One More Time

“Hello?” Her voice was groggy.

“Did I wake you?” I asked.

“Yup,” she said, clearly annoyed.

“I’m sorry, but this is important,” I said. “Sean fired me.”

“He what?” Janie’s voice immediately changed from tired and bored, to angry and attentive. “You just started. What the hell happened?”

“I don’t know,” I said honestly. “One second, everything was fine, and the next, he’s telling me things aren’t going to work out.”

“You didn’t ask why?” Janie demanded.

“I froze,” I said sadly. “I was in shock, Janie. He said he just didn’t think it was a good fit, and he was kind of an asshole about it.”

Janie paused. I knew she was thinking of something helpful to say, but she couldn’t think of anything. “Do you think maybe one of the kids said something?” I asked nervously.

“Like what?” Janie asked.

“Like they didn’t like me.”

“That’s ridiculous,” Janie said. “You’re amazing with kids. There’s no way that, after two days, either of those kids had a problem with you. Not a chance in hell.”

“How can you be so sure?” I asked.

Now that the thought crossed my mind, I couldn’t get rid of it. In such a short time, I’d grown very fond of both Tommy and Sarah. They were sweet, bright kids who were nervous around new people. I didn’t know the details of what happened to their mother, but I could see how much they missed her. It affected everything they did; from Sara’s angry streak to Tommy’s shyness, everything came back to their mom.

That knowledge, more than anything, made my heart ache. I longed to see them. My curse was that I always became too emotionally involved with the kids I watched. Sarah and Tommy, even more so. With their family history, I wanted to help them through this transition. Now, it seemed like that would be an impossibility.

“Listen,” Janie said, her voice soft and comforting. “I don’t know what happened, but I know it’s not the kids. From what you told me, those babies adored you. Maybe Sean just decided he wants to take care of them on his own. I mean, it was only a summer job anyway, right? He probably decided it would be better if he spent time with them alone before they start a new school in a few months. That’s all.”

“Yeah,” I said. “Maybe.”

Despite her efforts to cheer me up, I didn’t believe Janie’s idea. It simply didn’t add up. “How about some lunch?” Janie asked. “Let me jump in the shower, and I’ll meet you for pizza.”

“Okay,” I said. “Sure.”

“Great. I’ll see you in a bit.”

With that, Janie hung up. I sighed and tucked my phone in my pocket. As I lazed around the house for half an hour, I thought more about what Janie said. It did make sense that Sean would simply want more one on one time with his kids. After all, they did just move to a new town.

Still, something didn’t feel right. I remembered the way Sean looked at me in the kitchen last night, his eyes boring so deeply into mine. There was something else there, something that had nothing to do with his kids.

***

I met Janie at the pizza spot. It was still slow, everyone trying to leave work for their lunch breaks. We ordered our usual and found a table in the middle of the restaurant. Janie immediately launched into a story about the latest town gossip to distract me from my recent firing. It didn’t work. My thoughts stayed focused on Sean, Tommy, and Sarah throughout the entire afternoon.

When Margie brought our pizza, she set it in front of us and pulled up a chair to join us.

“What’s up?” Janie asked, grabbing a slice.

“I have gossip,” Margie said conspiratorially.

“Oh?” Janie sat up straight, eager to hear. I smiled but didn’t say anything.

“That new guy?” Margie said. “Sean Evans? Word is, he moved out of San Diego to escape some lurid secret.”

“What?” I asked, suddenly interested.