“The anticipation is half the pleasure,” Patty said, and Nick and Julie quickly smiled at each other and then looked away.
“It may be cool enough now,” Julie suggested. It was, and they each had a piece, with Matthew eating bits of Patty’s slice from her fork.
“We should have made two!” Nick said. “That was a lot of work and it’s half gone already.”
“It’s really good,” Patty said. “You guys should make pie more often. But you’re right, next time you should make two.”
“We were trying to find a good hobby for Nick,” Julie said. “I think maybe ‘weekend pastry chef’ is it.”
“I’m in favor,” Patty said.
“Even if it means spending more time at Mom’s house so we have a kid-free kitchen?” Julie wondered if that was going to be his way of getting some alone time with her.
Patty sighed. She probably knew what Nick was getting at, but she didn’t let on. “Mom does love to spend time with the kids. I wish I could pull the cord on her cable when we get there, so she wouldn’t get riled up every 15 minutes. But I’ve got a strategy. When she starts going off into some political rant, I start describing the baby’s diapers in extreme detail, asking her if she thinks it’s normal. So far, that’s worked.”
“So, next Sunday. Another apple and maybe one more … chocolate?”
“You can make whatever pies you want. Brad is probably going to miss out on this one.
“I know he is,” Nick said. “If you guys want another piece, speak now, because I’m going to eat whatever you don’t.”
Patty took another slice. “I’m on the nursing mom diet plan,” she said, “so I can afford the calories.” She deftly ate her second slice without missing a crumb even as baby Jameson nestled under her blouse for his own snack.
“Not for me, thanks,” Julie said. She always felt shy about eating dessert in front of other people anyway; she definitely wasn’t going to eat a second piece of pie in front of Nick. He felt no such shyness, eating the final two pieces right out of the pan as his sister rolled her eyes.
Chapter 8
Julie had been trying to lose 20 pounds since her freshman year of college, trying every diet imaginable. She had done low-carb, no-carb, intuitive eating, vegan and keto. She’d tried several liquid diets and had tried exercising for two hours every day. Some of the diets didn’t work at all. She’d gained weight on the keto. With some others, she lost the weight but regained it when she’d gone back to eating regular food — even a week’s vacation could erase all her progress.
Frustrated, she tried to accept that this was the weight her body wanted her to be. And it wasn’t like she was 600 pounds; her extra bit of weight didn’t seem to be affecting her life in any way. She was just a little bit heavier than she wanted to be. For some reason, Jolene had never carried an extra pound in her life. Even when pregnant, she never gained more than the ideal amount of weight and it was always gone by the time the baby was a couple months old. So if the issue was genetic, it had certainly not affected Jolene.
She had been surprised when Derek had pursued her. They’d met at a family party she’d gone to with her grandparents after her freshman year of college. It had been attended mostly by older people, so naturally they were thrown together. She already knew who he was; they attended the same college, where he was a popular athlete three years ahead of her, but he had had no idea who she was. They made small talk, and she had assumed it was just because she was the only girl there who was remotely his age. She was shocked when he’d asked for her phone number, and even more shocked when he seemed to really like her.
She always tried to dress in ways that worked with her figure. The only thing she liked about being a little overweight was that her breasts were fuller than they would otherwise be, so she tended to wear tops that were a little lower cut. She didn’t go overboard, but if she had a choice between a V-neck sweater or turtleneck, she’d go with the V-neck every time.
For the longest time, she couldn’t figure out why Derek was dating her. She’d seen some of the super-popular skinny girls he’d dated in the past, and she had nothing in common with them. Maybe it was the family connection, she’d mused. Their grandparents were close friends. But that was hardly a reason to date someone.
They had become serious fairly quickly, but all he wanted to do at first was lavish attention on her breasts. She assumed he was holding off on asking for more than second base out of respect. Then, eventually, she got it: Breasts were the be-all and end-all for Derek. Even when they finally progressed to having full sex, he spent the majority of their time in bed absolutely worshipping her breasts.
This was fine with her. She’d never had an especially positive body image, but now she at least felt very good about her breasts. How could she not, with Derek continuously going on and on about how amazing and perfect they were? It was only later, after the breakup, when she realized a man’s opinion of her body should have no bearing on her personal body image.
Chapter 9
Julie kept busy tossing toys into toy boxes and placing books on shelves. Trying to gather all the pieces to various toys, puzzles and games and keep them together was the biggest challenge. But she wanted to vacuum the floor, and that meant getting all the toys off the floor for at least five minutes. Keeping the disorder of the playroom under control was almost a full-time job.
The whole time, she tried to imagine what approach to take with Jolene. Should she leave Nick out of it and present it as her own theory? Or would Jolene dismiss it out of hand? Could Jolene talk to her husband’s doctor? She wasn’t sure what kind of privacy laws would apply. She had researched opioid addiction after her conversation with Nick and was more sure than ever that Ken fit the description.
Finally, Jolene approached her.
“You’ve been attacking that playroom for hours. Why don’t you give it a break? It’s impossible to get that room into perfect order anyway. Come have a glass of iced tea with me.”
