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I was grateful when my phone buzzed, distracting me from getting too maternally mopey about my baby’s impending first day of school. Peggy’s number flashed on the screen, and I answered it with a smile for my daughter with syrup smeared across her cheek. She might have been getting big, but she wasn’t grown just yet. “Hey, Peggy. What’s up?”
“First, I just need you to know your gran is okay.”
I stiffened, gripping the phone tighter while trying to keep a smile on my face for the little girl in front of me. “What happened?”
Peggy sighed. “She came for a walk to the mailbox with me and tripped on that cracked sidewalk that’s needed fixing for the past few months. She fell just a few minutes after you left.”
I checked the time on the diner’s clock. “That was an hour ago!” I clutched my handbag, gathering up our things. “Where are you? I’m coming.”
“No, don’t. We’re at the hospital. Her hip is broken—”
“What?” I gasped, sitting back down heavily. “Peggy, no!”
“I know, honey. It’s okay. She’ll be all right. I have her. The doctors have her sedated, and they’re taking her in for surgery.”
“Surgery! Why didn’t you call me?”
“There wasn’t even time until just now. She was scared and needed me to be the familiar face while the paramedics worked on her. I’m sorry, I know you want to be here. But that interview this morning is important, honey. There’s nothing you can do for your gran until she’s out of surgery and recovery. I know it’s hard, but go do what you need to do and then come up to the hospital this afternoon.”
I stared down at a napkin I’d been absently shredding into confetti. “Did the doctors say anything else?”
Peggy sighed. “No. But, Lyric, you need to brace yourself for this to be a long recovery, and not one that’s going to happen in your home. Fractured hips in a woman her age take a long time to heal.”
“But she will heal?”
“Damn right she will. She’s a stubborn old goat. No fractured hip is going to keep her down, we’ll see to that.”
I smiled softly. I was lucky to have Peggy. She loved my gran and Amelia almost as much as I did. I knew Gran thought of her as a daughter. Peggy filled a space in all of our lives that my mother had left gaping when she’d abandoned us. She was right about Amelia’s interview. If we cancelled, we may not be given another shot. Places at Edgely Academy were limited, and the waiting list was long. We needed to nail it on the first go. There wasn’t any room for making a bad impression by cancelling at the last minute, even if we did have a really good excuse.
“I’m really glad you were with her, Peg. Please don’t leave until I get there.”
“Wouldn’t dream of it. Take your time. I’ll be here with my crosswords until she gets out. I’ll keep you updated if the doctors tell me anything more.”
I hung up and plastered on a smile for Amelia. “Ready to go, Slugger?”
“Yep!”
I wiped her sticky face and fingers with wet wipes from my purse and then drove into Providence, parking outside the impressive school building with ten minutes to spare before our early morning interview. I got Amelia out of the car and tugged at the hem of my knee-length, fitted business skirt, stressing over my gran and my appearance at the same time. I retucked the collared shirt and brushed off the uncomfortable jacket I’d picked up at a thrift store. A woman eyed me as she passed by with her young son and gave me an uncomfortable smile when I didn’t turn away.
I didn’t return it. I could see the judgement in her eyes as clear as day. “Stuck-up snob,” I muttered when she went on her way.
Amelia pulled on my hand and stared up at me with her big, round eyes. “What did you say, Mommy?”
I smiled and knelt in front of her, straightening her pinafore dress that I’d bought especially for the occasion. “Nothing, Slugger. You ready to do this thing?”
She grinned at me with her cute dimples. “Yep!”
I stood and scanned the school parking lot. “If only your father was ready…”
“There he is!” She let go of my hand and ran down the footpath to where her father and his girlfriend had parked her obnoxious car.
I had to give him credit. Lleyton scrubbed up nicely. His suit pants fit snugly around his waist, and his shirt was clearly expensive. Kat was always put together, and today was no exception. I was slightly annoyed he’d brought her, but I couldn’t deny she might have been an asset when it came to getting my child into a private school. That was the goal here. To impress the principal enough that they accepted her application.
“You’re so pretty, Milly!” Kat squealed.
Amelia did a twirl for her father’s girlfriend with a big smile on her cherublike face.
“You ready to blow these people away with how smart and beautiful and talented you are?” Lleyton asked.
