Page 55 of Heat Exchange
When she finally made it to the coffeepot, Ashley had the fridge door propped open with the garbage barrel and was cleaning it out. Lydia was surrounded by morning people.
“Did I hear your phone ring?” Ashley asked her. “Everything okay?”
“Yeah, but I need to go back to Concord for the weekend. Shelly wants to go see her sister’s new baby and she can’t take the cat.”
Ashley gave her a sideways look. “It’s a cat. You put down extra food and water before you leave and make sure the litter box is clean. A cat can handle a couple of days without a human. Knowing cats, it’s probably their version of a vacation.”
“Oscar’s kind of Shelly’s baby. She won’t leave the cat alone and she can’t find anybody else to stay with him because most people reacted like you did and she doesn’t trust them now.”
“Okay.” Ashley was quiet for a long moment, and then she took a deep breath. “So you need me to work for you? It’s okay if you do. I mean, I guess I have to go back sometime, but you know they like to play pool on Saturday nights and—”
Lydia held up a hand to stop her. “I already sent a text to Karen and she’s going to cover for me.”
Her sister’s relief was almost palpable. “Okay. Didn’t she and Rick break up, though? I thought I heard that from one of the other wives, who called to tell me about some sale at the secondhand store, but really just wanted to get the latest gossip about my marriage.”
“They’re not seeing each other anymore, but I don’t know if I’d say they broke up. They werereallycasual, I guess. She met somebody less casual and told Rick the dinner, movie and sex part of their relationship was over, but they’re still friends.”
“I’m glad to hear it. Not just because she’ll still cover your shifts at the bar. I like her, so I’m glad she’ll still be around.”
“I’ll probably grab some different clothes while I’m home,” Lydia said. “I’m getting bored with my very limited rotating wardrobe. I mean, half the time I’m wearing a Kincaid’s T-shirt anyway, but I miss my favorite fleece hoodie when it’s chilly.”
“You’ll come back, right?”
Lydia looked at her sister and saw the very real concern on her face. It worried her, because it wasn’t like Ashley to hide away like this and Lydia was starting to wonder if she should be enabling her. Maybe she needed to shove her sister back into the real world and tell her to suck it up.
But she also felt like things would be coming to a head between Ashley and Danny soon. They weren’t going to be able to keep on the way they were and there was either going to be an emotional breakthrough that brought them back together or an emotional breakdown that ended the marriage for good. Either way, Lydia couldn’t imagine not being there for Ashley.
“I’m coming back,” Lydia promised. “You know what would be awesome? If Aidan could go with me. We could get away from here and go out for dinner or something—like a real date—without worrying about anybody seeing us and telling Scott or Dad.”
“You should invite him. He can work it out with the other guys. I know he’s always willing to cover for them, so a bunch of the guys probably owe him a favor.”
“You don’t think both of us disappearing at the same time will be suspicious at all?”
“I guess if somebody picked up on it, it might seem a little weird. There has to be a way, though.”
Lydia gave her a hard look. “Weren’t you the one worried about this blowing up in everybody’s faces?”
“Yeah, but you’re an adult and you can do what you want. And I owe you big-time, so if you want to get out of town with Aidan for the weekend, I’ll help you make it happen.”
Lydia frowned. “So where could he say he was going? If his family lived farther away, he could say it was a family emergency, but he can take the T from his place, so disappearing wouldn’t make much sense. And he’s not close with them.”
“Maybe we’re looking at it the wrong way,” Ashley said. “Have you told anybody else at all you need to go back to Concord? Did you tell Karen why you need the time off?”
“No. Shelly just called a few minutes ago so I haven’t talked to anybody else yet, and I didn’t tell Karen why because it was a text and I can’t type that much before coffee.”
“So don’t tell anybody what you’re doing. We’ll say you’re wicked sick. Your car will be in the driveway and you’ll be in bed, right? You start laying the groundwork tonight, like you don’t feel so hot.”
That might actually work. “But where’s Aidan going to say he’s going? It would have to be something that came up suddenly, since all they do when they’re not on a run is sit around and yap at each other and he wouldn’t have big plans they don’t know about.”
“I don’t know. He could still use his family as an excuse. Maybe they want him to remodel the bathroom or something and it’s easier if he just stays there. If he says his dad wants to use him for manual labor because he’s too cheap to pay a professional, the guys will believe that.”
“And probably offer to help.”
“His mom doesn’t want a bunch of firefighters running around in her house. She can barely tolerate the one she gave birth to, from what I’ve heard.” Ashley grinned. “It will totally work. And I’m excited for you. It’ll be fun.”
“I should probably askhimif he wants to go.”
“Hell yeah, I want to go,” Aidan told her several hours later, when he had a chance to return her call. “I can get the time off, but won’t it look a little weird if we both disappear at the same time?”
