“Thank you,” I replied, genuinely grateful. I checked the time. “Okay, I better get going, or else my mom will complain that lunch is late.”
“I’m sure she won’t complain too much. She’s got you there to look after her.”
“That’s where you’re wrong,” I joked. “She’s getting spoiled and is too used to having me around to bark orders at. She’s living the life of luxury, I tell you.”
“Get back to your daughterly duties. Fingers crossed, we get you back before the twentieth.”
I shook my head. “I can’t believe we’re into February already. Where has the time gone?”
“To Frazier Falls, clearly.”
We said our goodbyes, and I hung up the phone feeling conflicted.
I was happy to have a boss who was concerned for my well-being. He wasn’t shouting or screaming for me to get back to California this instant, but the underlying threat was there. His boss was aware of my absence, and that didn’t bode well for me long-term.
I dialed Sadie.
“Hey,” she whispered. “Everything okay?”
“Why are you whispering?”
I could hear the squeaky wheels of her chair, and pictured her sliding close to her desk, hunkering down inside her cubicle. “Pete is here, and he’s not happy. Apparently, none of us work hard enough, and heads are going to roll.”
I touch the back of my neck, feeling the guillotine already. “Oh, hell.” I was on my way to living in a box on the corner of Wiltshire and Vine. “I’ll be the first to go. Easier to can someone if they’re not there to cry and plead.”
“No way, he’s been giving Don the stink eye. Apparently, he’s moving too slowly on the park project.”
My gut ached. “What about you, are you going to be okay? I mean … don’t take this the wrong way, but you spend most of your day watching Netflix and texting your latest boy toy.” Sadie was the woman’s equivalent to a man whore, which made her a whore, but that didn’t sound flattering.
“I’m fine. I may be lazy, but I’m a total kiss ass, and he likes the weekly lattes I show up with.” She giggled. “I’m telling you, a double shot with hot milk and a Splenda goes a long way.”
“You’re so bad.”
The squeak of the wheels sounded again. “Shit, he’s on his way back, I’ve got to go.”
Before she hung up, I heard her sugary-sweet voice say, “Mr. Rosen, can I get you a latte?”
With Don negotiating two additional weeks, I should have been fine, but I didn’t feel fine. I felt trapped. If I had to be trapped in Frazier Falls, there was at least a silver lining. I got to see my mom for longer, and it gave me more time to spend with Eli.
I burst out laughing though nobody was here to hear the sound. “A silver lining?” Last week I was in hell. Eli wasn’t a silver lining, that man was trouble dressed in fitted jeans and a parka. “The sooner I leave, the better.”
Don’t think about Eli.
Don’t think about Eli.
It was fine chanting inside my head to stop thinking about him. It was another thing entirely to stop obsessing over him.
He was smart.
He was handsome.
He was bitingly funny.
He was as jaded as me.
And yet he cared about people, and looked out for them, and drove through snowstorms to ensure my mother wouldn’t freeze to death.
He was a good cook and happy to sit in silence and work away at his own thing. When he thought I wasn’t looking, and sometimes when I clearly was, he stared at me like I was the most beautiful person he’d ever seen.
Merely thinking about the way he looked at me caused my face to heat up.
Being around him made me feel young. The way I did when I was a teen, longing to grab the guy I liked and drag him behind the bleachers to make out. Damn, I was even picking up his stupid similes. So much for me ribbing him for wanting to use Irish slang. I was becoming Eli Cooper with red hair and boobs.
“Emily, I think whatever you were cooking in the kitchen is probably ready,” my mom called from downstairs.
I knew when the casserole I had cooking in the oven would be ready because I’d set a timer on my phone for it. There was still ten minutes left.
“Talk about impatient,” I mumbled under my breath.
Resolving to record my mom being pushy about mealtimes at least once over the next two weeks as evidence for Don, I wandered down the stairs, past my mom in the living room, and through to the kitchen. To my surprise, she followed me, dragging her oxygen tank behind, the wheeze and hiss was an ever-present reminder that she wasn’t a hundred percent.
“You seem to be in a good mood, sweetheart,” she said as I opened the oven door to check on the casserole.
“Yep, this definitely needs another ten minutes,” I said, mostly to myself, before glancing at my mom. “What did you say?”
“That your spirits seem high. Did something happen?”
“Um, my boss called.”
“A normal person wouldn’t associate that with being a good thing. Is he being supportive about being stuck here so long?”
“He was understanding.” I tamped down the need to vent. Unloading my stress on my mom wasn’t good for her. Hell, it wasn’t good for me. “But, his boss is pressing for my return.” She shrugged as if it wasn’t a big deal. “No worries, Don’s got my back.” God, I hope he does.
“I’m glad you have a good boss,” my mom said as she sat at the breakfast bar, content to watch me collect bowls and silverware and glasses for lunch. “Did he say anything about when you have to go back?”
“He’s actually given me another two weeks.”
My mom brightened up immediately. “That’s great.”
“It’s unpaid, though, and he can’t guarantee my job after that,” I explained, “so I can’t stay for two weeks if I can get back before then.”
“That’s … okay. I understand.” The excitement that had bounced off her moments ago suddenly went flat. “You can’t afford to lose your job.” She hung her head. “I’m embarrassed to say that I can’t afford for you to lose your job, either.”
Ma got her citizenship years ago and paid into the social security system, but it didn’t give much back. There was no way she could live off less than a grand a month. Thankfully the house was paid off, or she’d be in a pickle, then again maybe it wasn’t such a good thing. If mom couldn’t afford to live in Frazier Falls, she’d be forced to move back to Los Angeles.
It did no good to dwell on what-ifs.
“You’re right, I can’t afford to forfeit a paycheck for weeks on end, and I can’t lose my job. I have rent to pay and my student loans and—”
Ma raised her hand. “It’s okay, honey, you don’t have to explain yourself.” A smile graced her lips, but it didn’t reach her eyes. She never wanted to be a burden. “I always knew your life was going to be far bigger than mine. Why do you think I moved us to a city? A small town wouldn’t provide you with enough opportunity.”
I paused before speaking. She’d never told me why she left the city. I’d assumed she and Mary wanted a change of pace—snail’s pace wasn’t possible in San Francisco or Los Angeles unless you were stuck in traffic. “Thank you for your sacrifice.”