“I just really appreciate your understanding, Zoe.”
“What’s not to understand? I wouldn’t be much of a boss if I didn’t understand that women in the workplace have ever-changing needs when it comes to motherhood and child care. And you’ve only been at this for two days, so you’re just finding your way. I understand that.”
“You say that like it hasn’t been a big fat inconvenience, but I know otherwise.”
“Oh, Sidney.” It was an it’s-no-big-deal blustery exclamation, and Sidney could imagine Zoe waving a dismissive hand when she uttered it. “It’s just a few days. Besides, Julie jumped at the chance for some extra hours. We’re fine here until you get this thing with your new foster worked out.”
“Are you sure, Zoe? I mean, we’re talking about me taking the rest of the week off.”
“Yes, I’m sure. Just as long as you understand that you’ll still have to deal with your friend on that special project.”
She was talking about Ronan, and Sidney nodded as though her boss could see her over the phone.
“Yes, I understand. And you’re a saint, you know that, right?”
“Why, yes, I do. I was just waiting for the rest of the world to figure that out.”
Sidney laughed out loud.
“How’s the little guy doing today, anyway?”
“You know, he’s actually a really good little boy. I just wish he wasn’t so sad. I feel like we’re not seeing the real him yet, if that makes sense.”
“It does. The poor thing will probably be sad for a while. But kids are very resilient, Sidney. I know you hear that all the time, but it really is true. Especially for one so young as he is.”
“I hope you’re right. I just want him to bounce back and have a happy childhood. A good, safe childhood.”
“And he’ll have that with you and Isaac.”
Sidney’s heart got snagged on those words, fraying and unraveling at the ends like a ribbon. If there was no other family available to take Greer in, could he be placed with her and Ike permanently? Could they be his new foster parents for real?
Did they even want to be?
“Any word yet from your friend, on our problem by the way?”
The question snapped Sidney back from the brink her thoughts were going to.
“Um, no. Not yet, but I’ll let you know as soon as I hear from him.”
Beep.
The chime sounded in her ear and Sidney pulled the phone back to have a look at the screen.
“Oh, hey Zoe, that’s my sister trying to beep in. Can I call you back?”
“Sure. Talk to you later.”
“Okay, bye.” Sidney disconnected the call and answered the new one. “Hey, Heather, what’s up?”
“Hi, Sid! How are you?”
The bubbly greeting made Sidney smile. Her sister was always so upbeat.
“You would not believe me even if I told you.”
“Ah, what’s that supposed to mean?” Heather sounded both curious and cautious at the same time.
Sidney shook her head, not eager to launch into an explanation just yet. “You know what? It’s a long story. Let’s start with you. What’s going on?”
“And that didn’t sound at all vague and mysterious, but okay.” Heather’s tone brightened at the end of that sentence. “So I was calling because I have a question I’d like to ask you, and I want you to be really super honest with me.”
“All right, shoot.” Sidney walked into the kitchen to get Greer’s lunch ready while he was busy watching Sesame Street.
“Well, I’ve been thinking a lot lately about possibly moving.”
“Right, up to northern California, like you mentioned?”
“Nooo.” Heather drug the word out. “I mean, I did mention that, but no. Now I’m actually thinking about leaving Cali altogether. Starting fresh someplace new, you know?”
“Really?” Sidney put some of the leftover lo mein noodles in the microwave. “What brought on that decision?”
“Well, you know that my mom and I aren’t really close. And now that Daddy’s gone, I just feel so alone out here.”
It was still so strange to hear Heather refer to Carlton as ‘Daddy.’
Carlton Fairchild, the man who had fathered Sidney and Simon, and then walked out of their lives when Sidney was a very little girl, only to resurface last year wanting to get to know them. After all that time.
After all those years.
After all that hurt.
But he was terminal. Dying and desperate for one last chance to get to know the children he’d walked away from.
They’d both fallen for it and let their guard down. Let him back in. If only for a few weeks. And then they’d both been blindsided when they went to his funeral and discovered three half siblings the son-of-a-bitch had never bothered to tell them about.
Heather was one of them.
In fact, out of Carlton’s five children, Heather was the only one who’d actually had the privilege of being raised by him. The only one who had a real relationship with him, and therefore the only one who truly grieved his loss.
She was also the only one of Sidney’s new siblings who showed any interest in being family. She reached out to Sidney and Simon regularly with phone calls and texts. She’d even inserted herself into their Christmas celebration last year. But Sidney didn’t mind. She was actually enjoying getting to know her younger sister.
“Well, I guess I can understand that,” Sidney said. “So where are you thinking about moving to?”
Heather hesitated, and Sidney could hear the apprehension in the words Heather wasn’t saying.
“Well,” Heather drew that word out too. “Lately I’ve been thinking a lot about… Ohio.”
“Oh.”
Now it was all beginning to make sense, and Sidney slowly wrapped her mind around the prospect. The low-key shock wore off quickly.
“Really?”
“Yeah. And I was just wondering… you know… if you would have any sort of objections or reservations about that idea?”
Sidney could hear the hope threaded throughout Heather’s voice. And she wondered exactly what kind of objections her sister was expecting her to have.
“Why would I have reservations, Heather?”
“I don’t know. Maybe because you wouldn’t want me hanging around so much?”
