The Fourteen Day Soul Detox, Volume Two (8 page)

“Oh, wow, that’s so
beautiful that you stayed so close after the divorce,” Carrie
said, patting me on the arm. “After Shelly and Patrick split,
we just never saw her again. It was as if suddenly she didn’t
exist. I even ran into her at a restaurant once and she hid her face
from me, didn’t even say ‘hi.’ I was so sad too,
because we used to be pretty close.”

“I’m not divorced. I’m
a widow. My husband died in a car accident.” The warm
expression fell off Carrie’s face and a hot blush spread up her
cheeks. “Oh, I’m…so sorry… I…”

“Please don’t be
embarrassed, people always think it was divorce,” I said.

“I’m am so sorry,”
she said again, before biting her lip.

“Don’t be, she’s
fine,” Susan said. “Yeah, Logan was my twin brother. But
Jamie and I are kind of like sisters anyhow, we’ve been best
friends since we were eight.”

“Wow, I have to say I’m a
little jealous. I grew up with only older brothers, I’ve never
had anything resembling a sister,” she said.

“They can be a pain, even the
honorary ones,” I said, knocking my body into Susan’s.

“And you and Annie are
half-sisters?” Carrie asked.

“Amy. Yeah, but my mom and dad
split up when I was a baby. My dad married Amy’s mom, Sharon,
before I could even remember, so Sharon is like my mom too.”

“You and Amy are very different
from each other,” Carrie said. “It’s a lot easier
to believe that you two are sisters.” She nodded to Susan.

“People always say that because
of their coloring, but if you really look at their faces you can
completely see the similarities,” Susan said.

“I meant more… personality
wise,” Carrie said, meeting my gaze with one of her brows
slightly raised.

“Yeah, we’re pretty
different, but we’re also
very close
. She’s one of
the people I care about most in this world.” I gave Carrie a
straight-lipped smile and held her gaze for an extra second before
looking back to the kids in the pool. “Anyway… you said
you own a flower shop. Do you ever work with Karen Blanche Wedding
Services?”

Carrie looked at me with pursed lips
before giving me a bright smile. “I most definitely do. Karen
is actually a friend of mine.”

“Small world. Beza’s one of
the wedding planners. Maybe you guys will work together in the
future,” I said.

Carrie turned her head. “You
know, I thought your wife looked familiar, Susan, but I just assumed
it was because she used to be a model.”

We all turned to where Beza definitely
looked like she was sleeping.

Susan made to stand up, but I touched
her arm. “I’ll go check on her,” I said.

“Thanks… I feel like a
walrus,” she said.

“Well, you don’t look like
one. I hope I’m as gorgeous as you when I’m pregnant,”
Carrie said.

I crossed over to the Jacuzzi and
crouched down beside Beza. “Hey, babes, I think you fell
asleep,” I said as I patted her shoulder.

“Huh,” she said, raising
her head and looking around blearily. “Jamie?”

“You were sleeping,” I told
her.

“Oh, thank you,” she said.

“Hey baby, you really tired?
Maybe we should go.” Susan called over.

Beza wiped water down her face. “Yeah,
I think maybe we should. I’m definitely feeling a little
tired.”

“Yeah, it’s fine with me.
And I’ll drive. Jamie come help me up,” she said, holding
her hands out. Before I reached her, she turned and called, “Aiden!
Time to get out!”

“You better not tip me into the
pool,” I said as I grabbed Susan’s hands.

“I wasn’t thinking about
doing that before,” she said.

“I’ll take you with me,”
I promised.

“Fine,” she said, using me
to leverage herself up.

“Sarah, we’re going in a
second too. It’s time to get out,” I called over.

“But then I’ll be all
alone,” Kay said.

“I’m sorry, Kay, but by the
time we get home, it’ll be pretty late,” I said.

“You should probably be getting
out pretty soon too,” Carrie said.

Kay swam to the side of the pool,
following where Aiden and Sarah were climbing the steps. “I’ll
get out now. It’s boring to be in the pool all by myself. Um,
Sarah’s mom, can Sarah sleep over?”

“Not tonight, sweetheart,”
I said to Kay as I wrapped Sarah up in a towel.

