Page 2 of A Secret Chance
“What’s the big rush?” Charlotte asked.
Lauren rolled her eyes. “The half-pipe contest starts at 2:30, and Ethan is up first.”
“Ah,” Charlotte replied. Ethan was one of the town’s snowboarding stars. He oozed talent, and, provided he didn’t hurt himself, was on the fast track to the Olympic team. “He’s adorable.”
“You’re not the only one who thinks that,” Lauren laughed. “All the girls have a crush on Ethan.”
“I can see why,” Charlotte mused.
Lauren rolled her eyes again. “Cougar.” She smiled and smacked her sister on the arm.
“Hey,” Charlotte mock rubbed her arm. “I’m just stating the obvious.”
“Obvious what?” Logan showed up beside them and wrapped his arm around Charlotte’s shoulders.
“That Ethan Fraser is hot,” Lauren said.
“Oh, he is,” Logan smiled. The three of them broke out into laughter, which was soon drowned out by deafening screams as the piñata exploded, and candy shrapnel ricocheted around the room.
They looked over to see Freddie with his arms raised, holding the stick over his head while the kids wildly scrambled around on the floor collecting the candy.
“Who let the big kid play?” Lauren laughed. She looked around the room, happy with the organized chaos. The party had been weighing on her for months. The case she had been working on had been intense but trying to plan a nine-year old’s birthday party made it look tame in comparison. As much as Lauren didn’t want to, she had Tabitha invite her entire class to the party. Growing up a poor kid from the wrong side of the tracks, she and her sister had been shunned from birthday parties as kids, and she didn’t want to do that to any other kids – even if that meant inviting their horrible parents.
She saw Josh Johnson’s red wool hat at the entrance door and breathed a sigh of relief. Josh’s wife Megan had promised to make Tabitha’s cake, but Lauren heard that she had been having a rough time with their new colicky baby. Lauren wove through the crowd of sugar-fueled tweens and met Megan and Josh by the door.
Lauren saw the unicorn cake in Megan’s hands and tears sprang to her eyes. “Hi. It’s perfect,” she gushed.
“Hi, Lauren,” Megan smiled, her eyes were rimmed in red, dark bags beneath them.
“Let me take that.” Lauren took the cake from Megan’s hands. “It’s amazing. You are amazing,” Lauren managed to hug Megan with one arm without messing up the frosting on the unicorn’s mane. “How are you doing?” Lauren asked.
“I’m doing okay,” Megan smiled and started to shrug off her coat.
“Let me get that for you.” Josh reached to help his wife out of her coat, but she stopped him. “You just make sure that he doesn’t wake up,” she pointed to the bulging baby sling on his chest.
“He was up all night,” Josh explained, resting his big hand on the back of his sleeping son. “So was Meg.”
“I remember those days,” Lauren commiserated, but her arms were starting to shake with the weight of the cake. “Look what you have to look forward to,” she laughed and tilted the unicorn’s horn to point at the pandemonium in the day lodge.
“It’s amazing that he can sleep through this insanity.” Josh rubbed his son’s back gingerly, “But if the damn dog whines, or wags his tail, he wakes up.” Josh looked just as tired as Megan. Those years were over a decade ago, but Lauren remembered them well. She also remembered doing it alone. “You’re lucky to have each other,” she smiled. “Come on in, Charlotte and Serena are here somewhere...”
Lauren left Josh and Megan in the crowded room and headed into the kitchen. She pulled the candles out of her purse and stabbed them into Megan’s creation.
“Ooh, Megan’s so good.” Lauren turned to see her sister. “Let me help you with those,” Charlotte said.
“Thanks.” Lauren shoved the pack of candles at her sister. “I haven’t had time to go to the bathroom all afternoon.”
Lauren headed out into the hallway and made her way into the women’s bathroom. She flushed the toilet and stood up, pausing to enjoy the solitude of the stall. The main door banged open and she saw two pairs of adult-sized boots walk into the room. She didn’t feel like making small talk with any of the parents, so she paused, hoping to avoid whoever it was.
Whoever it was didn’t use the stalls. The boots paused in front of the sinks. Lauren heard the water running and then the sound of makeup compacts being opened and closed.
“A little over the top don’t you think?” voice one, a husky smoker’s voice said.
“Those girls feel like they have to prove something,” a second, higher-pitched voice said. “But at least the kids are having fun.”
“Just pisses me off a little,” the husky voice continued. “The way those trash rats come back to town with a little bit of money and then throw it in our faces like this.”
“I think she just wanted her daughter to have a nice birthday,” voice two replied. Lauren didn’t know who either of the women were, but she was thankful for the kindness of voice two. Growing up as an outcast, Lauren grew a thick skin early in life and the whispers of the women in the bathroom were nothing she hadn’t heard before. She rested against the door, tapping her fingers on her face, waiting for them to finish so she could leave.
