The Empty Kayak by Jode Millman

Author:Jode Millman [Jodé Millman]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2023-05-26T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Thirty-Two

On a scale of one to a hundred, Jessie’s stress level skyrocketed to ninety-five. Every muscle in her body ached with fatigue. There was nothing physically wrong with her, but the rollercoaster day had battered her body and her emotions to a pulp.

After dinner, as she and Hal were cleaning up, she immersed her hands in hot, soapy water and garnered every ounce of energy to scrub the lasagna glued to the baking dish. Out the kitchen window, the streetlights flickered on down the lane. Inside her neighbor’s homes, they were eating dinner, doing homework, having bath time, and undertaking their normal nighttime rituals. Theirs were lives without traumatic events barreling down upon them like a freight train.

In her peripheral vision, she spied Hal studying her. “Go on.” He snatched away the sponge. “Put Lily to bed. Take a bath. Relax. I’ve got this.” She must have looked like crap because his steady voice quavered with concern.

He didn’t have to twist her arm. In a shot, Jessie tucked Lily into bed and slipped into a steamy bath. Her aches and pains dissolved into the bubbly foam. Afterward, she’d crawl into their soft, cozy bed, maybe have a quiet conversation with Hal, download the latest thriller onto her tablet, or stream a blockbuster on the flat screen. Any distraction from the whirlwind of her life.

Twenty minutes later, Jessie climbed from the tub refreshed, and wrapped her hair and prune-like body in fluffy towels. Her phone buzzed on the granite counter. Recognizing the incoming number, she threw on her robe and answered it.

“Aunt Jessie! Aunt Jessie!” the high-pitched voices of two youngsters screamed over FaceTime. “Where’s Lily? We want to see her! Put her on.” The excited faces of her seven-year-old niece, Sophie, and her nine-year-old nephew, Nicholas, flashed on the screen and then vanished as they wrestled for dominance over the phone.

“Give me the phone. I want to talk to her,” the boy yelled.

“No, you gimme that,” the girl said.

“Sorry, Jess,” her brother Ethan said, reclaiming the device from his kids. The sight of his goofy, broad grin made Jessie smile. While Jessie was the spitting image of their mother, Ethan was a hipper millennial version of their dad, with his broad shoulders and his silver-sprinkled temples. “The kids are excited about leaving Cali and coming east for Thanksgiving. It’s been a while. Nice outfit, squirt. We didn’t catch you at a bad time, did we?”

“No, just chillin’ in the tub. It’s great to see you. How’s Gemma?” The grunts and groans of kids wrestling continued in the background.

“Hey, kids. Cut it out. If you’re going to fight, I’m sending you to your rooms. Do you want that?” Ethan yelled. His kids whined, “no,” and the flat-screen television clicked on at a loud volume. “Come on, guys. Please turn that down.” They complied, and the room quieted to a dull roar.

“Good parenting, Mr. Mom.”

“Shut up. Gemma’s great. She’s in Pilate’s class. You know how it is with these Silicon Valley wives.

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