Best Friends Forever (2 page)

C
eline sat outside her daughter's school, waiting for her to come out. Normally Kassie rode the bus home, but today Celine had decided to pick her up. It was true that Celine should have been home, working on a project for one of her clients, but she also felt this great need to spend time with her daughter. Her baby. The wonderful little girl she'd loved and cherished since conception. The daughter she'd hoped and prayed for and had been blessed with. The child she never wanted to be without.

Celine leaned her head against the headrest, thinking about her upcoming mammogram. It was scheduled for Wednesday, which was only two days from now. She hated having to deal with all this, but she knew wallowing in self-pity wasn't going to change anything. There was no doubt that whatever the answer was, she would have to accept it—whether she wanted to or not. Life was funny like that, and no one ever truly knew what would happen next. One minute, everything could seem perfect, and seconds later, it could all fall to pieces. Illness, death, financial woes, divorce—you name it and at some point, every human being was guaranteed to face two or more life-altering scenarios, let alone all the other troubles that a person could encounter. This was the very reason her mom used to say, “Enjoy your life while you can, because tomorrow isn't promised to you.”

Celine missed her mother terribly, and if there was ever a time when she needed her to be here, it was now. If only she could talk to her in person, or by phone, even. Celine did still talk to her regularly, but she just wished her mother were alive and well. After being stricken with pneumonia ten years ago, she'd passed away, and for a while Celine had wondered if she would ever get over it. To be honest, she wasn't sure she could have, had it not been for the fact that she knew she needed to pull herself together for her new baby daughter. It was bad enough that her father had passed away ten years before that, but when Celine had lost her mom, it had been much more devastating. Maybe because once she and her brother, Jackson, had lost both parents, they'd felt more like orphans. It was especially traumatic for Celine because of how close she and her mother had been. She'd loved her dad with all her heart, too, but after their parents had divorced, Celine and Jackson hadn't seen their dad as much as they would have liked. He wasn't a deadbeat by any account, but seeing him only one or two days during the week and every other weekend just hadn't compared to seeing him daily. Everything had changed, and Celine and Jackson's bond with their mom had surpassed the one they'd had with their dad on so many levels.

Celine smiled when she saw Kassie walking toward the car. Celine had purposely parked near her daughter's assigned bus so that Kassie would see her right away.

Kassie opened the door and got in, smiling.

“Hi, sweetie. So how was school today?”

“Good,” Kassie said, fastening her seat belt. “We learned about more animals, so we'll be ready for our field trip next week. All the kids are so excited, and so am I.”

“The zoo is always fun. I loved going myself when I was a child.”

“Oh, and guess what, Mom?”

“What?”

“My teacher says that I'm already reading at an eighth-grade level. And I'll only be in sixth grade this fall.”

“That's wonderful, honey, and I'm so not surprised. You've been reading since you were in preschool, and I made sure to read to you before you were born.”

Kassie laughed. “That's really funny, Mom. You read to me before I even got here? Do you think I heard anything?”

Now Celine laughed. Every time this subject came up, Kassie asked the same questions. “Yeah, I do. I think you heard every single word.”

“Well, I sure don't remember any of it.”

“I know, but it's all inside your brain somewhere,” she said, looking at Kassie and smiling.

Kassie smiled back, and Celine wanted to burst into tears. She had to stay strong and upbeat, though. She couldn't let on to her daughter that something was wrong.

“Why'd you pick me up, Mom?”

“I thought we would go to the mall. You know, do something fun.”

“On a Monday?”

“Yep.”

“We never go shopping on Mondays. Only on Fridays and Saturdays.”

“I know, but I was just in the mood for us to spend some time together.”

“Oh.”

“Unless you don't wanna go shopping. If not, we can head home.”

“No!” Kassie hurried to say. “Let's go to the mall now.”

Celine laughed. “Yeah, that's what I thought.”

When they arrived, they went straight to Macy's, and Kassie picked out two summer dresses for church, two shorts sets, and a couple of cute, colorful T-shirts.

Celine repositioned all of the clothing on her left arm. “You should probably get another two or three dresses, and then we'll go up to the shoe department to get you some new sandals.”

Kassie looked at her strangely. “So I can get anything I want?”

“Yep. Anything at all. And then after we leave the mall, I was thinking we could stop at that little drive-in burger place you love so much.”

Kassie seemed confused, but she browsed through the dress rack anyway.

Celine wasn't confused at all. She knew she hadn't been diagnosed with anything, but there was still a chance that the worst could happen. So she'd made up her mind to treat this particular shopping trip like it was their last. Celine's new goal was to spend as much quality time with Kassie as possible, doing everything she could to make her daughter happy. What she wanted was to provide Kassie with lots of fun memories—just in case.

