Certainly Sensible (4 page)

Caroline set her coffee carefully on her desk and then logged on to her email. She pulled the tab on her yogurt, found a plastic spoon in the desk drawer, and sat down to concentrate on her messages. First and foremost, she wanted to complete whatever task Richard had for her, so she opened his message right away. Just opening an email from him made her tingle.

Good morning, Caroline.

I have several appointments today and will be in and out of the office. I know you will handle any phone calls in your usual professional manner until I get back. Would you proof that Hamilton ad before sending it to the printer? It needs to be ready as an insert for this Sunday’s newspaper.

Thanks! R

Caroline smiled to herself as she replied to his email.

Will do. Have a nice day. Hamilton ad will be a challenge—Mr. Hamilton can’t spell or punctuate!

Caroline steeled herself before reviewing the proof. Hamilton Hardware was one of Meadows Advertising’s big accounts. Mr. Hamilton had several stores in the Indianapolis area, plus one in Belford and one in Muncie. The man had built his business from the ground up, so Mr. Hamilton was very hands-on. He even wrote his own print ads, emailing them to Richard weekly, and those ads were always in need of correction. The current one had a picture of a bathroom sink, with the following copy:

If your in need of plumbing supplys, stop by Hamilton Hardware We have the best for lest!

Caroline smiled to herself, knowing it was an easy fix, and went back to her emails. She went through them quickly but decided she could handle them later, since that Hamilton ad needed to be at the printer by noon, and Richard had asked her to get it done. Then one more message popped up, from Sharlene. She sighed as she opened it.

Hi Caroline!

I changed my email address to reflect my new status as your dad’s wife.

Love, Sharlene

P.S. If thirty-five is too young to be your stepmother, you can think of me as Mrs. Meadows-Benedict LOL!

Caroline cringed and deleted that one. “A thirty-five-year-old stepmother,” she mumbled to herself.

Sharlene was youthful looking, medium-height with a Barbie-doll figure, and always wore the latest fashions bought at high-end stores. She was also a highly successful saleswoman and had been an asset to Meadows Advertising till she met Daniel Benedict, who was no match for her charms.

Medical insurance companies had attracted some bad press in the deepening recession. CEOs like Daniel were earning huge salaries while their employees worked for low wages and their clients’ premiums skyrocketed. Sharlene had arrived in Daniel’s office four years ago to sell him on the idea of a positive publicity campaign for his mega-corporation, a bold move for so small a company as Meadows Advertising. She had flirted with Daniel, flattered him, and generally inflated his ego to the point that he could not resist her or her advertising proposal.

Officially they were business associates, but when Dad divorced Mom a year later, no one was surprised. Sharlene had proclaimed her love for Daniel and her intention to marry him to anyone who would listen, and to some who didn’t care to listen, like Caroline.

Richard was as unlike his sister as two people could be and still share DNA. Both were very attractive people, even resembling each other somewhat. Both had dark brown hair and deep blue eyes, and since Richard was just under six feet tall and Sharlene always wore very high heels, they often appeared to be the same height. However, Richard was definitely overshadowed by his domineering older sister.

Despite losing Sharlene’s capable sales acumen to her social ambitions, Richard pulled in clients of his own, including the large contract with Hamilton Hardware. Sharlene no longer wanted to work, and she didn’t need to anyway, having the use of Daniel’s credit cards, the run of his penthouse, and soon, the Benedict family home.

Caroline laughed to herself, remembering what her mother had said. “Sharlene will fit in nicely with the suburban housewives in Belford.”

****

Caroline rushed back into the air-conditioned office a few minutes late for her Chinese lunch with Lucy. The late May temperature was hotter than normal, and she was already overheated, but she hurried down the hall to her office nook to deposit her handbag and the mail from the post office. She stopped to dig through her desk, looking for that half-drunk bottle of water she’d stashed in there yesterday, but after opening and closing every drawer, she came to the conclusion she’d either accidentally thrown it out or the custodian had gotten it off her desk for the trash bin. She sighed and dug two dollars’ worth of loose change out of the bottom of her handbag to buy a fresh bottle, and then headed down the hall to the break room to join Lucy. As she walked by Jack’s office she heard Richard’s voice, and they probably should have closed the door, judging by the conversation they were having. Caroline paused in the hall just out of view. She knew she shouldn’t eavesdrop, but she couldn’t make her feet move.

