"That was fifteen minutes ago," Mom says, stepping aside so I can come in. "Go see for yourself."
So I do. Sure enough, plopped on Mom's couch, with her hair pulled back from her pale face, Maddy's out like a light.
"What do you think it was?" I ask her.
"Eh, about that," Mom begins, looking distinctly guilty.
"Mom," I say.
She sighs. "Well, I looked it up online, and apparently the hot dogs I gave her last night were recalled yesterday. I'm so sorry."
I give her a small hug and a pat. "It's fine. Could've happened to anyone."
"I am mad, though," Mom says. "Maddy could've been seriously hurt! Shame on them. Good you could come so quickly, dear. Court case done?"
"For the day, yes," I say.
Mom always has had a nose for sniffing out things I don't want her to know about. But I'm not about to admit where I've been. It's messing up my head enough without adding my mom's unwanted input to it.
I end up staying for another few hours, Mom and I catching up, and me helping her with some gardening, until Maddy wakes up. Then, after way too much hugging and "Mommmmm"s, I drive her home, feed her some banana and arrowroot cookies, then tuck her into bed. She's only too happy to sleep some more.
I've just finished the dishes when Pamela calls. "You down for a girl's night?"
"Am I ever!" It seems like ages since we last had one, though I know it hasn't been all that long. I guess a lot just happened. "You OK for here?"
"Of course - see you in five."
Within seconds of me opening the door, Pamela, decked out in her lime green sweats, fixes me with a knowing smile. "You look good. Glowing."
"Thanks, I..." I trail off.
Oh, who am I kidding? I haven't switched up anything in my lazy-person beauty routine. In fact, nothing's changed except that now Landon knows about Madison. And now that I'm actually taking the time to think about it, that's a hell of a relief.
We hug and, after separating, Pompom takes out a DVD and waves it around so much her ponytail braid bounces. "Look what I have..."
"It's that kind of night?" I ask with my own knowing smile.
"I'm in the mood to believe in love again," Pompom says in a low, sultry voice, holding it tight against her chest, eyes closed. She grins. "And let's get real: The Notebook is an every kind of night movie."
"You've got that right," I say, heading for the kitchen. "I'll get the popcorn."
We're a good way through, at the part when they're saying goodbye, when Pompom says, "OK. Spill."
"It's Landon," I confess. "I finally told him about Maddy."
Pompom pauses the movie to turn to me with an excited grin. "And?"
"And he wants to meet her," I say, trying not to smile and failing.
"Ah!" Pompom bounces up and down on the couch before pausing. "Sorry, are we not happy about this?"
"I'm just not sure I'm ready," I admit.
Although part of me feels like bouncing up and down on the couch myself.
"Totally fair," Pompom says, reaching over to give my hand a squeeze. "You're just being a protective Mama Bear."
"And there's this whole case thing that's making things complicated," I admit. "If they found out..."
"Hey." Pompom passes the popcorn bag my way with a stern look. "You're a great lawyer. Even if you lost this case, you'd get another."
"With time, maybe, yeah. But Goldtree Inc. is a big client. It wouldn't look good if it came out that I was dating the opposing team. Definitely not for them, and not for future clients either. In my business, reputation is a big deal."
"True." Pamela shrugs. "I don't know, though, ending it seems so..."
"Obviously the right thing to do?" I finish with a sigh and a sad smile. "I wish I could. For now, I guess I can just hope that things don't work out. Soon."
Pompom snorts. "Please. You're not actually hoping for that."
"I know," I admit. "But I can hope that one day I'll hope for that."
She rolls her eyes. I sigh. "You're right, I'm being an idiot. And - "
My phone rings. Oh... shit.
I'd completely forgotten to tell him what was going on. But it felt nice, this distance. Reassuring. Like I was starting to get my head on straight. Or straighter, anyway.
I sit there and hold the phone like it's a bomb.
"You gonna take that?" Pamela asks with an evil smile.
"Nah," I say. "It's girl's night and - "
"I don't mind."
"Really, it's fine. I don't need to - "
"Just take it," Pompom urges me.
"I can just message him."
Pamela presses the talk button.
"You bitch," I hiss at her.
"Hello?" Landon says. "Kyra?"
I walk off to the kitchen.
"Hey," I say.
"Hey, is everything OK?" Landon asks. "You just raced off..."
"Yeah, I'm really sorry about that. It was Madison. She was throwing up, so I had to get there fast."