Crystal Lies - Melody Carlson [47]
“What are you—”
“Don’t worry” I smiled. “I only stopped by to say hello.”
He seemed both relieved and yet still agitated. “We came here to celebrate,” he said quickly. “The lawsuit is finally over. We won. John and Anton should be joining us any minute.” He glanced over his shoulder as if wishing for the other two city councilmen to suddenly appear out of nowhere. However, their table was only set for two, and once again, I knew my husband was lying.
“You must be so happy.” I looked evenly at him, then over to her and back to him again. “Congratulations,” I said,“to both of you.”
He nodded. “Yes, its a huge relief.”
“Well, here then.” I handed him my bill. “Since you’re celebrating and all.”
He nodded. “No problem.”
“It’s certainly a lot cheaper than taking me on that anniversary trip to the Caribbean.”
Then I turned and walked away All right, a free dinner under those particular circumstances wasn’t much of a prize. But I did get a pitiful bit of satisfaction for interrupting them like that and, I hoped, spoiling their dinner.
By the time Jacob came home, I had removed my new designer suit and donned my old gray sweats again. Even so, he did a double take when he came in the door.
“Wow, Mom, you look different,” he said as he put a pizza box on the counter, one of the perks of his job. Sometimes an order was wrong, and if no one wanted it, the employees were allowed to take it home.
I patted my hair. “It was Sherry’s idea.”
“Looks really cool,” he said as he came and flopped down on the couch beside me. “How was work?”
He sighed and shook his head. “My manager is a jerk.”
“Why’s that?”
“He fired Daniel today.”
“That’s too bad. Why?”
“Just because he was late.”
“That seems pretty harsh. Had Daniel been late before?”
“Yeah, I guess. But even so, Daniel was a hard worker. Some of the other guys spend all their time trying to get out of work. Daniel would really get in there and get stuff done.”
“Too bad. Does Daniel have some idea for another job?”
He shrugged. “I don’t know.” He looked up at the clock. “I was thinking I might go over and try to cheer him up. Do you mind?”
So far Jacob had been good to come home every night after work. He’d play his music and watch TV and finally go to bed. It had been comforting knowing where he was this past week. Suddenly the idea of his going out made me uneasy. Still, I knew that I couldn’t make him stay home against his will.
“Do you work tomorrow?” I asked.
“Yeah, but not until three.”
“Oh.”
“I just feel worried about Daniel,” Jacob said as he stood up. He reached for the pizza box. “Do you want any of this, Mom?” I shook my head. “No, I’ve already eaten.”
“I thought I’d take it to Daniel.” Then he smiled that same dashing smile that had gotten him past me time after time. “You don’t mind being alone tonight, do you, Mom?”
“No, I’m fine.”
“I won’t be out late,” he assured me as he headed for the door.
“Drive carefully,” I said, not even sure why I bothered. Habit I guess.
“Oh yeah,” he said. “I’m almost out of gas, and I don’t get paid until next week. Do you think I could borrow some cash, Mom? I promise I’ll pay you back.”
I pulled my purse over and fished out a twenty and handed it to him. “You don’t have to pay me back, Jake,” I told him. “I’m just glad that you have a job and are making good choices.” I looked into his eyes and hoped that my words were the truth.
“I’m glad too, Mom. It feels really good to be clean and working. I’ve even been thinking about school.”
“Really?” I felt a surge of hope.
“Yeah. I know it’s too late for fall term now. But maybe I could look into winter.”
“Oh, Jacob!” I smiled broadly. “That would be so great.”
“Yeah, I think it’d be cool.” He nodded. “Have a good evening.”
“You, too,” I called as he left.
I suppose I wasn’t too surprised when he still hadn’t come home by midnight, but I wished I’d thought to ask for