“…and anyway I have a date with that hot new attorney down the hall, the one with the long brown hair,” Jack said.

“Yeah, women always go for tall, blond, blue-eyed charmers like you.” Richard chuckled.

“You don’t have to settle for Misty, you know. There’s a certain petite redhead…”

Caroline saw Richard blush. “Caroline Benedict is my assistant. My intelligent, efficient, creative assistant.”

“Not to mention attractive,” Jack said with a wink.

“I like her business sense,” Richard shot back.

“Business sense. Yeah, right.”

Richard narrowed his eyes at Jack. “So did you figure out yet if we can afford to take her on full time or not?”

“Not with your assets alone. You’ll have to talk to your sister again, since you’re required to get her okay on company financial matters.”

Caroline thought she’d already heard too much, so she cleared her throat. Richard turned to face her and blushed.

“I just wanted to let you know I’m back from the printer and I’m going to lunch,” she told them, trying to sound breezy. But she didn’t fool anyone, least of all herself, because none of them wanted to discuss the elephant in the room—her lack of salary and status with the company.

Lucy was already in the break room, unpacking the just-delivered Chinese food in white cartons. Caroline shoved the change into the vending machine and pulled the bottle of water out of the tray when it landed with a thud.

“It’s getting hot outside,” Caroline said, fanning herself with a copy of the menu lying on the table and taking a swig of water. “And I’m starved. Where’s that
moo goo gai pan
?” She tossed aside the menu and began rummaging through the sack. “How much do I owe you?”

Lucy smiled. “Never mind, you buy lunch next week.”

Lucy Rosen had been working at Meadows Advertising for about five years. She and her husband Jonathan had a two-year-old son and another baby on the way. Even when not pregnant, Lucy was short and round, but despite her penchant for gossip, to Caroline, Lucy was a voice of sanity who could advise her about her insane family situation.

They sat down at a table under an air conditioning vent. Caroline tore open her chopsticks and began eating out of the carton.

Lucy handed Caroline some napkins. “How are things in Bel-ville?”

Caroline snickered and nearly choked on her food. “What?”

“Well, I’d have to be blind, deaf and dumb not to know that Sharlene is moving into your—I mean, Daniel’s house.” Lucy bit into her egg roll. “So how’s everyone handling it?”

Caroline put her chopsticks down and frowned. “Mom’s got a job interview today, Megan’s in denial mode, and Allie doesn’t even know yet. As you’d imagine, I’m crazed. And broke.”

Lucy pointed a chopstick at her. “You, dear crazy girl, need a career path. Like I’ve been telling you for a while now.”

“I need to do something fast,” Caroline admitted. “The last of my allowance from Dad is almost gone, and I can’t stay at Meadows indefinitely, at least not without a pay raise. And I really don’t know if I can stick around after the wedding. Talk about painful…” She pushed her food aside, her appetite suddenly gone.

“So what’s the plan? Tell Aunt Lucy all about it.”

Caroline laughed in spite of herself but shook her head. “I don’t have a plan.”

****

Susan walked in the back door dressed in her workout clothes: black calf-length capris, sleeveless t-shirt, and worn athletic shoes, her hair pushed back from her face with a headband.

“Megan? I’m back!” she called out. “Fresh from the gym!” She laughed at herself.
Well, okay, not so fresh
.

After the tension she’d built up this morning before her interview, a workout had been just what she needed. Susan never felt like she fit in with those suburban moms at the gym, but she should have. She had everything they had: good looks, a wealthy and influential husband, a large home in the right neighborhood, gifted children. When she and Daniel had first moved to Belford, she’d tried to make friends with the other moms, but Susan just couldn’t stand the incessant chattering about clothes, money, the country club, the latest parties, and the vicious innuendoes about each other. So she began spending more and more time with her old friend Emily Martin, who was then living in Indianapolis.

Megan was sprawled on the living room sofa, watching TV and munching popcorn. She was long out of her school uniform, lounging in shorts with her bare feet propped on the coffee table.

