Mending Fences

“Other than a few years working retail when we were first married and the two whole weeks I worked for Ken, I don’t exactly have a stellar résumé.”

“Which is why opening something of your own would be ideal,” Emily said enthusiastically. “Ken’s business is on a solid footing now, isn’t it? You could afford to take a risk.”

“I suppose,” Marcie said, but with little conviction. She’d never been much of a risk taker. She’d liked being a housewife and mom. It had been challenging and rewarding. Any other work sounded like drudgery.

Still, Emily wasn’t letting up. “Talk to Ken,” she prodded. “See what he says.”

“I know what he’ll say. He’ll tell me I already have a job running this house. The possibility that he might have to remember to take out the trash or call the plumber would horrify him.”

“He’d want you to be happy, though, wouldn’t he?”

“Of course,” Marcie said a little too quickly, then added candidly, “as long as it doesn’t inconvenience him.” She met Emily’s gaze. “The thing of it is, I already know what makes me happy. I just don’t see any way to get it back again without getting pregnant and having another child.”

Emily stared at her as if she’d suddenly grown two heads. “You wouldn’t!”

“Believe me, I’ve considered it,” Marcie said. She jabbed her fork into the pie and stuffed another bite in her mouth.

Emily studied her worriedly, then grabbed the remainder of the pie and dumped it in the sink.

“What are you doing?” Marcie cried out, appalled.

“Getting rid of this before you kill yourself with an overdose of sugar,” she said as she turned on the garbage disposal.

Apparently satisfied that she’d rid Marcie of temptation, Emily faced her with a stern expression. “Tomorrow morning I expect you to get out of this house and volunteer for something.”

Marcie stared at her blankly. “What?”

“Doesn’t matter. Anything that will make you feel useful and get you out of this mood. And tell your kids they’re having dinner at home tomorrow night and at least three nights a week from now on.”

“They’ll hate it.”

“They’ll deal. Tell Evan he needs good nutrition at least that often to keep his body in shape for football and tell Caitlyn she’s expected to be here because you say so. Be tough. Tell them neither one of them gets a dime for spending money if they don’t follow house rules. That ought to whip them right into shape.”

Marcie bit back a grin, her mood lifting ever so slightly.

“I can do that.”

“Of course, you can. I’ll be back tomorrow for a full report. The kids might be growing up, but there’s no reason you need to let them go one second sooner than you absolutely have to. They still need to know that their mom and dad are in charge.” She gave Marcie a curious look. “Think Ken will back you up?”

“He will if he expects to have sex anytime in the next twenty years,” Marcie said, then chuckled. “God, I feel better already.”

“Then my work here is done,” Emily said, giving her a hug. “Call if you need backup.”

“Just knowing I have it should do the trick,” Marcie told her.

Maybe she wasn’t quite obsolete, after all.

Dani couldn’t recall a time when she hadn’t been in and out of the Carter house as if it were her own. Caitlyn was her very best friend. They shared all their secrets, excluding the fact that Dani had a crush on Caitlyn’s big brother. It was something she would never in a million years have told her mom or her own brother. And it had seemed totally weird to tell Caitlyn.

She wasn’t entirely sure when she’d first looked at Evan and realized what a hunk he was. For a long time, he’d been like a brother, in other words a nuisance most of the time. Then one day she’d seen him with a bunch of girls at school and taken a good long look at him. He was hot! His body had filled out with muscle. He had the most amazing brown eyes, like chocolate, she thought dreamily. They were such a contrast to his blond hair, that turned really, really pale after he’d been outside in the sun for days on end. She didn’t care that much about football, which was his passion, but she knew enough to know he was good. Really good. She’d clipped half-a-dozen articles from the local paper about what a hot college prospect he was. She kept them in an old jewelry box under her bed, so no one in her family would see them.

After she’d pretty much been hit by some bolt of lightning, she couldn’t stop thinking about him. She started getting these fluttery sensations in the pit of her stomach whenever he was around. She started doing dumb stuff, hoping he’d notice her, wearing the skimpiest bikini her mom would let her get away with, doing cannonballs in the pool, hanging out at football practice or at the Carters’ even more than usual. Evan could usually be found in the den watching movies once his homework was done. More than once she’d convinced Caitlyn to join him and hang out.

Unfortunately, Caitlyn had picked up on Dani’s interest, not Evan. The other day she’d called Dani on it.

“Do you have a thing for my brother?” she asked when they’d been in the Carters’ pool for hours and Josh and Evan had gone inside to grab snacks for all four of them.

“Quiet,” Dani said, mortified. “Do you want Evan to hear you?”

“Sorry, but you were acting all goofy. You’ve been doing that a lot lately when Evan’s around.”

“Well, you have to admit your brother’s pretty cool. Why wouldn’t I notice him?”

“You and every other girl,” Caitlyn said. “He must get, like, a hundred calls a night on his cell phone. I don’t get it myself. He’s a pain.”

“That’s just because he’s your brother. He’s cute and he’s smart.”

“And older than you. You’re wasting your time getting hung up on him. He thinks of you like a kid sister, same as me.”

Dani couldn’t deny it, but she still harbored hope that one day he’d wake up and notice her. After all she was underfoot all the time. Just last week he’d taken her and Caitlyn to the movies and decided at the last minute to see it with them. He’d even bought them drinks and popcorn. It had felt almost like a date. She’d put the movie stub into her treasure box with the clippings.

Afterward, though, Josh had gotten all weird when he’d heard about it. He’d come charging home and confronted her.

“I hope you’re not thinking about hanging out with Evan,” he said heatedly. “If you are, forget about it.”

“What difference does it make to you?” she demanded. “You’re not my keeper.”

“No, but I am your big brother. It’s my job to look out for you. Evan’s too old for you.”

“He’s eighteen,” Dani retorted. “Same as you.”

“And you’re sixteen.”

“I’m old enough to date.”

“Not Evan,” Josh repeated, his expression grim. “I mean it, Dani. Stay away from him. He’s trouble.”

She had no idea what he meant. The two of them hung out all the time. “That’s not a very nice thing to say,” she said. “He’s supposed to be your best friend.”

“It’s one thing to hang out with a guy. It’s another thing to let him spend time with your sister. Take my word for it, okay? Evan’s too experienced for you. Forget about him.”

“No, it is not okay,” Dani said stubbornly. “I’ll hang out with any guy I want to.”

Josh flushed. “If you don’t listen to me, I’ll talk to Mom. She’ll make you listen. Are we clear?”

Since having her mom find out that she was crazy about Evan was the last thing Dani wanted, she promised Josh she’d steer clear of him. He didn’t need to know that she’d kept her fingers crossed behind her back when she said it.

Now Caitlyn gave her the same dismayed look that Josh had given her.