The kids were raptly watching a movie together, something Jolene didn’t love but guiltily resorted to more than she liked these days.
“OK,” Julie said. “I need to talk to you, and I’m not sure the best way to do it.”
“If it’s about bringing Nick over, I’ve been thinking about that,” Jolene said. “I’m just not sure how I’d explain it to the children. I know you’re an adult, and I appreciate you living here, but I don’t see how I can—”
“It’s not that,” Julie said. She’d already assumed Jolene wouldn’t be cool with Nick sleeping over, so there was no reason to go into that right now anyway.
“Something is on your mind,” Jolene said. “I can tell.”
“I’m thinking about when Ken had that car accident,” she said. “I have an idea of what might be going on with him.” She looked at Jolene, gauging her reaction.
“I’m listening.”
“I know he was taking some heavy duty painkillers after the accident, and I know his recovery took a long time. So I want you to consider that some of his behavior recently is suggestive of an opiod addiction.”
Jolene opened her mouth to protest but only a small sound came out. She closed it.
“I think maybe his addiction has gotten bad enough that he knows he can’t hide it from the people around him anymore. He might think he’s protecting you and the kids,” Julie ventured.
“I can’t see Ken using drugs. He has a strong personal moral code. We didn’t even have sex until our wedding night! No, I can’t imagine he’d ever abuse drugs.”
“I think you’re forgetting how addiction works. Ken wouldn’t be the first person to start taking opioids after an injury and then to be unable to stop. And if this is what’s going on, it has to be eating him up inside. Imagine. He must hate what’s happening, but he can’t function without it. He’d throw up and shake and be unable to do anything if he were in withdrawal. I think you should call his doctor and see if he’ll talk to you.
�
�He’d hate that. And I doubt the doctor will talk to me, anyway, since we’re separated.”
“Well, there’s a decent chance he hasn’t updated his medical records yet. He may still have you down as an approved person to speak to. It’s worth asking about. Or, actually, you might be able to access it online. Do you use the patient portal on the hospital website?
“Yes,” Jolene said. “They suggested we do it when he was in the car accident. There was so much going on. It was helpful. I haven’t logged on in months, though. I’m going to see if I can get into it now,” she said, and rushed off.
Julie wasn’t sure what she hoped for. An opioid addiction would be terrible news, but sometimes, even terrible news was better than knowing nothing. While Jolene was attempting to check her husband’s records online, Julie continued cleaning the room. If she ever had children, she vowed, she’d control the toy situation better. This was nuts. Everything from baby-friendly soft rattles to the more complicated toys with millions of pieces favored by the older kids was stuffed into this one room, and it was chaos. But when you thought about it, with four kids, each having a birthday and Christmas every year, it was no wonder the family had accumulated a sea of toys. She patiently hunted down the play money from one of the board games and, with great satisfaction, put the game on a high shelf, far from Georgie’s reach. She’d made a small dent in the mess, but still not enough to vacuum, when Jolene rushed back into the room. Her face looked pale.
“I think you’re right. I got into the portal. Not sure he even knows it exists. Anyway, yeah, from the time of the accident, he was getting opioid prescriptions. And he was getting them steadily until a few months ago. He seemed fine to me at the time. I didn’t notice anything. His last prescription was for about a month before he left me. It looks like his doctor suddenly cut him off.”
“And my guess is he tried to get by, but couldn’t, and when he couldn’t get any more from his doctor, he turned to … other sources. And he didn’t want you to know, or to be blamed if it got to the point that he was arrested.”
“It’s the first thing that’s made sense. But now what?”
“Well, my thought is, you tell him you think you know what’s going on, and you suggest a good rehab program.”
“He doesn’t answer any of my letters. They come back marked ‘return to sender.’ And besides that, he hasn’t even been responding to correspondence from my attorney.”
“It’s worth trying,” Julie said.
“What made you think about opioids, anyway?”
Julie bit her lip. “I’m not sure how to tell you this, but Nick suggested it. He works with him, and he had a roommate who used, so he recognized the signs.”
Now Jolene was livid. “So you’re just going around talking about my private business with the first guy to turn your head? This is my life, Julie! It isn’t yours to gossip about!”
Julie winced. This is exactly why she’d dreaded talking to Jolene.
“No, Jolene, that’s not how that happened. Nick brought up what he called the ‘odd’ behavior of his boss before he knew Ken is my brother-in-law. I didn’t acknowledge that I knew who his boss was until then. He isn’t gossiping. He is just concerned.”
“Well, he needs to mind his own business. And so do you.”
“I understand that this is a shock and that it’s embarrassing. But if Ken does have a secret drug problem, it won’t be a secret for long. People have noticed at work. His job is in jeopardy, and if he loses it, he isn’t going to be able to keep supporting this household. So I’d say you need to do everything you can to find out if he needs rehab if you want your marriage to have a chance. Or maybe you have another idea for how you’ll support your kids?”
Jolene’s eyes widened and her hands went to her pregnant belly. “I can just imagine you and your little junior computer geek boyfriend discussing my marriage and finances and whether my husband is on drugs in between feeling each other up. It’s disgusting.” At that, Jolene flounced off to her room and Julie heard the lock click.
