Need You Now (12 page)

“What are you doing here?” Grace held open her bedroom door so Skylar could come in, then quickly closed it behind the girl dressed in black.

Skylar pulled a piece of paper from a pocket on the front of her shirt, unfolded it, and handed it to Grace. “Since you skipped science class today, Mrs. Telgan paired us together for the science project. Here's our assignment.”

Grace took the paper, glanced at it, and put her hands on her hips. “I didn't skip class. I had permission from Mrs. Telgan to retake a math test for Mr. Zahn's class.”

“Whatever. Everyone paired up, and I got left with you.” Skylar sighed.

Grace pressed her lips together. Not surprisingly, no one chose Skylar as a partner, but she didn't have to sound so perturbed at being stuck with Grace. “So sorry you got
left
with me.”

Sklyar shrugged. “Whatever.”

Grace struggled with science and math, although she'd still managed to maintain a low A average so far. Skylar was a top student in all her classes. The local newspaper ran the list of honor students when report cards came out, and Skylar's name had been at the top. Maybe because Skylar had no life or friends. Grace studied the assignment for a moment. “The effect of solar activity on radio propagation.” She sighed. “Great.”

“That's an easy one,” Skylar said as she moved across Grace's room toward the pictures Grace kept on her dresser.

“Maybe for you,” Grace grumbled under her breath as she sat down on her bed.

Skylar picked up one of the framed family pictures. “Your mom's pretty.”

“Yeah.” Grace was thinking about the science project. On the downside, she'd have to spend time with Skylar. On the upside, they'd most likely get the best grade in the class.

“You look like your mom.” Skylar set the picture down before she turned around to face Grace. “My mom died when I was two.”

Grace knew Skylar lived with her dad, but until now, she didn't know if it was because of a divorce or something else. “How?”

Skylar sat down in the chair in front of Grace's small white desk. “Breast cancer.”

“I'm sorry.” Grace couldn't imagine a life without her mom.

“Yep, as my dad would say, the Lord called her home early.”

Most of the kids Grace knew rarely mentioned God. “I'm sorry,” Grace repeated.

“I'll see her again someday.” Skylar stood up. “Guess I better go. I need to fix dinner for my dad.”

Grace stood up too. “Hey . . . why do you—?” She took a deep breath, wishing she hadn't started to ask Skylar the question that popped into her brain whenever Skylar was around.

“What?” Skylar's voice was matter-of-fact. “If you want to ask me something, just ask.”

“Why—why do you dress like that, all goth and everything?”

Skylar grinned. “To keep girls like you away from me.” Then she lunged at Grace. “Boo!”

Grace jumped, but then she laughed.

“Too easy,” Skylar said as she laughed too. Then she shook her head and walked out the door.

Grace sat down on the bed again and leaned back on her hands. Maybe getting paired with Skylar for the science project wouldn't be as bad as she thought.

Chapter Six

On Friday, Darlene was feeling a bit down. She didn't think she'd made much headway with Cara this week. But she was looking forward to tomorrow evening, Grace's sixteenth birthday dinner. Surprisingly, Grace had invited only one friend for the celebration—her science partner, Skylar. Skylar had been to the house the past couple of nights, and she and Grace had stayed upstairs working on their science project until fairly late. It seemed an unlikely friendship, but Grace said Skylar didn't have many friends, so she wanted to invite her. Darlene had asked Layla to join them. And Chad's new friend, Cindy, would be there. She couldn't wait to give Grace her present at the party. She'd certainly earned it.

Darlene looked on as Cara worked through a math problem. Cara hadn't argued about doing the work this week, but every time Darlene had tried to talk to her—about anything—Cara held up her fingers and tapped them to her thumb, signaling yap, yap, yap. Their afternoons had turned into mundane tasks, and Darlene suspected she'd been overzealous in her hopes to somehow make a difference in Cara's life.

And every afternoon, Cara's father had shown up at exactly five o'clock, asking about Cara's day. Always bad, she would tell her father. He would scowl a bit, then instruct Cara to say good-bye.

Darlene looked at her watch.
Fifteen more minutes
. She had a splitting headache. Her purse was on the chair beside her, so she reached into it and dug around for a bottle of Tylenol, hoping she didn't distract Cara too much. Her flip book of family photos fell out, along with the bottle. She popped open the top, poured two pills into her hand, and tossed them in her mouth, wishing she had a glass of water. As she reached for the flip book, Cara's hand slammed down on hers. Darlene looked at the girl, but Cara only stared at the book as she eased it from underneath Darlene's hand.

“That's my family,” Darlene said as Cara ran her finger across the top photo. “That's my husband, Brad, and that's Chad, Ansley, and Grace.”

Cara turned to the next photo and gave it the same amount of time, still rubbing her finger across the front. Darlene pointed to Ansley.

“That's my daughter Ansley. She's the same age as you are.”

Cara looked up at Darlene, her green eyes glowing, a smile on her face. “You are a mother.”

Darlene smiled, surprised at how clearly and slowly Cara had said the words. “Yes, I'm a mother. And those are my children.”

“Ansley?” Cara touched Ansley's face in the photo with the tip of her finger.

“Yes, Ansley. She's twelve years old.” Darlene paused as she watched Cara's animated expression, her eyes wide. “And you know what? Ansley is raising chickens.”

Cara turned to face Darlene, and she giggled. “Chickens? Ansley's chickens?”

