“That’s not true. Right, Mommy?”
Maggie enjoyed their banter—but she gave Jason a quick side-eye. “Only if you eat like a hog.”
It was all in good fun, she knew, but the last thing she wanted was to contribute to an eating disorder for her child.
Are you going to let her eat like that, Mary Margaret? Good gracious, she’s shoveling it in like a little orphan child who hasn’t eaten in days.
She suffered through enough of that herself, as a child.
Girls like you should never eat cookies, Mary Margaret.Or pancakes. Or ice cream.
Go away, Mother.
God only knew how many times she’d been told she was getting chubby.
And of course, Max hated it when she’d put on a few pounds. He would belittle her until she’d starve herself for a few days to get them off.
They all laughed. She grinned again at their easy-going banter.Not thinking about Max right now.Or my mother.She gave each child a small side salad, then set a basket of cornbread beside the casserole.
“Mommy,” Chloe said. “Can you dip me some?”
“Of course.” She did and then sat at the end of the island. When Max wasn’t home, she and the kids always ate at the island. When he was there, though, he insisted on having dinner in the dining room. Suddenly, she was glad those days were gone. The intimacy and casualness of eating with her kids in the kitchen was much nicer.
“So, Carol, to answer your question. I want to clear some things out of your dad’s office and store them in the garage. That room is going to become my art studio.” She glanced at Chloe. “Oh, and Chloe’s, too.”
Her little girl beamed. “I’m an artist.”
“Yes, you are. And we have a school project to work on this week.” She glanced at the others. “We can all use it for projects. Plenty of room there to store stuff on the shelves.”
Jason huffed. “Dad will have a fit.”
“Dad won’t even know,” Carol interjected. “It’s not like he’s coming back here, or anything.”
Maggie shook her head. “No, he’s not.”
“Mom…” Carol paused, apparently thinking. “You know that for sure, right? I mean, could he come back?”
She took a second to make eye contact with each child. Carol just sat there, the question hanging in the air. Jason’s glance skidded off hers. Chloe held her gaze with big, wide eyes. “He’ll not be back. And you should know that I’m filing for divorce tomorrow. Julia is coming in the morning. She advised thatyour dad not stay here if he comes to town. He’ll have to stay elsewhere. Tomorrow, a locksmith is coming to change the locks on the doors, so we’ll have new keys.”
“What about the security system?” Jason asked, suddenly rotating back to look at her. “And the garage door opener?”
She met his gaze. He really didn’t want him here, did he? “Good questions, Jason.” And ones she’d not thought of. “We may need to make some changes there, too. I’ll check into it.”
“But if we change the locks,” Carol said, “then his keys won’t work and he can’t get in anyway, right? So the security system should be good?” She glanced away.
“Probably…” She’d talk to the locksmith about that. “I am concerned about the garage door, though. If he has his clicker, then he’s inside.”
“Right. But his car is in the garage and the clicker is in it, so he can’t get to the garage door.”
“There is the keypad, although we rarely use it.”
Jason thought about that. “I think he has the app on his phone, too. There probably is a way to change the frequency, or something. I’ll look online.”
Maggie smiled. “That would be great, Jason.” She studied her son, who was actually eating his casserole. “And speaking of phones, Jason, no communication with him. Okay? Has he texted or called you lately?”
“Not since early February.” He looked at Carol. “You heard from him?”
“That’s about the last time he called me, too.”