“I am, I guess. It’s just kinda weird how things are now.”
Nina reached out to Noah and gave the back of his neck a comforting caress. “You know you can see your dad any time you want. Just because I have primary custody, we don’t have to follow it down to the hour. Your dad and I may have had our differences, but we’ve always agreed that you are our number-one priority. You know that, don’t you?”
“He told me that a bunch of times, too,” he said. “Can I have my iPad back now? Please?”
She handed it to him with a smile. Feeling somewhat relieved, she allowed her mind to review the afternoon’s agenda, which included organizing Noah’s bedroom, unpacking the household essentials, and having the security system installed.
Out of the silence came Noah’s voice. “Do you miss Lacey?”
She almost veered off the road. What exactly did he mean?
“I do…sometimes,” she said, unsure if she should elaborate. She’d introduced Lacey to Noah as her new “friend,” and that’s how she’d labeled their year-long relationship while she was still married to Zack. How else could she have explained the woman who’d inspired her physical and emotional awakening and subsequent filing for divorce?
They’d broken up after a year of passion, confusion, and apprehension, and she’d told Noah that Lacey had moved away. That explanation seemed to satisfy him. Until now.
“Why doesn’t she ever come to visit? She always did before.”
“Well, she moved pretty far away,” Nina lied. “And besides, we’ve been busy with our own move.”
“Maybe she can come over after we’re all moved in,” Noah said.
She tried not to let her facial expression reveal her surprise. She simply hadn’t considered Noah’s attachment to Lacey even with only occasional interaction. “We’ll see,” she said reassuringly.
She hated using mother-speak on him, but she wanted to drop the topic of Lacey. She hated even more having to lie to her son. At some point in the near future, once the dust from the divorce settled, she would be honest with him about the full spectrum of who she was—for his sake and that of her next relationship.
She’d learned early on this uncharted journey that the “new friend” safety net didn’t usually fly for long with women these days. Once she’d created order from the chaos of her family life, she would sort out her inner self so another good one wouldn’t get away.
But where or how was she supposed to find another good one like Lacey?
Chapter Three
In her cubby at Sky-Hi Airlines call center, Daphne adjusted her headset and prepared mentally for the second leg of her double shift she’d taken as a favor to a coworker and to earn extra cash for her “future business” envelope. Her timing couldn’t have been more unfortunate. Still nursing a hangover from her ill-fated night of closure-seeking with Savannah and then the wine and ghastly food combining with Sophie, she eyed the microwave bean burrito challenging her from the paper plate. She blew the steam off a chunk and stuffed it into her mouth before facing the next irritated traveler that lit up her customer-service line.
“Ahhh! Poop.” She grabbed for her bottled water and guzzled it when the lava-hot filling scalded the roof of her mouth. At precisely the same moment, her line began twinkling like Christmas bulbs. After one more swig, she answered. “Sky-Hi Airlines customer-care center. My name is Daphne. How may I serve you today?”
“Yeah, this is the fourth fucking time I’ve had to call this number for service today,” the woman bellowed. “When are you getting these planes off the ground here in Texas?”
“I’m very sorry, ma’am. The Dallas-Fort Worth area has been experiencing severe weather all day—”
“I know it has,” the woman growled. “My friends and I have been stuck here since this morning watching it. But the hail wasn’t that big, and it’s been over for a while. When the hell are you getting us to Vegas? We have tickets for Barry Manilow tonight.”
“Again, I’m very sorry for the inconvenience, ma’am.” Daphne tried to respond in the calm, soothing tone she’d been trained to use.
“I don’t want any more apologies,” the woman shrieked. “I want your major, overpriced airline to get us out of this airport now.”
“I understand, ma’am, but flights are backed up because of the weather delays and the maintenance inspections we’ve had to—”
“Don’t give me that garbage. The storm stopped hours ago.”
“Yes, I know but—”
“Now you listen here, Daphne. If that’s even your real name. Am I even calling America on this number? Let me talk to your supervisor. Hopefully, he won’t have an accent like yours. I can barely understand you.”
“Accent? I was born in Connecticut.” Daphne’s head spun from the customer’s tirade.
“We’ve been trapped in this airport for nine hours now, and we can’t sleep here. We have a woman on a CPAP machine with us who needs a power outlet to—”
Daphne put the customer on hold, closed her eyes, and inhaled slowly. Your life could always be worse. At least you have a job. She repeated her mantra once more, then called out to her supervisor.
“Galena, I have a Def-Con Five on my line.”
“Another one?” she shouted back from the cubicle next to her. “You have to learn how to diffuse these situations yourself, Daphne. How long have you worked here?”
Daphne heard Galena grumble out a few more demoralizing statements before taking over the call. She sank into her chair and fought back tears of inferiority. She played with the antique fountain pen on her desk she’d bought for a steal at an estate sale and promised herself that tomorrow she’d treat herself to a day trolling for roadside goodies people had cleared out of their houses for spring cleaning.
Maybe tomorrow she could also think about putting that business plan together.
* * *
The next morning Nina awaited the delivery of the rest of their furnishings and belongings to the new house. This time she expected a smaller truck from a company specializing in transporting breakables and other valuables that required extra care. She stepped out onto the large, wooden front porch with her coffee in hand, watching Noah ride his hover board around the driveway while recording himself on his new cell phone.
“Noah,” she called out. “Watch out for the moving truck while you’re on that thing. I don’t need you to get run over our first weekend in town. ”
“When is it coming?” he asked in the middle of a series of circles on the board.
“Soon. And stop getting fancy on that thing. I don’t know where the nearest urgent-care walk-in is yet.”
“Relax, Nina,” he said with a devilish grin.
“I’ll give you ‘relax, Nina,’” she said. “I’m not kidding, Noah. I have some cleaning to do inside, so if you’re bored, you can ask Dad to take you for the day.”
“I’m fine, Mom.”
“Okay. Call me when the truck comes. And don’t leave this yard.” She went inside, grabbed her bucket of cleaning supplies, and started on the downstairs half bathroom. She was relieved that Noah chose to stay home with her instead of going with his father for the day. Evidently he wasn’t harboring any subconscious resentment toward her or being tempted to take the side of the spurned parent.