“I think that's all I see, Mom,” Kassie said.

“Okay, then, let's go into the dressing room so you can try everything on.”

As they walked through the girls' department, however, Celine's phone rang. To her surprise, it was Keith. He almost never called her on her cell phone anymore, so she wondered what was wrong.

“Go ahead and get started, sweetie,” she said to Kassie and then walked a few steps away from the dressing room area. “Hello?”

“Hey, where are you?”

“At the mall.”

“Oh. You and Kassie?”

“Yeah, I picked her up from school.”

“I was hoping to catch you before you got home. Is she nearby?”

“No, she's in the dressing room.”

“I should have called you earlier to give you the heads-up. Just in case she asks you anything about it.”

“Asks me about what?”

“When she got to school this morning, she called me before she walked inside.”

“Why?”

“She wanted to know why I came home so late.”

“Oh yeah? And what did you tell her?”

“That I fell asleep at a friend's house by mistake. I told her I didn't realize what time it was.”

“Hmmph.”

“What's that supposed to mean?”

“Nothing, Keith. Nothing at all.”

“Well, if she brings it up to you, I hope you'll explain it to her. Because I could tell she was upset.”

“You mean lie to her the same way you did? I don't think so.”

“Look. Time really did get away from me, just like I told you. I never meant to stay gone so many hours.”

“Yeah, I believe that part, but you and I both know you weren't at some friend's house.”

“Let's not do this. You're at the mall, and I'm still at work.”

“Whatever,” she said.

“I'll just see you and Kassie when I get home.”

“Fine,” she said, and ended the call.

If Celine hadn't heard Keith's words with her own ears, she wouldn't have believed them. He actually wanted her to support the lie he'd told both her and their daughter. Celine would never want to hurt Kassie or give her any reason to worry about anything, but she didn't want to lie to her about her father's actions. Keith was acting totally out of character, and Celine wondered when he was going to stop. He seemed so distant and uncaring and nothing like the man she'd married. She was to the point where she barely knew who he was anymore. He was different, and he was getting worse as the days went on. But regardless of how much she loved him and didn't want to live without him, she wouldn't allow him to keep going and coming as he pleased. It was bad enough that she'd tolerated his coming home so late this morning, but she wouldn't let it continue. Friend or mistress, breast cancer or not, she wouldn't be Keith's fool. He wouldn't do whatever he wanted and get away with it.

C
eline cleansed her smooth, supple face, brushed her teeth, and rinsed with mouthwash. She pulled the belt of her pink silk robe a bit tighter and walked back into the bedroom. It was only six a.m., but Keith was almost fully dressed. This was an hour earlier than usual, and Celine wondered why. He also hadn't gotten home until sometime after eight last night, claiming he'd had to work late again.

Celine attempted to make small talk. “So do you have another busy day?”

He stood in front of the dresser, tying his tie. “For the most part.”

“Is there a reason for that?”

Keith frowned, but he still didn't turn to look at her. She saw his expression through the mirror.

“What do you mean?” he said.

“Is there a reason you're having to work so much overtime?”

“In case you've forgotten, I'm a VP. I have a lot of responsibility, and so do the people who report to me.”

“Yeah, I realize that, but you didn't start working late every single night until about a month ago. It started all of a sudden.”

Keith sighed, noticeably irritated. “I'm sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but I don't get to decide when there's going to be a lot of work and when there isn't. Right now, we have a lot going on, and there's nothing I can do about it.”

Celine didn't bother bringing up the fact that he'd stayed out Sunday night and hadn't come home until yesterday morning. She didn't mention how his late-night-into-the-morning escapade had nothing to do with his job.

Instead, she took a different approach. “What is it I need to do, Keith? What will it take for us to make things right with our marriage?”

“I really need to get going,” he said. “Maybe we can discuss it another time, though.”

“So you're just going to walk out? Leave right in the middle of our conversation?”

“I don't see what there is to talk about. When I wanted to talk months ago, you were too busy.”

“I never tried to ignore you intentionally. I admit that I was pretty caught up with my work, but when you know better, you can do better. I'm sorry if you felt neglected, and I'm sorry I didn't hear you when you were trying to make me aware of it.”

Keith pulled on his blazer in silence.

“Can I meet you for lunch?” she asked. “Can we go somewhere and talk then?”

“My day is too full for that.”

“What about dinner? Can't you leave work early just this one time?”

“No, I can't.”

