Dear Soldier:
Greetings from North Carolina. I hope this finds you well and having a much better day than I’ve had. So I made the unfortunate mistake of attending a family reunion earlier. I know, I know. I can only blame it on a severe lapse in judgment. Let me stop there and fill you in on a bit of my backstory so that you can fully appreciate what transpired.
I am a thirty-five-year-old woman, and I work as a nanny for my brother’s family. I have a college degree in business administration, and I was employed in that field for several years. Then my niece Kaylee was born. She has asthma and constantly fell sick when she was put into day care. They hired a few different nannies, but due to my sister-in-law’s colorful personality, none of them stayed for very long. When Kaylee was two, I agreed to use my vacation time to help them out of a jam. My brother was going out of town on business, and his wife couldn’t get time off from work to watch their daughter. Long story short, I ended up leaving my job and watching Kaylee full-time. I wasn’t happy where I was working . . . and it was only supposed to be until they found a replacement. That was three years ago. I’m completely in love with my niece and it’s never been a hardship to care for her. But—well, let me get back to the events of the day before I go there.
My extended family is very . . . vocal.
All those words worked. She described the embarrassment that had been the family luncheon, intentionally leaving out Chloe’s comments. What body shape do I have and what should I be wearing? She pondered that while she filled in her ghastly story. Spinster quarantine. This poor soldier reader. Sara knew it was time to lighten things up a little more. She continued with:
Don’t worry, we’ll have loads of fun playing shuffle board and bingo. If you play your cards right, I’ll let you take my scooter for a ride. That sounded rather risqué.
Risqué? Who even used that word anymore . . . She was so out of practice writing letters.
If you’re a woman, this must sound even more insane.
Sara stopped writing for a minute and wondered who would be the lucky recipient of her letter. But did it matter? If it brought a moment of cheer . . . She added a few more lines and then thought about how to sign off her note. Sara Ryan? That seemed too boring. Sara the nanny? Oh Lord. Even worse. She rolled her eyes and cursed the lack of good coffee in her life. Putting pen back to paper, she wrote:
Take care and be safe,
Sara the spinster—and future cat lady
She hesitated for a moment, then on a whim, included her e-mail address. A reply was doubtful after the letter she’d written, but it could happen. She addressed the envelope, then slid the letter inside the card and added a stamp that she found in her wallet. She also used a few Charlie Brown stickers that Kaylee had left in the car. There was a mail drop on her way home, and she hesitated only a moment before dropping it inside. What did it matter? The person who’d receive it didn’t know her, nor was she likely ever to hear from them. She was simply attempting to combine a little self-therapy with spreading cheer to a stranger.
Oddly enough, she was in better spirits. She even found herself humming along to the radio as she pulled into the driveway of her brother’s home. Her good humor ended abruptly when she crossed the threshold and heard screaming. She hurried in the direction of the noise and found Kaylee on the floor of the living room throwing a tantrum, while Nicole and Chris stared down at her. “I’ll let you have anything you want from Walmart if you’ll be a good girl,” Nicole coxed. To Sara’s amazement, Kaylee went quiet. It was as if Nicole had flipped a switch. When her brother high-fived his wife, Sara couldn’t resist the urge to roll her eyes. She’d just witnessed exactly why they had no control over their daughter. Kaylee was a very smart little girl, and she knew how to play them. Naturally there are times that many parents resort to a little bribery to get some much-needed peace, but Sara had a feeling this was not the exception but the rule where they were concerned.
When Chris spotted Sara, he released an audible sigh. Nicole turned to see what had gotten his attention, and frowned down at her watch. “Where have you been? Joan said you left the reunion over an hour ago.”
Sara felt the usual irritation when dealing with her snooty sister-in-law. Yet was it really Nicole’s fault that she allowed herself to be treated like a doormat? “This is my day off, Nicole. And since that doesn’t happen often, I had things to do.”
“Sarie!” Kaylee called out as she raced across the room and hurled herself at Sara’s knees. “I missed you lots.”
“Hey, munchkin,” Sara murmured as she let her hand rest on top of Kaylee’s head. “I see you’ve been a good girl while I was gone,” she added wryly.
Kaylee moved back a few inches to look up at her. “Mommy got mad ’cause I was playing in her girlie stuff.” She did a perfect rendition of Nicole’s scowl before adding, “Kaylee Marie, that cost over two hundred dollars. You’re grounded ’til you’re thirty.” And there you have it, ladies and gentlemen. Successful Parenting 101—hand out ridiculous consequences to ensure your child will never take you or your discipline seriously.
As Kaylee awaited her reaction, Sara was torn between laughter and exasperation. This was far from the first time this particular thing had happened. And no matter how many times she pointed out to the other woman that she should keep valuable things from her daughter’s reach, she still refused to heed Sara’s warnings. It was almost as if she wanted this very thing to occur over and over so she could be the victim. If that was the case, it had backfired on her today with Sara not here to do damage control. Instead of chastising Kaylee, it took everything she had not to applaud her for neatly turning the tables on her mother. Chris appeared embarrassed that she’d witnessed the episode, which was ironic considering she was on the front lines here every day. “Nic, you could put that lotion in the bathroom cabinet. Kaylee doesn’t know that it’s that expensive—neither did I, for that matter.” He said the last part under his breath, but they all heard it.
“Come on, munchkin, help me put my stuff away,” Sara said as she attempted to lead her niece from the room. Not only did she not want to hear her brother and his wife arguing, she didn’t want Kaylee to either.