The Disappearance of Lindy James by Catherine Maiorisi

Author:Catherine Maiorisi [Maiorisi, Catherine]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Bella Books
Published: 2021-10-15T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty-two

Quincy

Quincy hadn’t seen Megan or Kaitlyn for two days and on the third day when Dorothy showed up to invite her to dinner, she readily accepted.

Oblivious to the tension in the room, Megan was her usual bubbly self, going on and on about going to the zoo and the movies with her mom. Kaitlyn looked exhausted and was stiff and awkward when Quincy tried to engage her. Quincy could see the strain in her face and realized that as much as she loved her daughter, what she probably needed was quiet time to recuperate from whatever horrible things she was involved with in Afghanistan. Her inclination was to take Megan for a day but she sensed that Kaitlyn would be offended so she did the best she could, chatting with Dorothy, engaging Megan, and listening when Kaitlyn joined the conversation. When Kaitlyn went up to put Megan to bed, Quincy helped Dorothy clean up then went home.

Luckily, the next day, Quincy switched to days and kept her contacts with them to a few minutes so that Kaitlyn did not feel she was competing for Megan’s attention. But she missed her daily contact with Megan and two nights before Kaitlyn’s leave was up invited the three of them to dinner.

Kaitlyn made no bones about examining Quincy’s house. She looked at the photographs of Quincy’s children, then she picked up and studied several pictures of Megan—with Amelia’s twins at the beach, with Dorothy at the pool, and one with her and Quincy standing by their bicycles. She glared at Dorothy. “You bought Megan a bicycle?”

Not getting the angry subtext, Megan responded. “It’s Emma’s, not mine, Mommy.”

“Who is Emma?”

Quincy could tell Kaitlyn was frustrated, not knowing what was going on in her daughter’s life. “She’s my older daughter. They’re with their mother.” She really didn’t want to discuss the situation in front of Megan. “And Megan uses things like her baseball mitt and her bicycle from time to time.”

“Can I have a bicycle for my birthday, Mommy?”

“We’ll see.”

Quincy smiled at the stock parent answer Kaitlyn offered.

Megan dragged her mom over to a large board with a half-done jigsaw puzzle. “See, Mommy, we’re halfway done with this.”

“Isn’t it too hard for you, honey?”

“Quincy is teaching me how to do it. Look. This whole side is mine. Quincy helps me find the pieces that might go there but then I have to put them together.”

The buzzer went off and Quincy went into the kitchen to check on the roast. When she came back to say that dinner was ready and would they come to the dining room, Kaitlyn met her eyes. She looked away quickly but not before Quincy saw the pain in them. She noticed the pictures in Kaitlyn’s hand. She knew Kaitlyn was afraid she would lose Megan but she wasn’t sure how to reassure her. She pointed to the pictures. “That’s Lara and Mia, my friend Amelia’s twins. Megan likes to play with them, don’t you, Megan?”

Over dinner, Quincy was aware

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