A Child's Wish

“That’s in what, two years?”

He nodded.

“There might not be an opening then.”

And they didn’t want him to go anywhere else. He understood the logic. And hell, what was his problem? He’d been offered a great promotion sooner than he’d expected. What kind of man had a problem with that?

“Tell me this doesn’t have anything to do with Larry Barnett.” Meredith had mentioned the coincidence in timing and damn it, he couldn’t get her words out of his head. And not just the ones about this appointment.

“We were going to make the offer anyway, but when Larry suggested to me over lunch last week that he thought it would be better to make the offer now, get you away from the Foster mess before it taints your career, I thought he made good sense.”

Of course he did. Larry Barnett was a master debater, convincer of juries, smooth talker. Was there anyone in this city that the man did not know?

“We’re offering you a way out,” Daniels said. “If you take the offer, we can have you moved by early next week, give you a few weeks with Blakely before school’s out for the summer and he retires.”

“Who’ll cover my position?”

Daniels named a couple of possibilities. “We’ll put it out for applications.”

“Shouldn’t both positions be posted?”

“Technically,” Daniels said. “We’ll post it, take apps, but yours will be one of them and since you’ll be over there, helping Blakely, you’ll be the obvious choice.”

When one had a will, and power, there was always a way.

“I’d like a couple of days to think about it.”

Nodding, Daniels didn’t pressure Mark any further.

“HOW ARE YOU EVER going to be happy with me if you won’t go to the bathroom in my house or eat any of my food?”

Kelsey had a headache. She was tired, from bad dreams, and scared. She’d told Josie about the drugs when they went to the slumber party. She’d had a nightmare and Josie had woken her up because she’d been crying in her sleep and she’d just blurted it all out. Josie told Kelsey it was bad and she had to stop, and every day she worried that Josie was going to tell her mom—or worse, quit being her friend. Kelsey had broken her word to her own mother. She was sneaking around behind her father’s back. She didn’t mean to do any of it, but it didn’t seem to stop.

“How will the judge know I can provide for you, if you don’t give me a chance to show him?” Mom was still talking about food.

Kelsey couldn’t figure out how the judge was going to see her eating a snack at her mom’s, anyway. “I’ll eat.”

“Every time I offer you a snack you say no.”

The living room was cleaner, so you could see the rips in things easier. But at least there wasn’t any food trash and junk like that. “’Cause it’s always so close to dinner.”

Mom didn’t say anything, just flipped on the television and changed stations a lot. Kelsey thought about laying her head down on her mother’s shoulder and taking a nap.

But Don was in the garage. She didn’t think she should sleep with him there.

There was news on about a fire someplace near Tulsa. And then a woman crying about what her husband did to her. Mom didn’t say anything for a long time and Kelsey got scared that she was mad.

She counted the throbs in her head. “I will next time I come here, I promise.”

“Will what?” Her mom glanced over at her, not mad but not happy, either.

“Have a snack. And go to the bathroom, if I have to.” Like she did right now.

The worry left her mom’s eyes. She’d had her hair done, and even though it wasn’t like before it was pretty. Mom was pretty today.

“What would you like?” she asked. “We can make a list and when I go to the grocery, I’ll buy it all so you can have choices when you come.” She smiled the smile that always made Kelsey feel good and warm inside. “I’d love to shop for you again, sweetie, and have food in my cupboards for you. I’ve missed it so much.”

“Me, too,” Kelsey said, too tired to watch every word. “I have to go with Daddy every week and help decide stuff and it’s hard to know what we should have for dinner so many days away. I’m just a kid. I shouldn’t have to decide what I want to eat some other day. Mostly I just know what I want that day.”