Page 10 of The Me I Left Behind (Tuckaway Bay #4)

They busied themselves with that task for the next several minutes.

Julia closed the hatch door of her SUV. “Let’s rehang that door before we go.” She glanced at her cell phone. “We have time.”

Maggie stared at her. “Why? He has me on video, Julia. Breaking in.”

“I know. I just feel like if he calls the cops when he gets here—if he even comes—having the place look neat and tidy is a whole lot better than having it looked like it was ransacked.”

With a sigh, Maggie glanced about the room again and nodded. “Okay. Let’s do it.”

But rehanging the door turned out to be more of a struggle than they thought, so in the end, they left it leaning up against the wall. Maggie returned the tools to the garage where she found them. Julia made a final sweep of the room, looking for anything they might have missed.

Within the next hour, they woke Carol and told her the plan.

She and Maggie packed clothes and other items for the littles and themselves and stowed them into the SUV.

By two-forty-five, they had picked up Chloe, and then Jason at three.

By four o’clock, they’d settled into a suite with an adjoining room at a Hilton-branded hotel just off I-95.

“Sorry I couldn’t find a place with an indoor pool, kids,” Julia said, “but this might be just as good. Two big bedrooms—one for you kids, and one for your mom and me—and a sitting room and kitchenette to share in the middle. We have TVs in every room with anything you want to watch available to stream. Oh, and the Wi-Fi code is over on the refrigerator door.”

The kids just stared at Julia.

Chloe was quiet the entire thirty-minute ride in the car.

Maggie could hear Jason and Carol whispering in the back.

She hoped to hell she wasn’t telling him about Max—although maybe she should give him a heads up about what was probably getting ready to go down.

But she didn’t want Carol to tell him. She wanted to talk to Jason herself.

“Why can’t we stay at our house?” Chloe cocked her head.

“Because of…” Maggie caught Julia’s eye. “Bugs.” She heaved a sigh and sat on the side of the bed. “Because I saw some nasty bugs in the kitchen this morning and called the exterminator and they are fumigating the house, which means we can’t stay there. Fumes.”

“What are funes?”

Maggie grinned. “Fumes, sweetie. That’s the stuff that floats around in the air when people use chemicals, or like what comes out of the car. It’s not healthy to breathe it.”

“Oh.” Chloe thought for a moment. “Will it hurt Cymba?”

Shit. I forgot about the cat. She glanced at Carol. “Cymba will be fine.”

“Yeah,” Carol said. “Cats lungs are different.”

“Seriously?” Jason punched her arm. “You are so weird.”

Carol glared.

“Look,” Maggie started again. “Let’s just make this a little adventure. We’ll go out to eat tonight with Julia—how about Chinese?—and come back and watch movies and eat popcorn and all that stuff.”

“I saw a sign downstairs that said there would be free ice cream tonight in the breakfast area.”

Julia’s face lit up. She looked from one kid to another. “Oh, that will be fun. Right? I love ice cream.”

Jason rolled his eyes. “Sure.” Then turning to Chloe, he said, “Let’s go see if there are video games on the TV.”

They headed into their bedroom.

Carol turned to mother. “Bugs? Really?”

Maggie threw up her hands. “It was just what came to mind.”

“But we’re not telling them the truth?”

Maggie frowned at Carol. “What do you mean? What truth? The one about your dad? Or the one about me breaking into his office? The one about our poor excuse of a marriage? Carol, look, don’t start giving me grief about this. Okay?”

This time, Carol rolled her eyes. “Whatever. I’m taking a shower. I’m going out tonight.”

Panic tightened Maggie’s throat. “What? Where?”

“I have a date,” Carol tossed over her shoulder. “And so much fun to have him pick me up at a hotel. Lovely.”

Is my bitchy daughter back? “Carol, are you sure you are feeling up to it? I’m not sure that is a good idea—”

Twisting back at the door, Carol met her gaze. “I’m fine. The headache is gone. I slept all afternoon, and I want to go out. Tyler wants to take me to a movie.”

Tyler? Had she mentioned him before? Maggie wracked her brain. “I don’t think I know him.”

“He’s in my AP English class. You don’t.”

“Well, you’ll need to introduce me, then.”

Carol huffed. “Mom. This is all awkward anyway. What are you going to do, wait in the lobby with me until my date comes? Or have him come up to our hotel room door? It’s all weird. Can’t I just meet him out front?”

Maggie thought a minute. “How about if he joins us for Chinese? My treat.” She had some cash so she could pay their share tonight. “That way we can all meet him.”

“Mom. No. God.”

Stepping closer to her daughter, Maggie clasped her hands. “But I’ll feel more comfortable.”

“We can’t, Mom. The movie starts at seven and my curfew… There’s no time for dinner with the family before that.”

Maggie exhaled and glanced at Julia. Let her go, Julia mouthed, nodding.

“Okay. You’re right. Awkward.”

“Great.” Carol headed into the bedroom.

Maggie stared at the door. “Shit.”

Moving up behind her, Julia said, “She’ll be fine. When is her curfew?”

“It’s a school night, so ten.”

“Good.”

“Damn, this is all fucked up, Julia. My daughter is going out with a kid I don’t even know.”

Julia grasped her upper arms and turned her. “Times are different now, Mags. The world is bigger for kids today than it was for us back then.”

“True.” She searched Julia’s eyes. “You look tired.”

“I am. Somewhat. But we still have work to do.”

“The totes?”

“Yeah.” Julia nodded. “Stay here with the kids. I’ll grab a bell cart, bring up those two totes, and put them in our bedroom while Carol is showering. We can go through them once the kids are asleep.”

Several minutes later, Carol rushed out of the bedroom and headed for the door. “He’s early!”

Maggie sprang up. “Sweetie. Come here. He will wait.”

Carol halted, rotating back. “Mom!”

That Carol was jumping just because this boy showed up early reminded her of when she started seeing Max. She’d have crawled over hot coals naked for him and jumped to do his bidding on a nano-second’s notice back then.

Was Carol doing the same thing? Shit. I hope not.

Slowly, she stepped toward her daughter, whispering. “Just give me a hug, you.” Wrapping her arms around her, she planted a quick kiss on her temple and gave her a warm mom hug. “I love you. Be safe. You’re sure you are feeling okay?”

Carol met her gaze. “I love you too, Mom. I’m fine. Be back at ten.”

Then she was gone.

Maggie turned back to Julia with a sigh. “Chinese?”