Save Me - Lisa Scottoline [44]
“So why don’t you just go over? If she likes Melly that much, she won’t mind. You have the sitter until nine, you might as well use her.” Annie checked her watch. “I should go, too. Forget the chips for the boys. Mom’s tired.”
“Okay, it’s a plan.” Rose leaned over and gave her a hug. “You’re the best. Thanks so much for coming.”
“I’ll be in Philly all week. Call me if you need me. Give everybody kisses for me, would you?”
“Yes. Same to Simon and the boys. Love you.”
“You, too.” Annie opened the door and climbed out of the car, her eyes glittering with mischief. “By the way, I’m keeping this sweater. I’ll give it to the homeless lady on my corner.”
“No!” Rose smiled. “Gimme back my sweater.”
Annie laughed. “Why, you going to a funeral?”
Rose blinked, caught up short, thinking instantly of Amanda.
Annie’s smile faded. “Oops, sorry. I just stuck my foot in my mouth, didn’t I?”
“Nah, and keep the sweater.” Rose tried to rally. “Then maybe I won’t need it, right?”
“Right!” Annie said, closing the door.
Chapter Twenty-six
Rose walked up the brick walkway to Kristen’s house, a boxy duplex on a street of older rowhouses. A man in a white undershirt and jeans was washing a red Ford pickup in the driveway, and he shut off the hose when he saw Rose.
“Whoops, didn’t mean to spray you,” he said with a grin. “Hi.”
“Hello, I’m here to see Kristen. I’m a parent of one of the kids in her class.”
“Jacob Horton. I live on the first floor. Just a heads-up, Kristen came home, upset. She was over at Fiore’s.”
“Thanks, bye.” Rose went to the set of exterior steps, climbed to the second floor, reached the wooden landing, and knocked on the screen door. “Kristen!” She waited but there was no answer, so she knocked again. “Kristen?”
The door opened, and Kristen stood in the doorway, dressed in a black cotton dress, wiping tears from her eyes. “Rose?”
“Can I come in, for a minute?”
“Okay.” Kristen sniffled and stepped aside, and Rose entered and gave her a big hug.
“I know it’s a hard time for you and the other teachers.”
“It’s so awful, everything’s so awful.” Kristen hugged her back, then released her, wiping her eyes. “The wakes were so sad, and Mrs. Nuru and Mr. Rodriguez are so angry, and there were even reporters there, asking me a zillion questions, like how Melly and Amanda got along.”
“I know. I was there.” Rose looked around, her eyes adjusting to the light in the small living room. A black suitcase rested on a red-checked couch, and T-shirts and shorts sat stacked in a pile on top of a painted bookshelf, ready to be packed. “Are you going somewhere?”
“I’m sorry, I’m leaving. I can’t take it anymore. I quit.”
“What?” Rose asked, aghast. “When? Why?”
“It’s all too much. I messed up here, I talk too much, and I can’t work here, watching everything I say, walking on eggshells.” Kristen’s eyes welled up again, her freckled skin mottled with emotion. “Mr. Rodriguez said I have bad judgment and loose lips sink ships. I give up. I’m not cut out to be a teacher, at least not here, not anymore. I’m going.”
“Wait, slow down.” Rose thought of Melly. “I was just saying this will pass, it has to.”
“No, it won’t, and it doesn’t have to.”
“Yes, it will, Kristen. You’re young and you don’t realize. Time changes things. Things you don’t think you’ll survive, you do. I know, I’ve lived it.”
“Sorry, I’ve made my decision. I’m leaving. I’m sorry.” Kristen turned on her heel, picked up two T-shirts, and tossed them into the suitcase, startling a white cat that bounded out of the room, his tail high.
“But what about Melly? And what about the other kids in the program? They just went through a trauma, and Amanda’s still in the hospital. They need you, now more than ever. Melly needs you.”
“I’m just the gifted teacher, and not that experienced, as Mrs. Nuru keeps reminding me.”
“But the kids love you. Melly loves you.”
“I have your number, I’ll call her.” Kristen placed a quilted toiletries case into the suitcase. “I’ll stay in touch with her.”
“It’s not the same.”
“Don’t you think I know that? Don’t you think I feel guilty