Lymber craft's Arc

Chapter 55 of 70

A week after the test in the drawer, Maggie sat across from Lymber in the office again. She had a mug in her hands this time. She set it down and said she needed to stop coming after next Friday. Her own baby was due in the fall and she wanted to slow down before then. She said it plain, without softening it. Lymber nodded like she had been waiting for the sentence for ten years. The first afternoon without Maggie hit at three. Missy spilled juice on the kitchen floor. Max stepped in it and tracked it into the hall. Jett came in from the yard with mud on his shoes and asked what was for snack. Lymber wiped the floor with one hand and opened the fridge with the other. She cut apples. She wiped the counter. She sent Jett back outside to hose off. By five she was still in the same spot and had not sat down. Paul came home and found her leaning on the sink with a dish towel over her shoulder. He asked if she wanted him to order food. She said yes without turning around. Violetta came down the stairs at six with her hair braided in a way Lymber had not taught her. She said a boy named Vinnie was picking her up at seven. She said his last name was Godly. She said they were going for ice cream and then walking to the park. Lymber put the knife down. She asked how old he was. Thirteen. She asked how they met. Science class. She asked if Vinnie's mother was driving. Yes. Lymber said okay and told her to be home by nine. Violetta blinked, like she had prepared a longer argument and did not need it. She went back upstairs to change her shirt twice. At seven a car pulled into the drive. Lymber watched from the window above the sink. A boy got out of the back seat with his hands in his pockets and waited on the walk. Violetta went out the front door and did not look back. The car pulled away. Lymber stayed at the window until the taillights turned the corner. Behind her Missy was crying about a shoe and Max was pulling a chair across the tile. The twins needed baths. Jett needed to be told to stop kicking the wall. Paul was on the phone in the other room. Lymber pressed her forehead to the glass for one second. Then she turned around and started the bath water. Nine o'clock was two hours away and the house was hers to hold now, alone.