Total pages in book: 79
Estimated words: 74782 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 374(@200wpm)___ 299(@250wpm)___ 249(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 74782 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 374(@200wpm)___ 299(@250wpm)___ 249(@300wpm)
I check the time, noting it’s still a few hours before Janelle gets out of school. Riggs is on a four-day road trip, due back tomorrow.
We agreed that when he’s gone, Janelle will stay with me rather than at their condo, in deference to my convenience.
Janelle started back to classes two days ago, though she was not eager to return. When I asked her why, I got some vague excuses and that she was going to miss working full days at the shop. I’m hoping she just needs more time to acclimate.
Her first night at my place after Riggs left, we set out some ground rules. While I’m Janelle’s friend, I didn’t want her to forget that I’m also her guardian. While I have no intention of being the strict overseer that Mrs. Blair was, I do have certain expectations. If she meets those expectations, in return she gets certain liberties.
For example, I am okay with her walking from school to the bookstore—four city blocks—as long as she goes straight there with no dawdling. I’m okay with her working until the shop closes at seven, as long as she’s able to get her homework done each night.
These were not things I discussed with Riggs ahead of time, mainly because I’m so mortified that I let him kiss me after we hurled insults at each other, I’d prefer never to run into the man again. Since that night after Aaron and Clarke got engaged, and before Riggs left for his away games, we communicated only once—via text—to firm up the dates I’d be caring for Janelle and to provide me with some additional information.
Either way, I laid my rules out to Janelle, and she had no qualms. And I have to admit, the last three days she’s been with me have been a lot of fun.
I’ve always wanted kids and I suspect I’d be a good mother. While I’m not exactly in a mothering role, there are certain aspects to it in my guardianship of Janelle. For example, when I check to see if her homework is done, I do so not from a perspective of ensuring rules are followed but from my concern that she earn good grades. It comes through in my tone, because Janelle is never offended when I check in on her to make sure it’s complete.
Each night after she goes to sleep, I text Riggs an update. It’s very simple, usually something like, All is well on this end. Janelle had a good day.
He will reply when he’s able to with a simple Thanks for the update.
Of course, Riggs and Janelle frequently talk or text while he’s gone, so I know he’s assured she’s fine, regardless if I share with him.
It’s working, and I really enjoy having her with me. She’s a good kid who is blossoming.
Today is my last official day of training Janelle at the bookstore. She pretty much has it all down, and frankly, I don’t need to go in this afternoon. But I guess I’m feeling nostalgic since come Monday, a new life starts for me. I want to have one more afternoon in the bookstore where we can talk about silly stuff in between customers, or debate about books we’ve read. I learn so much about her every day, but she still holds tight to her past. I don’t ask about it, figuring if she wants to share with me one day, it will be on her terms.
My phone rings, startling me. I pick it up from the table, not recognizing the number.
Normally, I don’t answer a call unless whoever is calling is in my contacts. Nowadays, most unrecognized numbers are spam, and it irritates the hell out of me. But now that I’ve got care of Janelle, I need to be open to calls from any source, and given it’s a local area code, I answer.
“Hello?” I say pleasantly.
“Ms. Woodley?” a male voice says.
“Yes.”
“This is Jim Cresten, principal at Clair Ridge.”
I sit up straight in my chair, my pulse hammering. “Is Janelle okay?”
Janelle goes to a prestigious private school here in downtown Phoenix, not far from the bookstore and Riggs’s condo. They’re all within a handful of blocks of each other.
“I’m afraid Ms. Adamik has gotten into some trouble, and you need to come get her.”
“What kind of trouble?” I ask, and then repeat, “Physically, is she okay?”
“She’s fine,” he replies disdainfully. “But I can’t say the other girl who she punched is. I need you to come immediately.”
Oh shit.
Shit, shit, shit.
“Yes, of course,” I reply hastily. “I’ll be there in fifteen minutes.”
♦
Riggs had sent written instructions to the school that I would be taking Mrs. Blair’s place as Janelle’s temporary guardian when he was out of town. It’s how Mr. Cresten knew to call me.
In the one discussion Riggs and I had about my care of Janelle, we talked about what his rules were as far as friends and curfew. We talked about medical care should she get sick and where he keeps EpiPens because she’s allergic to bees—not that we get many in downtown Phoenix—but it worried me enough that I stocked one in my purse and at the store too.