Page 10 of The One You Chose

I declined to mention that her daughter would likely be embarrassed to find her mother setting her up with men she barely knew as well as telling them about her dating misdeeds. “Dr. Crosby. I am flattered but now isn’t a good time. Check back in a few months to see if your meddling will work then.”

The doctor didn’t seem to be offended by the comment. “I’m holding you to that.”

Glancing back at my desktop I saw an email waiting from E. McConnell.

To: [email protected]

From: [email protected]

Subject: Cute pictures

No thank you needed. Just doing my good deed for the day. I know how annoyed I’d be if I was waiting for an email that never came.

And, okay, yes, I admit Retta-Mae is very cute. I do want to get a pet soon. My parents kept my yellow lab when I went off to college and while he is still alive and well at my parents’ house and they only live a few minutes down the road from me, it’s not the same as having one in my home. Over time, my beloved Roscoe turned traitor and now sleeps in my brother’s room. Maybe it’s time for me to cut my losses and accept that I will have to fill the Roscoe shaped hole in my life with a new pet. I’ll think about your kitten proposition.

Smiling to myself, I moved on to the next item on my to-do list, but not before setting a notification if I got another email from this E. McConnell.

eight

Just the Same

Lina

BeforeIcouldgetout of my car, my father was jogging down the driveway. “Evie, drive me to the store.” A glance at the five cars parked around my dad’s truck showed me all I needed to know. My mother had instructed me to come over to make Christmas cookies. With that came my mother’s two sisters. And their kids, and Aunt Cathy’s Pomeranian, Sukie.

“Does this call for wine or beer?” I got back in the driver’s seat as my father waited outside the car for me to clear off the debris on the passenger seat. I kept a tidy classroom, but my car was always a step away from a hazmat area. After throwing three travel cups and a Halloween scarf in my backseat, I waved him in.

“Bourbon.” He sat down, then arched his back, grabbing a wad of plastic gloves and clean tissues I normally kept in my coat pocket for playground emergencies. Snagging it out of his hand, I tossed it into the backseat. My dad shook his head at me. “You need to clean out this car. You’re going to get rats.”

I turned the car on and glanced over my shoulder to pull back out on the road. “Don’t be ridiculous Dad. It’s not that bad.”

“I think I saw a cockroach scuttling around in here.”

“Most of this stuff is papers from school. Library books, fabric for the classroom. There are only a few crumbs.”

“Boys like a clean space, you know.”

“If a guy is grossed out by clean tissues and a twenty-four pack of glitter then he’s not the right kind of guy for me.”

My dad started pushing buttons on my dashboard, grumbling about how he didn’t understand touch screens in cars.

I brushed his hand away and set the radio to the sports station so he could listen to the Kraken’s game. I suspected before I pulled up he was hiding in the garage with his portable radio with its coat hanger antennae.

“Whatever happened to that one guy, Timmy?”

I leaned forward to see around a large hedge before pulling out on the main road. “Who?”

“You know, that one boyfriend of yours.”

“Mickey? Do you mean Mickey? My boyfriend from junior high?” I pulled into the store parking lot. “Dad, I have no idea what happened to him. I literally haven’t seen the guy for seven years.”

My dad shrugged. “I liked him. Remember when he vacuumed our stairs?” My father’s eyes got misty and he sighed dramatically. “That was a good boyfriend.”

I refrained from telling my father that the guy was kicked out of school after continually showing up drunk and was now likely in prison. “Come on, let’s get your provisions.”

The scent of sugar and strawberry hit me as I walked in the front door. Once we returned from the store, my father walked straight into the garage, no doubt to resume the radio sports until the extended family left. Left to fend for myself, I hugged the empty Tupperware to my chest. In a few hours my mother would insist on filling it before I left.

Sukie yipped at my ankles as I walked around the noisy black and brown puff, careful not to step on her paw. From the corner, Roscoe lifted his golden brown head and gave me a look ofI’ve had enough of that little dog.

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