A Child's Wish
Page 49
“I know you will. And in the meantime, I’m coming to get you. We now have twenty-five minutes. Don’t waste any more time arguing, Mer. I promised your mom, and that’s all there is to it. I have a key to your house, remember? If I have to bring the party to you, I will.”
Meredith stood at her closet, unable to settle on an outfit. What kind of night would this be? Professional? Earth mother? Vampy? She didn’t feel like anything but sweats.
“Why Mark and Kelsey?”
“Because you need to be around that child.”
“My mother told you that, too?”
“No, I figured that one out on my own.”
Meredith smiled. And it felt good.
“And because Kelsey’s been acting stranger than ever around me and Mark, and I need your help.”
She didn’t want them in her house. Didn’t want to have their energy here, mixing with hers, after they were gone. And Susan needed her.
She stared at her jeans. Tight ones. Loose ones. Beaded ones. And her skirts. Long colorful cotton. Short and black. “Where are we going?”
“Mark’s.”
“To do what?”
“Grill hamburgers out on his fire pit and roast marshmallows.”
She pulled out a pair of tight beaded jeans and a form-fitting purple sweater. Purple for peace. Beads for Kelsey. Tight because she liked her jeans best that way. And then she glanced in a mirror. “I need more than twenty-five minutes.”
“I’ve got the fire log in my back seat.”
“You go ahead and I’ll meet you there,” she said, feeling better about that idea. She could leave when and if she had to, that way.
“If you don’t show, I’m coming over there—with boyfriend, his daughter and hamburgers in tow.”
She had no doubt Susan would deliver on the threat. “I’ll be there within the hour.”
SOMETHING WAS WRONG with Kelsey. Meredith’s fear escalated hugely the moment she walked out to Mark’s backyard and came face to face with the little girl. Wearing a zip-up hooded sweater and jeans, Kelsey sat by herself on one of the two swings attached to a wooden set off in a corner of the yard.
With a quick greeting to Mark and a hug for Susan, Meredith made a beeline for that second swing. Sat. Pushed off slowly.
“Hey, Kelse.”
Meredith decided that the mumbled reply was hello.
“You got new jeans.”
They had beaded butterflies down both legs.
“Yeah.”
“I like them.”
“Thanks.”
Kelsey wasn’t so much rude as she was just plain absent.
“You still mad at me?”
“I guess not.”