But Mark staying home was screwing up Megan’s plans. There was so much riding on her being able to get back in the house that even her father was getting antsy, and he wasn’t easily rattled.
Nobody wanted to make Craig Buttoni mad.
***
Katie spent the next two days at home unpacking and acclimating herself to the amenities and locations. It wasn’t until Sunday evening when she saw Sam and the girls leaving the house that it dawned on her that no woman had appeared at the house as their mother. She saw him buckling the girls up in the back seat, then laughing at something they’d said, and was coming to the conclusion that Sam Youngblood might be a single parent. She wondered why, but had no one to ask, so she went to bed with her new Dinah McCall book and fell asleep reading. Going to sleep with the romantic suspense story in her head seemed to offset the nightmares, at least for the time being.
***
Katie was already awake the next morning and getting ready for the technician to show up to get her hooked up to technology, and the satellite dish installed this afternoon, when she glanced out the window and saw Roxie arriving at the Youngblood residence and going inside.
Katie smiled at the thought of being greeted by the twins and their squeals, imagining it was not unlike the way she was greeted each morning at school. Then she sighed and went to back to the kitchen to refill her coffee cup and pop a frozen waffle in the toaster. She ate it like buttered toast, finished off her coffee, and was waiting for a text from the technician when Lila called.
“Good morning!” Katie said as she put her cup in the sink.
“Hi, Katie! It is so good to hear your voice. I’m not gonna lie. I sure do miss you. Did your furniture arrive okay?”
“I miss you too, and yes, everything arrived without damage. I spent the weekend unpacking, so I’m pretty much settled.”
“Send me pictures of your house. You know I’m jealous. I hate apartment living,” Lila said.
“Are you and the hunky neighbor still a thing?” Katie asked.
Lila sighed. “Yes. Jack is amazing.”
“Awesome,” Katie said. “I’m happy for you, my friend. Send me pictures.”
Lila laughed. “Deal. Oh, have you met your principal yet?”
“No, but I’m doing that tomorrow. I’m counting on seeing my room, getting a key, and finding out how many kids I’ll have, so I can start planning.”
“You sound excited,” Lila said.
“I am, and a little anxious, too,” Katie said. “But I’m counting on new faces and a new location to make the transition easier.”
“Do they know…about the shooting, I mean,” Lila asked.
“Yes. I was up-front with everyone I interviewed with, but I told them I wasn’t coming as the teacher who got shot. I’m just the new teacher, and they understood where I was coming from. It remains to be seen if they kept it to themselves.”
“Well, hell, Katie. You didn’t rob a bank. You have nothing to be ashamed of. It won’t be the end of the world if they do find out,” Lila said.
Katie laughed. “True, and I’ll keep that in mind.”
“I have other news,” Lila said.
“Like what?” Katie asked.
“Guess who’s getting divorced?”
“I have no idea,” Katie said.
“Mark.”
The hair suddenly crawled on the back of Katie’s neck.
“You’re kidding me!”
“No, I’m not, and she filed. They didn’t last six months. Karma, if you ask me. I’m telling you this because I have a feeling he’s going to reach out to you, and I don’t want you blindsided.”
Katie snorted. “I would never answer a phone call or text from him. He no longer exists in my world. And for the love of God, don’t tell him where I am. No one knows but you…and maybe some at the administration level in Albuquerque, if my principal here called to verify my application.”
“Girl, you know I’m not talking to that ass. Your location is safe with me.”
“Thanks,” Katie said, and then her doorbell rang. “Hey, someone is at the door. Hopefully it’s the guy who’s going to hook up my internet. Love you. Talk to you later.”
“Love you,” Lila said, and disconnected.
Katie ran to the door, saw the van and the logo, and opened the door.
“Yay!” she said.
The man grinned. “Thank you, ma’am. It’s nice to be appreciated. I’m Paul, your technician.”
“Come in,” Katie said. “I’ll show you the locations and what I need, and then I’ll leave you to work your magic.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Paul said.
Every day, Katie was faced with the difference between conveniences in a big city and what it took in the more rural parts of America to get the same services, and today was another instance.
A little over two hours later, Paul the technician was gone, and Katie had internet and Wi-Fi. It was time to get back on her laptop and catch up on email and final bills waiting to be paid, and by the time the sun went down, she had a new satellite dish on the roof and a working TV. All was right with her world.
***
As Lila and Katie were talking about Mark, he was on his way back to work. The company had finally hired a secretary, but he was dreading the dance of breaking in a new employee.
And there was another aspect of his job that had become apparent while he was home. He worked for his father-in-law. And the boss’s daughter had just dumped his ass and was divorcing him. His job was as tenuous as his future.
He was just pulling into the parking garage when he got a text from Megan. They’d parted on such angry terms that he couldn’t imagine she had anything left to say and thought about not responding. Then she sent a second text, and he pulled them up and read them.
Mark. My key won’t work and I need in the house. I forgot something.
He rolled his eyes, and then glanced down at the second text.
Please.
Your key doesn’t work because I changed the locks. Whatever you forgot, go buy another one.
When she didn’t respond, he wondered what was so important that she was willing to contact him again to get it back. She’d been so secretive about everything, and then the way she’d just quit without so much as a fight? It made him wonder. Maybe he’d give the house a second look when he got home.
But the moment he got up to his office, the secretary sitting outside his office looked up and, without introducing herself, delivered a message.