Lymber craft's Arc

Chapter 54 of 70

The next afternoon Lymber went up to put a folded pile of Violetta's laundry on her bed. The room was empty. Violetta was at school. Jett had a friend over in the yard. The twins were downstairs with Maggie. Lymber set the clothes on the pillow and turned to leave, then stopped at the open bathroom door. The trash can by the sink had been tipped and set upright again. A white stick lay on the tile behind it, half under the cabinet. Lymber picked it up. Two lines. She sat down on the edge of the tub and put her hand flat on the cold porcelain. Violetta was thirteen. Jett was eleven. The twins were ten. None of those numbers matched what she was holding. She wrapped the stick in a tissue and put it in her pocket. Then she went down the stairs one at a time and told herself to breathe before she opened her mouth. Maggie was at the sink rinsing bottles. Missy and Max sat at the table with crackers. Lymber asked Maggie to step into her office for a minute. Maggie dried her hands on a towel and followed without asking why. Lymber closed the door and turned the lock. She took the tissue out of her pocket and set the test on the desk between them. "I found this upstairs," Lymber said. "In Violetta's bathroom." Maggie looked at it. Her face did not move for a second. Then she sat down in the chair across from the desk. "It's mine," Maggie said. Lymber put both hands on the desk. "Yours." "Mine. I took it here this morning. I didn't want to do it at home. I used her bathroom because the twins were in yours." Maggie kept her eyes on the test. "I meant to take it with me. I'm sorry." Lymber sat down in her own chair. The relief came first and she hated that it came first. Violetta was thirteen and safe. Then the rest of it caught up. Maggie was in her forties. Maggie was a widow. Maggie watched her children every afternoon. "How far," Lymber said. "I don't know yet. Six weeks, maybe. I haven't been to the clinic." "Who." "A man I've been seeing. He knows. He's not going anywhere." Maggie finally looked up. "I'll still come. If you want me to." Lymber picked up the test and wrapped it in the tissue again. She thought about her own gown, sized up. She thought about the microphone at the gym years ago. She slid the test into her desk drawer and shut it. "I want you to come," Lymber said. "Tell me before anyone else knows something changes. That's the only rule." Maggie nodded once and stood. "I'll tell Violetta I knocked over her trash," Maggie said. "So she doesn't wonder." "Do that," Lymber said. Then she sat alone in the office with the drawer closed and did not open it again.