Once in a Lifetime by Mary Monroe

Author:Mary Monroe [Monroe, Mary]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Kensington Books
Published: 2021-06-22T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 14

When I woke the next day, I regretted not telling Madeline last night what I was planning to do. I had no idea how she and Odette were going to react when I told them, but it didn’t matter. I had already made up my mind. However, after I’d given my decision a little more thought, I wanted to know what other people close to me thought before I went through with it. So, right after our weekly Monday morning staff meeting, which included a ten-minute video of Jim roaming around one of our job sites in a hard hat and an orange vest, I asked Anna to accompany me to the ladies’ room.

After she leaned down and checked the stalls to make sure we were alone, she folded her arms and looked me straight in the eyes. “Okay, why were you so quiet in the meeting? You didn’t even laugh at the silly video of Jim. What’s going on?”

“Everything is fine,” I replied. And then I added with my voice shaking, “I guess.”

Anna gasped. “What’s going on with you? And why are you sounding so weird? Does this have anything to do with Barry? Is he back in the picture and still trying to get you to move to Maine? Did he—”

I held up my hand to interrupt her. “I haven’t heard from him since the day he dumped me.”

“Okay. If this is not about Barry, who is it about?”

“That’s what I’d like to tell you, but not here.” I glanced toward the door. “Do you have any plans for lunch today?”

Anna gave me a puzzled look. “Hello? I have the same plans I usually have on Monday. Half-price burritos at Juanita’s. That’s how you and I usually start off our week, remember?”

“Oh yeah.” I paused and checked my watch. “We’d better leave now, or we won’t find a seat.”

We arrived at Juanita’s ten minutes later. There was a larger than usual crowd, so there were no seats available, so we got our orders to go. When we got back to the office, we headed for our break room. I was glad it was empty. As soon as we sat down and started gnawing on our burritos, I slid my chair closer to Anna and said in a low tone, “Remember that man I told you about who needs a new kidney? His sister and I have become quite close.”

Anna stopped chewing and gave me a bewildered look. “I figured you would get close to that woman.”

I gave her a dismissive wave. “She’s got a lot of other friends and family, so I’m not the only one trying to keep her spirits up. You can forget about her becoming too attached to me.”

“What about her brother? Did they find a donor yet?”

“That’s what I hope to find out real soon.”

Anna suddenly looked as concerned as I was. “Really? You told me he was on dialysis. I thought that was supposed to keep a person functioning indefinitely.”

“Well, ‘indefinitely’ could mean a few days, weeks, or months.

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