Darlene laughed, thrilled to be actually talking with Cara. “Yep. They are definitely Ansley's chickens. Every afternoon after school, Ansley goes and collects the eggs. Do you like eggs?”

“I like Ansley's eggs.” Cara said it so fast that Darlene could barely understand her. Then she said something else Darlene couldn't understand.

“Cara, I can't understand you when you talk so fast. Can you say it nice and slow?”

Cara clamped her eyes closed for a few moments, and Darlene wasn't sure if she was mad or concentrating.

“Take your time, Cara.”

“I like Ansley's eggs.” Cara pronounced each syllable slowly and clearly.

“Good.” Darlene smiled, hoping to encourage her to continue, which she did.

“Eggs are from chickens.”

“Yes, they are. And you should see how many eggs we have in our refrigerator. Dozens. Ansley doesn't want us to eat the eggs.”

Cara started laughing loudly. Darlene had no idea if Cara understood what Darlene was saying, but the sound of Cara's laughter warmed her heart.

“Well, hello there.”

Darlene jumped at the sound of Dave Schroeder's voice. “Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't hear you come in.”

“I guess not. So much laughter going on in here.” Then he smiled. A first.

He squatted down between Darlene and Cara. “Can you tell Dad what's so funny?”

Cara squealed, something Darlene had never heard her do. Both Darlene and her father winced a bit but they both smiled.

“Ansley's eggs!” Cara yelled as she smiled from ear to ear.

“Ansley is my daughter,” Darlene said to Mr. Schroeder. “She's the same age as Cara.”

“She's a beautiful girl,” he said as he stood up.

Darlene rose also. “Thank you.”

“Dad.” Cara pointed to the picture. “This is Ansley.”

“I see, Cara. You better give Ms. Darlene her photo album so we can let her get home to her family.” Mr. Schroeder tried to take the album, only to have Cara squeal, this time with a fire in her eyes.

“It's okay,” Darlene said quickly. “She can take it. I have duplicates at home.”

Mr. Schroeder flinched. “Sorry. I'll make sure you get it back.”

“No problem.”

Mr. Schroeder turned to his daughter. “Do you want to tell me how your day was?”

Darlene held her breath.

There was a long silence, then Cara said, “It was good, Dad.” She kept her eyes on the photos. “Ansley has chickens.”

Dave laughed. “Really?”

Darlene was feeling a bit triumphant. Both Cara—and her father—were laughing. “We're city slickers, I guess you could say. But our youngest daughter was insistent we get some chickens.”

“Ansley has chickens,” Cara repeated softly.

Darlene picked up her purse. “Mr. Schroeder, I hope you and Cara have a great weekend.”

“Dave. Just Dave.” He smiled as he briefly touched Cara's arm, nudging her to stand. “Hope you and your family have a good weekend too, Darlene.”

She waved as they headed to the door.

It was definitely a good day. And Darlene was looking forward to a good weekend.

She was back in the role of homemaker all day Saturday, cleaning and preparing for Grace's birthday party that evening. She'd already baked Grace's favorite cake—yellow with chocolate icing. Ansley was in charge of decorations, and Chad was helping Brad mow and edge the yard. It was hard for Darlene to believe that little Grace was sixteen.

“Honey, are you sure you don't want to invite any other girls from school?” Darlene brushed past Grace in the kitchen. “We told you to invite whoever you want.”

“It's fine, Mom.” Grace walked to the counter where the cake was.

“No touching.” Darlene stood on her tiptoes so she could reach the serving dishes she needed for the appetizers. She pulled two glass plates from the top shelf in the cabinet, then turned to finish the salad. Grace had asked for lasagna, salad, and garlic bread for her birthday dinner. “So you and Skylar must be getting along well.”

“Mom, I know she's different, and I know where you're going with this.” Grace shook her head.

“Grace, I didn't say anything.”

“Well, I can tell by the way you've looked at her every night this week when she came over.”

Darlene put her hands on her hips. “Grace, I don't judge people.” She cringed inside as she said it, though.

“I thought she was weird at first too. But now . . .” Grace shrugged. “I don't know. She dresses funny, but she's all right.”

“Well, we're happy to have her.” Darlene checked the pantry to see how many tea bags she had. Plenty. “What do you think about Cindy, Chad's new girlfriend?”

Grace tucked her hair behind her ears, shrugged again. “She's okay, I guess.”

“Pretty girl,” Darlene mumbled, ashamed of herself for wondering how Chad had snagged such a girl. Chad was a handsome kid, but he was rough around the edges. Cindy was as poised and put together as any seventeen-year-old Darlene had ever seen. Always polite and smiling.

“When do I get my present?” Grace nuzzled up against Darlene. “Huh, huh? When?”

“Right after dinner.”

“What? I can't wait that long!”

“Well, you'll have to because it's not wrapped yet.”

Grace smiled. “It's a car. It has to be. Chad got a truck for his sixteenth birthday.”

“That old clunker?” Darlene forced a frown, but inside she couldn't wait for Grace to see what they'd bought her. “You don't really want something like that, do you? Wouldn't you rather wait until we can afford to get you something decent?”

Grace sighed as she blinked her eyes. “I guess.”

Darlene wanted so badly to tell her that they'd been saving for a car for her, and while it was used, it was safe and well made. And it was several notches above the truck that Chad drove. Darlene knew that they would have to help Chad upgrade to a new car before he left for college, but they had another year before that worry came calling.