“You know, you are a grown woman. You don’t need my permission to move to the same state I live in. And I’m not going to try to talk you out of it either if that’s what you’re wondering.”
Sidney paused and thought about Heather’s naïve spirit. She was coming at this from a round about way, and Sidney needed to just cut through the pretense and tell Heather what she wanted to hear.
Besides it was the truth, wasn’t it?
“And selfishly, Heather, I think I might like having both you and Simon close by.”
“Really?” The joy in Heather’s voice made her smile. “You wouldn’t mind?”
“No, I wouldn’t mind.”
“Even if I moved to Cleveland, near you?”
Sidney sighed and tried not to roll her eyes. She set Greer in his makeshift highchair at the table and served him his lunch.
“Not only don’t I mind, but one of my best friends just happens to be a realtor here. Her name is Miku. Would you like her number?”
Heather squealed, nearly breaking Sidney’s eardrum.
“This is going to be so great! I promise that I won’t be a pain, Sidney. You won’t regret me moving there, I swear it.”
Sidney laughed. “You moving here is not a threat, Heather. You don’t have to promise not to bug me too much.”
“I know. I just… I don’t want you to say it’s okay if you really don’t want me around. You’re under absolutely no obligation to include me in your family, and I know that. But I just—”
“Oh, my God. Heather, stop!” Try as she might, Sidney couldn’t stop the eye roll this time. “It’s not a big deal.”
There was a slight pause on the other end of the line.
“But you’re wrong, Sid.” Heather’s voice was soft and carried more than a hint of sadness. “It’s a huge deal. You don’t think I know that I’m basically begging you and Simon to fill the void Daddy left when he died? That I know I’m begging for acceptance? I know how pathetic I am.”
Sidney immediately regretted her flare of impatience.
“You’re not pathetic, Heather. You’re just lonely. And there’s no shame in that. You recently lost your dad; the one person you could always count on. And as foreign as that concept is to me, I know that it was a big blow for you. But you don’t have to stay lonely. You do still have family that cares about you. And Simon and I are happy to be that family.”
She could hear Heather’s tears over the phone. “Thank you, Sidney.”
“There’s nothing to thank me for.”
They talked about other things then, like Greer coming into their lives, and how Simon was doing with his new girlfriend, Jamie. When they finally got off the phone, Sidney texted Miku Sato’s information to Heather. Then she texted Miku to let her know to be expecting a call from her sister.
After that, Sidney got Greer cleaned up from his lunch and read to him from a children’s book she’d downloaded onto her phone.
When he was down for a nap, Sidney collapsed on the couch.
“Why are you so exhausted, Sidney?”
She asked the question to herself and then glanced around the living room that looked like a small tornado had run through it. She was even too worn out to clean.
She realized that she was still trying to get used to taking care of a toddler and that a lot of it was mental. Especially since she’d never done this before. But she felt so incredibly bone tired, and she wondered when it would get easier.
If they were given permanent foster care of Greer, how long would it take before they settled into a routine? How long would it take before she felt like she knew what she was doing? Had they been crazy to become foster parents in the first place?
There were so many questions, questions, questions floating around in her head, and Sidney had no clue where to begin finding answers to any of them.
She was so tired.
She stretched out on the sectional sofa and closed her eyes.
The buzzing of her cellphone interrupted her nap attempt. She grabbed it and checked the screen. A text from a number she didn’t recognize.
Unknown number:
Cryptic. But effective.
There was no doubt in her mind that the text was from Ronan O’Dwyer, and he was letting her know that he’d finally come up with a possible solution to her and Zoe’s problem of helping women to run from their abusers without anyone from Hope House purchasing false documents.
She thought about baby Greer and suddenly wondered how motherhood — or even foster motherhood — was going to mesh with working at the women’s shelter. It was, after all, a potentially dangerous place.
Her thumbs moved over the keypad.
Sidney:
Unknown number:
Sidney:
She dialed Zoe and then repositioned on the sectional.
“Sidney?” Zoe’s voice held a lot of curiosity. “I thought you were taking some time off. Stop calling and thinking about work.”
“That’s easier said than done, Zoe. Especially when I get cryptic texts from consultants implying they have a possible solution to our work problem.”
“Ohh, I see. Tell me more.”
“Well, that’s really all I know at the moment. He said we could hear more details at a place called Margo’s Diner downtown. All we have to do is tell him when. I told him we’d be in touch.”
“Margo’s Diner? I don’t know it. Do you?”
“Not really. I mean, I know I’ve passed by it before, but I’ve never been in there. It’s not in a bad area.”
“Hmm. Well, when do you think you’d be able to get away? I think we should do this together.”
“I think so too. And honestly… I have no idea when I might be able to get away for a bit. Maybe in a couple of days?”
“Okay. Well, let’s not keep him hanging. Text him back and let him know that it’ll be a few days due to personal logistics. And let him know we’ll compensate him for the delay.”
“You got it.”
“Thanks, Sid. Then after you do that, don’t think about work for at least the rest of the day. That’s an order.”
Sidney smiled. “Yes, boss.”
She disconnected the call and then brought up that text chain.
Sidney:
Unknown number:
Sidney set the cellphone aside with a sigh and glanced at the clock. Maybe she could get a quick power nap in to recharge her depleted batteries.