“Wait a second, baby, I have a
towel for you,” Patrick called from somewhere behind me. He
rushed up with a towel, wrapping it tightly around Kay and giving her
a quick kiss on the forehead.

“Hey, I’ll take the kids up
to change if you want to say your goodbyes,” Susan said.

“You sure?” I asked.

“Yeah, Beza already headed up
there and I want to check in with her.”

I grabbed up the Sarah’s clothes
and handed it over to Susan.

“And I’ll help Kay get
ready for bed,” Carrie said, putting an arm around Kay and
practically scooping her away from Patrick.

A moment later, Patrick and I stood
alone next to the pool.

He looked at me, then at the group
disappearing into the house. “I have a feeling that was
intentional,” he said, a smirk poised on his lips.

“I think you might be right.”
I huffed out a laugh. “Thank you so much for inviting us
tonight Patrick, and for extending the invitation to my sister and
her husband.”

“Can I tell you a secret?”

“Always,” I said.

“You might regret that answer
someday,” he said, taking a step closer.

“Ha,” I said. “I
probably won’t. There’s nothing I love more than secrets.
Tell them to me.”

“This barbeque was pretty much
for you,” he said.

“That was very friendly of you,
Patrick,” I said, grinning. “Can I tell you a secret?”

“Sure.”

“I kind of guessed. Your family
was pretty obviously sizing me up,” I said.

“I’m so sorry, that wasn’t
my intention.”

“It’s cool. They know we’re
not actually dating, right?” I asked, taking a step closer to
him.

“We’re still not dating?”
He took one more step in.

“Nope, definitely just friends,”
I said.

“Okay, I’ll try to remember
that,” he said.

I glanced down at his lips, then back
up to his eyes. My words came out a little breathily, “Good, it
could get very awkward if you don’t.”

“Do friends ever go out to dinner
together?”

“Yeah, but they have to go to
crowded, unromantic places, like Kids’ Pizza Arcade or
Spanky’s.”

He burst out laughing. “Those are
two very different places.”

“They were just the first two
places that popped into my head,” I said.

“Well, I’ve actually never
been to either, so as a friend, I think it is your duty to broaden my
horizons,” he said.

“Um, maybe Kids’ Pizza
Arcade. I’m not all that into sports. I get enough of it
Thursday nights at the bar,” I said.

“How’s Tuesday sound?”

“For a non-date to a pizza arcade
with our kids?” I asked.

“Exactly,” he said.

“Yeah, that sounds… that
sounds like fun,” I said.

“Am I allowed to kiss you at the
end of a non-date?” he asked.

I bit my lip to stop myself from
smiling. “Only in the friend kissing-zones zones,” I
said.

“Where are those?”

“Cheeks and forehead,” I
said.

“Oh, good to know, thanks,”
he said.

“Mom!” Sarah plowed into me
and I had to take a step back.

“Whoa, angel,” I said,
smiling down at her wet head. “It’s just about bed time,
ready to go home?”

“No,” she said.

Shaking my head, I said, “Well,
we have to, no matter what. Let’s go say our goodbyes to
everyone.” We hugged everyone, including Amy and Peter, who had
gratefully accepted Patrick’s invitation to stay longer.

Even though Susan, Beza and Aiden
walked out with us, Patrick, Carrie and Kay insisted walking us to
our cars.

“Let’s do this again,”
Carrie said as I rolled down my car window to say one last goodbye.

“Definitely,” I said.

As I started to drive away, I read the
word, “Definitely,” on Patrick’s lips as he watched
us pull away.

“When we get home, you have to
take a quick shower then straight to bed,” I told Sarah. When I
got no response, I asked again, “Did you hear about bed time?”

Glancing in the rearview mirror, I
found Sarah fast asleep.

As we turned east, back toward town and
home, the gibbous moon rose over the Transverse Mountain Ranges. Only
one of her eyes was visible tonight, as if perhaps the moon was
looking elsewhere.

My hands shook as I drove the final
stretch to our apartment. I circled through the whole parking lot,
examining every guest parking. I exited the parking lot, and drove up
and down the street. Finally, I turned back into the parking lot and
circled the parking lot again. I ended at Clarke’s assigned
spot. It was empty. Sighing, I drove up and parked in my assigned
spot.

I quickly climbed out of my car, and
opened Sarah’s door. Unbuckling her from her seatbelt, I picked
her up as gently as I could.