Susan walked over and tousled her daughter’s hair. “Hey, Megs. I have some news.” She waited for a response, which didn’t come. “I don’t suppose I had any phone calls?”

“
Mom!
You’re in the way!” Megan never took her eyes off the television but shifted her position to regain a clear view of the program, some rerun of a reality dating show
.
“No one ever calls you anyway, except Caroline or Emily.”

“Gee thanks.” Disappointed at not getting the important conversation started about her job, Susan went back into the kitchen to wait till her oldest and most mature daughter got home.
Caroline will care
.

****

Caroline pulled her year-old Kia, a birthday gift from her dad, into the garage right next to Susan’s five-year-old Jeep Cherokee, hit the garage door closer, and walked in the back door. She dropped her handbag on the kitchen counter, tossed her jacket on a chair, and went to the refrigerator for a bottled water.

“How did the job interview go, Mom?” Caroline twisted open the bottle and took a swallow.

Susan looked up from the stir fry on the stove and smiled. “Well, I was nervous at first, but Mrs. Renfrow put me at ease. I really liked her, and I also felt very comfortable inside the school itself. You know, it has a fabulous history.” Susan paused and a sly grin spread across her face. “Anyway, it turns out being a substitute teacher was pretty good experience after all—that and all my volunteer work…”

“So?”

“So—
I got the job!
”

“That’s great!” Caroline gave her mom a big hug and then called out, “Hey, Megan, did you hear that? Mom got that teaching job!”

Megan slowly got up off the sofa and ambled over to the kitchen island, popcorn bowl in hand. “What kinds of kids are you going to be teaching there anyway?” she asked. “Aren’t all inner-city kids, like, losers?”

Susan shot her daughter a withering look. Megan shrugged her shoulders and went back to the sofa.

Susan frowned but turned back to Caroline. “I report to work sometime in the middle of August, and school starts about a week later. Your mom has officially joined the working world! Well, almost.”

“Congratulations, Mom.” Caroline reached into the fridge for another bottle of water, opened it, and handed it to her mother. The two of them clinked the plastic bottles together in a toast.

Susan motioned for Caroline to follow her into the living room. “There’s one more thing.” Susan approached Megan on the living room sofa. “I drove around Rosslyn Village after the interview and wrote down some addresses of houses for sale near the school. Emily’s coming down from Chicago tomorrow, and we have an appointment with a realtor.”

No one said a word.

Finally Megan spoke up. “Rosslyn Village? What are you talking about? We can’t squeeze into one of those tiny houses down there!”

“We have to move somewhere,” Susan said, “and we have to do it soon. A small house of our own is better than an apartment. From now on, we only have my salary as a teacher and your child support to live on, which means we’ll be on a tight budget.”

Megan groaned. “Mom! All the way down in Rosslyn Village?”

“Some of those cottages are cute,” Susan replied.

“Cute? What does that mean? Small?”

Caroline saw the fear and emotion in her mother’s face and jumped to her defense. “Megan, stop it. Mom’s doing the best she can.”

Susan exhaled. “That’s why I called Emily. This is all so overwhelming. I need her moral support, as well as her real estate expertise.”

Caroline was dubious. “Emily and Sara have been living in Chicago for two years. Isn’t she kind of out of touch with the Indianapolis real estate market?”

“That’s what the Internet is for. And she told me she’s always available to help her best friend.”

“So you’re going house-hunting in Rosslyn Village,” Caroline restated.

Susan looked down at her shoes, noticed an untied lace, and propped her foot on the coffee table to retie it. “Emily knows people in Indianapolis real estate. That’s how she made a name for herself here. I’m sure between the two of us we’ll find something affordable.”

“Did you even bother looking up here in Belford?” Megan demanded.

“Even the small houses here are too expensive, Megan,” Susan sighed.

“Mooommm…” Megan whined.

Susan planted both feet firmly on the floor. “We’re running out of time, girls, because your dad and Sharlene are still planning to move in here June first.”

Megan sank listlessly down into the sofa cushions. She turned up the volume on the TV and pretended to be engrossed in the program.