“Even if it has to be a late dinner, Lauren won't mind watching Kassie. Actually, we could just have Kassie spend the night with Lauren, which she loves to do anyway. And Lauren can just take her to school in the morning.”

“I have a lot of work to do, Celine. What part of that don't you understand?”

“Why are you so angry? Why are you doing this?”

Keith shook his head, walked over to the chair, and picked up his briefcase. “I have to go.”

Celine folded her arms. “Who is she, Keith?”

This time he stopped and stared at her with no emotion, and his silence was chilling. He hadn't answered her one way or the other, but the look on his face told her that he wasn't planning to deny her accusation. He hadn't done so yesterday, either, but there was something different about the way he looked at her now, almost as if he didn't have the nerve to say it out loud, yet he wanted her to know the truth. Although maybe she was making more out of this than it actually was. Maybe he was simply staying out late so she would
think
he was messing around. Maybe this was some unorthodox way of trying to pay her back for not spending any quality time with him. Or maybe he was simply doing this to get her attention so she could see how serious things were.

Every bit of that could be true, but Celine knew in her heart that it wasn't. He was acting far too differently, and it had started pretty suddenly. It was as if Keith had awakened one day last month and decided he was a free man, as though he didn't have a wife or a child to answer to.

“Look, Keith,” she said. “Marriages have problems. Remember when your parents first joined that church they go to? And they told us that if we didn't join, too, they couldn't have anything to do with us? We haven't seen your parents in years, and I was there for you through all of that. Even when you were so hurt you walked around not saying anything to me. But like I said, marriages have problems, and problems can be worked on. So, if you're willing, I'd like to find a good counselor for us to talk to.”

“I think our situation is beyond that point.”

“You can't be serious. Not after all this time we've been together. Not with the way I've always loved you and the way you claimed you always loved me.”

“I do love you,” he said. “But over the last year, my feelings really changed. I lost some of that love. I do love you as the mother of my child, but I don't feel the way I did before. I'm sorry.”

Celine looked at him, not knowing what to say. She considered telling him about the mammogram appointment she had scheduled for tomorrow. And she would have, except before she could open her mouth, he said, “See you later,” and walked out of the bedroom.

Celine went over to the window, watching him back out of the driveway, and then she sat on the side of the bed, heartbroken. She just couldn't understand how this had happened and why it was going on now.

She broke into tears, but right when she did, Kassie walked into her room. She still had on her cute little pajamas, but she looked sad.

Kassie stood directly in front of her. “Mom, why are you crying?”

Celine quickly wiped her face with both hands, trying to appear as though nothing were wrong. “Everything's fine, honey.”

“You don't look fine. You look sad, and so am I.”

“Sit down, sweetie,” Celine said. “Why are you sad?”

“Because you and Daddy must be mad at each other again.”

“Why would you think that?”

“Because you argue all the time. You're always mad at each other.”

“Honey, it's nothing like that.”

“Why didn't Daddy come home on Sunday night?” she asked, looking directly into her mother's eyes.

Celine was shocked by the things Kassie was saying. She'd had no idea that Kassie was overhearing their arguments. Although, why wouldn't she when there had definitely been times when their voices were louder than normal?

“Sweetheart,” Celine said, “your dad is very busy with work, and it's taking up a lot of his time. But it won't always be this way, okay?”

“But yesterday when I called him from school, he told me that he was at a friend's house.”

Celine swallowed hard, trying to think of what to say next. She wasn't prepared for the comments Kassie was making or the questions she was asking.

“He fell asleep, but you know your dad has never done anything like this before, right?” Celine's own words made her sick to her stomach. She hated defending Keith to their daughter, when she knew in her gut he hadn't just fallen asleep at some
friend's
house. But she also didn't have the heart to say anything that would make Kassie worry more than she already was.

“Come here,” Celine said, hugging her.

Kassie laid her head against her mother's chest, and silent tears rolled down Celine's face. Celine squeezed Kassie tighter and prayed she didn't have breast cancer. And the more she thought about it, maybe she didn't. Based on a bit more research that she'd done online last night, thousands of women discovered lumps all the time, and actually, when she'd had her first mammogram last year, she'd been told that she had lumpy breasts. So maybe she'd gotten herself all worked up for nothing. There was a chance that she'd prematurely decided the worst when it was best to wait and see what happened.

Celine held her daughter and hoped she was right. She prayed that when she left the women's center tomorrow, all would be well, and that none of this had been more than a false alarm. She had to believe this for her own sake and for the sake of her daughter. Otherwise, she wasn't sure how she'd make it through the day.