Sarah mumbled, but settled her head on
my shoulder.

I locked my car with the remote, but
threaded my keys through the fingers of my free hand, making a fist
around them. I peeked around the wall. The street light failed in its
reach, leaving the entire area leading up to my apartment dark.

I looked back toward my car, taking a
step in that direction. I held my breath as headlights approached and
a car parked in the spot next to mine.

I exhaled in relief as my neighbor
Sammy and her boyfriend got out of her car.

They climbed out, carrying wetsuits in
their arms, and were turning to walk in the opposite direction when I
said, “Sammy?”

“Hey Jamie, everything okay?”
she asked as she turned around. They both blinked over at me with
bloodshot eyes.

“Kind of. Would you guys mind
walking me to my door? I forgot to leave my porch light on and it’s
pitch black.” I said, lowering my voice when Sarah groaned on
my shoulder.

“Yeah, no problem,” Sammy’s
boyfriend said.

“Yeah, of course, Jamie,”
Sammy echoed. They changed their direction, walking with me toward
the back of the parking lot.

“You two just come back from
surfing?” I whispered.

“Yeah,” Sammy said in a
hushed vice.

“How was it?” I asked.

“Beautiful weather but not many
waves to catch. It was nice to be on the beach all day though,”
Sammy said.

“Really nice,” her
boyfriend echoed.

They waited for me to unlock my door,
and I turned the porch light on for them once I was inside.

“Thank you guys so much,” I
whispered out the door.

“Anytime, Jamie, nice to see
you,” Sammy whispered back.

Once inside, I double locked the door
before going to lay Sarah down in her bed. I tucked her in and kissed
her forehead. Before leaving her room, I checked all her windows to
see if they were locked.

I checked every window and place large
enough to hide in the house.

When I’d checked the house
thoroughly, I whispered to myself, “Oh, my god, Jamie, you are
acting like a crazy person.” But still, I checked the house one
final time before going to sleep.

Day
Three

Downward
Facing Dog

I woke with Sarah’s cheek
smashing into mine. “Space, I need space,” I said in a
muffled voice.

“Good morning, angel!”
Sarah shouted as she bounced off me, and stood up to jump on the bed.

“No,” I whispered, “stop
doing that. Oh my god, you have so much energy,” I grumbled. I
made my way to the kitchen in a blurry haze.

I stared at the empty carafe of coffee.
“I hate you, Susan,” I whispered as I wandered back into
my room to where Sarah and my pillows were still bouncing on my bed.
“Come take a quick shower baby. You didn’t have one last
night,” I said. I walked across the hall into the bathroom and
turned the water on. “Time to shower, Sarah,” I called
when she didn’t come over.

After a few more seconds, the springs
on my bed ceased their screeching, and a loud thump sounded. A moment
later Sarah appeared in the bathroom.

“I will take a shower now, Mom,”
Sarah said.

“Thank you baby, I’ll set
clothes out for you on your bed. Do you want me to make you something
for breakfast or just yogurt and fruit?” I asked.

“Yogurt, bananas, juice,”
she said.

“Sounds good. Don’t take
too long because you have to go on the bus today,” I told her
before leaving the bathroom.

Trudging back into my room, I dressed
for work, cringing when I opened my underwear drawer only to find the
stupid lacey thongs.

“Shit, I forgot to go stupid
underwear shopping,” I grumbled as I grabbed a red lacey
g-string. I finished dressing in my work clothes, then went to
Sarah’s room to make her bed and lay out her outfit for the
day. I packed two additional bags. One overnight bag for me and
Sarah, and one bag with my yoga clothes.

Going into the kitchen, I grabbed two
yogurts from the fridge and two bananas from their basket. While
eating the banana, I checked Sarah’s backpack to make sure it
had everything she needed in it and set it by the door.

“Time to get out of the shower,
angel,” I said at the door and waited until I heard the water
turn off.

My phone beeped with a new text and I
crossed back into my bedroom to grab it.

Cameron:
Good
morning beautiful.

I bit my lip. A million hummingbirds
took flight in my stomach, but a strange bout of tears welled up in
my eyes.

Me:
Hey
yourself.

Cameron:
I
had a dream about you.

Me:
A
good dream?