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Story: As It Was

Jade Clark
Y’all better be ready for Lucas’s show tonight!
Comments:
Kerry Winsor: I wish I could go! I need to find a babysitter that won’t let Tommy plug the toilet again.
Jade Clark: Do I even wanna know?
Kerry Winsor: I’ll gladly tell you.
Hu Gh: That damn music makes the bar way too loud! Tell ’em to turn it down or I’m sitting outside!
Mark Bell: I’ll set up a table ...
Jackie was bouncingon her feet when I opened the door a week later.
“Don’t say anything.” My voice was firm.
“I won’t then. But I’llthinkit.” She walked in and saw Eric reading the book Nicole had given him to practice. It was hardto believe he was reading already, but once he’d started school, he had been learning so quickly that he’d been put into an advanced level with a few other classmates. “There’s my favorite boy!”
“Jackie!” he yelled as he ran over to give her a hug. “I get to hang out with you all night?”
“Until bedtime. I even brought your favorite book for me to read to you while you fall asleep.” She grabbed it out of her bag and showed it to him. Eric took it and opened the pages.
“CanIread it to you?”
Jackie’s eyebrows rose and she turned to me. “Already?”
“That might be a little advanced,” I said. “Are you sure, kid?”
“Yes!” Eric exclaimed. “I wanna try.”
“Then we’ll do it while Cain here has fun.”
Tonight would be many things, but fun wasn’t one of them.
“And where’s the woman who’s making you do this?” Jackie folded her arms over her chest. “I need to thank her again.”
“I’m here!” Mollie came darting out of the hallway. “Sorry, work ran over, and I still had to get dressed.”
I let my eyes linger on her, taking in the going-out version of Mollie versus the one I knew.
She still wore nice clothes, but these were different. Instead of her usual light-colored blouses and tailored jeans, she was in a dress. A floral one that hugged the curve of her waist but flowed out by her hips. It made her look like she was going on a date rather than to a bar.
This was bad for many reasons. The main one being that she looked incredible, and everyone would notice.
“Wow.” Jackie whistled. “You look like you’re ready for a night on the town.”
“Is it too much?” she asked, twirling around. Her dress flowed with every movement.
“Yes,” I said without thinking.
“Cain!” Jackie was affronted. “Were you raised in a barn?”
“Also yes. We’ve been over this.”
“You don’t say that to a lady. She looks amazing. She’ll be the best dressed there.”

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