Lanie “Lanie Jacobs?”The knock on my open office door drew my attention away from the computer screen, where I’d been looking up resources to help a student applying for weekend classes at community college. “Yes?” My jaw dropped at the sight of the giant package the delivery man had leaning against the wall opposite the door. “I’m sorry. Who is this for?”“For you. Sign here.” He handed me the little device, and I quickly signed my name. With him gone, I stood in the hall and gaped at the long, thin package. Who would send something to me at school? And what could it possibly be?Nearly shaking with excitement, I carefully ripped a corner of the brown paper. The edge of a black frame came into view. More delicate ripping and pink appeared.“No,” I gasped. But, yes. It was the painting from Saturday night. The one Andrew had also said he liked. Noticing the little envelope taped to the far end of the frame, I ripped it open, unable to read fast enough. Dear Lanie,Thank you for
Lanie “Lanie Jacobs?”The knock on my open office door drew my attention away from the computer screen, where I’d been looking up resources to help a student applying for weekend classes at community college. “Yes?” My jaw dropped at the sight of the giant package the delivery man had leaning against the wall opposite the door. “I’m sorry. Who is this for?”“For you. Sign here.” He handed me the little device, and I quickly signed my name. With him gone, I stood in the hall and gaped at the long, thin package. Who would send something to me at school? And what could it possibly be?Nearly shaking with excitement, I carefully ripped a corner of the brown paper. The edge of a black frame came into view. More delicate ripping and pink appeared.“No,” I gasped. But, yes. It was the painting from Saturday night. The one Andrew had also said he liked. Noticing the little envelope taped to the far end of the frame, I ripped it open, unable to read fast enough. Dear Lanie,Thank you for
Andrew In the Maserati’s center console, my phone blared with an incoming call. Slowing down at a yellow light, I shot it a glance. Kyle. Instinctively, I went to pick it up, then thought better of it, and silenced the phone instead. From the passenger’s seat, Raven watched me with interest.“I’ve already left work for the day,” I explained. She just turned to look back out the window. Kyle’s call went to voice mail. Whatever the issue, it couldn’t be that pressing. The matter of the missing twenty thousand in the Houghton Graham account had been resolved. I’d gone to work earlier than usual that morning, cutting my predawn laps in the swimming pool by half, so I could get more shit done and leave the office sooner. There would be work to do later, but at that moment, I was right where I needed to be. “I should have gotten tan instead of khaki,” Raven sighed. “What? No. Khaki is a perfect base coat.”“I don’t know,” she mumbled. “Trust me.” I pulled into the edge of the drive an
Andrew Taking my phone down the hallway, I went into the little library across from my room that I never used and closed the door behind me. “Bob,” I answered. “How are you doing?”“Swell. How are you? Haven’t heard your voice in a while.”“Yeah, things have been crazy.” I went to the window and looked down at the backyard, where the covered outside swimming pool and the dilapidated tree house I’d had built for Raven when she was five sat ignored. Maybe it was time to tear that old tree house down and build something in its place. A little studio for Raven, maybe?“Crazy never stops,” Bob answered. On his end, a phone rang. It could only be assumed he was at the office. Like me, Bob lived and breathed work. We’d known each other for years, having met at a work-related—of course—event years before. Though we often went weeks without talking, he was my closest friend. The way we could connect after days of not talking was a testament to the strength of the friendship. Though he was a
Lanie Mom opened the back door of her car and frowned at the pumpkins covering it. “You don’t think this is too early, do you?”“It’s September.” The wind must have been listening, because at my words, it picked up, cutting through my sweater and making me wrap my arms around myself. “None of the neighbors have pumpkins out yet.” She pressed her fingers against her lips in concern. “You’re a maverick. Let’s get them out. It’s so cold.”Not waiting for her next protest, I pushed my way forward and hauled out the closest pumpkin. Once we’d gotten all of them out and set on the front porch, we used the kitchen to escape the chill.“One week before Halloween is a good time to carve,” Mom mused as she frothed milk using the fancy coffee machine Dad had given her on their last anniversary. The contraption was huge and bulky with two group heads for pulling shots of espresso. It could have replaced the espresso machine at the coffee shop near my apartment. Still, it only took up a minuscul
Lanie On the drive to Erica’s, my teeth wouldn’t unclench. My mom had been right about my dad’s reaction to me dating an older guy. My parents were so by-the-book, their heads would probably explode if they knew the man I was going out with was the father of one of my students. Parking at Erica’s, I found myself checking my phone, hoping there would be a text from Andrew. The screen was blank, though. We hadn’t been in touch since our conversation on the phone the day before. I found myself aching to hear his voice. I’d only seen this man twice in person, and yet I already missed him. Was that a bad sign? What if my mom was right after all? Maybe I’d gotten in over my head. Andrew probably had girls fawning over him all the time. If I continued to fall for him but didn’t meet his expectations, nothing would stop him from moving on to the next person. And there I’d be, alone. Right where I’d started. Realizing I was going down the rabbit hole of worry again, I collected my purse and
Andrew On Friday, I got what I wanted. In a sense. Waiting in the car outside of the high school for Raven, the woman who’d been on my mind nonstop exited through the front doors and walked toward the small parking lot on the side of the building. Without any thought, in the blink of an eye, I was out of my car and halfway to her. “Lanie!”She turned, brows furrowed. Recognizing me, though, the hardened expression melted. “Andrew,” she breathed. The hairs all over my body stood on end. I wanted to hear her say my name again and again. “What are you doing here?” she asked, looking all around. “Did you have a parent-teacher meeting?”“No, I came to pick Raven up from school. We’re going to a talk at the library.”“That’s nice.”Come with us sat on the tip of my tongue, but I knew that wasn’t right. The afternoon was supposed to be about Raven and me. And I still hadn’t told my daughter I had a date planned with her school counselor. Dropping the news like a bomb wouldn’t do any goo
Andrew “I’m sorry.” She lethargically turned from the window. “’Kay.” “Really. I am. But ...” Raven slightly turned her face in my direction, still avoiding my eyes but showing she listened. “I like that we’re spending more time together,” I said. “I’m sorry I haven’t been doing that enough. I made a mistake there.” Raven’s stiff shoulders loosened. Noting some promise, I went on. “And as we’ve been spending more time together, I’ve noticed some things that I looked over before.” “Like what?” she warily asked. “Where are your friends, Raven? You used to have so many.” She shook her head, looking away again and getting busy twisting a lock of hair. “That school sucks.” “It’s a big school.” “Yeah, well, there isn’t anyone there like me. Okay?” I kept back a huff. “Not okay. It’s not healthy for you to not have friends. If there isn’t anyone at school that you get along with, let’s get you somewhere you can meet more people your age. Join a club or meetup.” The suggestion sh