“That went well,” she muttered to herself.
She tiptoed into the family room, where the kids were still watching their movie. It was one they’d all seen dozens of times, so Julie knew at a glance there was about an hour left. When the movie ended, they’d be looking for the next thing to do.
She returned to the playroom, methodically matching loose game pieces and locating boxes and plastic tubs to hold related items. What she wanted to do was bring in a few big garbage bags and restore order by purging 90 percent of the toys. But she knew better.
Slowly, she made progress, and when she was down to the last pile, she threw all the random stuff into a box to deal with later. For now, she wanted to get the floor clean before the kids poured back in. She dragged in the heavy vacuum and assembled it into the right configuration for vacuuming hard floors. She idly wondered when vacuums had become so cumbersome and complicated. Growing up, their vacuum was an old upright that nobody ever used the attachments for. You plugged it in and pushed it around until the floor was clean and that was it. Every couple of months you replaced the paper bag that held the crud. This vacuum had to be emptied every time you used it. Julie hated it.
But now the room was clean and organized, not counting the box of random stuff she’d stashed in the closet. And by the sound of the movie, she’d finished just in time. Maybe she should take a picture of the room, just to prove it had been perfect for one brief moment in time.
The movie ended and she took control of the remote and turned it off, knowing the kids would watch movie after movie like little zombies otherwise.
“Come check out the playroom!” she said. It was both a suggestion and an order, and they dutifully trooped in. “Look how nice and clean it is,” she said. “Let’s try to keep it that way. Isn’t it nice to have plenty of room for playing instead of having the whole floor covered with scattered toys?”
“Can we watch another movie?” Eddie asked. Julie gave up. The playroom was a doomed project.
“No,” she said. “One movie per customer. Now you can go play in the backyard or you can help me make dinner. Your choice!” She knew that would get them all to the backyard. There was a solid fence and the gate was locked from the inside, so she could let them play out there without worry. The kitchen window overlooked the yard, so she could keep an eye on Georgie.
Her textbooks beckoned, but she decided to delay studying until the kids had gone to bed. And she wondered, once again, if she’d really been wise to move in with Jolene. It was good for Jolene, without a doubt. And it was good for the children. And for Julie’s anemic bank account. But it wasn’t good for her studies and it wasn’t good for her sleep.
Getting her advanced nursing degree was vital to her future plans. The last thing she wanted was to end up in Jolene’s vulnerable position. Her grades hadn’t dropped, but she was struggling more, mostly because good sleep was so hard to come by here. In theory, she should be able to simply close her bedroom door and have her study time respected, but what had happened instead was her presence had meant Jolene leaned on her more than Julie had expected she would. Right now, here she was making dinner — potato soup — because Jolene was upset.
It wasn’t fair. It was Jolene’s marriage and Jolene’s children. It wasn’t Julie’s problem to fix. Yet, here she was, letting two chopped onions slowly caramelize in bacon grease as she peeled and diced a mound of potatoes and shredded several carrots with the food processor. She dumped everything into the pot and added chicken broth. She waited a few minutes after the broth came to a boil to give the potatoes a head start, and then added a good amount of orzo pasta. She stirred often because the mixture thickened considerably as the pasta absorbed the water. When the potatoes were nearly soft, she added milk until the soup was of the consistency she wanted. Then she turned the heat down very low and added salt and pepper. She gave it a taste and was satisfied. The only thing left was to finely chop the spinach. It always looke
d like a huge mound, but it would shrink into nothing. She’d add it just before calling the children to dinner.
Just now, they were playing together beautifully. Eddie and Lizzie were kicking a soft, oversized ball around, taking care to include Georgie and Tori enough to keep them entertained. She stepped away from the kitchen long enough to set the table, and then glanced out again. Everything looked fine out there, so she decided she’d grab some notes and go sit outside for a while. If she turned off the burner and covered the pot, the soup would hold its heat without any danger of it burning onto the bottom. She added all the chopped spinach, gave it a good stir and covered it before entering the backyard. A little fresh air would do her good. Maybe if she held dinner for a bit, Jolene would have time to pull herself together and come out to eat with them. She certainly wasn’t going to handle the clean-up, she decided. Her homework was calling her name.
She settled onto a patio chair and tried to review some notes. But she soon had to give it up. There was no way to concentrate on microbiology and monitor four children at the same time. Instead, she let her mind wander to Nick. He’d crept into her life by mistake. If he’d been nice to her from the beginning and had asked her out, she’d have politely turned him down. She had turned down dates from several other perfectly nice guys since her engagement ended because she just had no interest in trying to combine dating and academics, and very little interest in trying to learn to trust anyone again. Add in the responsibilities she had accidentally committed to with Jolene’s household, and she must be crazy to be dating.
Her phone vibrated and she fished it out of her pocket.
It was Nick: “Can’t wait to see you all covered in flour again”
She texted back: “You dirty boy”
Nick: “What are you cooking tonight?”
Julie: “Potato soup”
Nick: “Send pic”
Julie: “I will”
Perfect Fit (Small-Town Secrets-Fairview Series Book 4) Page 9
