Page 115 of Good as Gold
“But it’s raining,” she says, her nose wrinkling. “We didn’t go out for recess today at school.”
This makes me think of Leila, of course. Although everything does. “It’s not raining here. How are you? How’s your cousin?”
Benito and Skye had a baby six weeks ago—a little boy. Justin. I sent them a gift off their registry, too.
And now our family group chat is eighty percent baby pics. I keep finding myself staring at them. Justin learned to smile at about the one-month mark—a gaping, toothless grin that sears me in a way I don’t think I’ve felt before.
Nicole, though, is not so impressed. “He still can’t doanything. Not even crawl.”
“No? What a slacker.”
She giggles. “He sleeps all. The. Time.”
“I’m sure Skyewishesthat were true,” Zara says somewhere in the background.
“How was school today?” I ask, even if it’s a shameless ploy to hear about Leila.
“Not good,” Nicole says. “Miss Mary forgot about the bread in the oven! It burned.”
“Oh no!” I exclaim. “I bet Miss Leila had another snack for you, though.”
“Miss Mary gave us sun butter on crackers. Miss Leila isn’t at school anymore.”
“Wait, what?” My stomach drops. “Why not?”
Nicole spreads her hands, as if to sayhow would I know?“She had to go. Her daddy needed her.”
“Her daddy…” That doesn’t make much sense.
Nicole tells me a story about doing a puzzle at school and playing a game. And I nod and smile in all the right places. When she finishes, I tell her I love her, and then I ask to speak to her mama.
Zara appears a minute later holding Micah. My nephew still has a baby’s round face, but he isn’t tiny anymore. He’s a big lunk and currently shoving a slice of apple in his mouth. “Hi,” Zara says, peering into the camera. “You rang?”
“What’s this about Leila leaving the preschool?” I demand.
Zara blinks. “I assumed she told you.”
“Told me what?”
“You two. I swear to God…” She sighs. “Last week Lyle Giltmaker had a massive heart attack and nearly died.”
“Christ.”
“As of yesterday, Leila took a leave of absence from the preschool. They’d already found someone to take over for her during her maternity leave, so it worked out for her to step away.”
“So she could take care of her father?”While eight months pregnant?My head is about to explode.
“I think he’s still in the hospital? But Alec says she’s coordinating his care and trying to keep the brewery stable. They have a big product launch every spring.”
“Oh, shit.”
Zara puts her hands over Micah’s ears. “Watch the language?”
“Sorry.” But I’m struggling. “That can’t be easy for Leila.”
“Probably not,” Zara agrees. “Maybe if you called her more often, you’d know for sure. Just a thought. You two will probably figure yourselves out eventually. But it’s hard to watch from the sidelines.”
“I don’t even know what that means.” Besides, I don’t know if Leila wants to hear from me. Last week I’d done some reading about the best kinds of baby food. I sent Leila a case of it, but her thank you text was a little terse.
