Finding Joy (The Joy Series) (Volume 2) (9 page)

“Sleep tight,” he said smoothly without turning back around.

I smiled contentedly at his backside and headed back into my apartment.

“Movie night!” Lizzie said with teenage enthusiasm. “What do you want to watch?”

“You pick. The movies are all in that drawer,” I said, motioning below the TV. “No rated-R’s for you, though.”

My phone barked in my back pocket, and I pulled it out to see what Carly had to say.

CARLY: Have you bought that book yet? I’m at my niece’s piano recital at her church and reading on my phone. These crazy Brits are so hot! I’m so engrossed. I feel like I need to Google ‘puppy mill’ or ‘Auschwitz’ to snap me out of it. I might not be able to stand up and applaud in a minute.

ALEXIS: I just got it, but I can’t start it tonight. Lizzie is here.

CARLY: Too bad. You’re missing out. Take tomorrow off and stay home and read. Keep Adam handy.

I giggled a little and looked up to find Lizzie watching me. She rolled her eyes and then continued digging through the movies until she found one that met her approval. “How about this?” she asked, holding up the unrated version of
Knocked Up
.

“No way,” I said. “That one is beyond rated-R. Plus, the ending may scar you for life…though I applaud your eagerness to accept your situation.”

“Whatever,” Lizzie said. “It seems appropriate, and I love Seth Rogen. He’s funny for an old guy.”

I walked up behind her and plucked a movie out of the drawer. “You think he’s old?” I asked. From her perspective, I guess he kind of was. I held up
Nottinghill
. “Let’s watch this instead. Hugh Grant is really cute … for an old guy.”

“Fine,” she said with a little annoyance. “But he’s like my grandpa’s age or something. You have any corn?” she asked as she placed the DVD in the machine.

“You bet. I’ll make some.” I wandered into the kitchen and started digging through the cabinet for the box of greasy microwave popcorn.

“Make two bags,” she hollered at me. “I’m eating for two, you know.”

I shook my head and decided that she had been easier to deal with when she’d been in denial.

CHAPTER 5

Adam

Lizzie looked sullenly out the passenger side window as we made our way from the Financial District to the Upper East Side. She was quieter this morning than she had been last night. I wasn’t really sure what to do with her. I didn’t have much experience with moody teenage girls.

I pulled up to a red light behind a line of cars and cabs, and drummed my fingers on the steering wheel. I reached over and turned down the volume on the radio.

“Hey, what are you thinking about over there?” I asked. “Are you worried about being dropped off at school in this old car?”

She turned to look at me and then glanced all around the car. She brushed her hand across the black vinyl dash. “No way. This car is so cool.” Her hand dropped back in her lap, and she studied it for a second. “I’m just thinking about my mom. I’m worried about her. What’s going to happen when she comes home and I’m not there? She needs me.” I’d heard this story before. Hell, I’d lived it.

The light turned green, and traffic began to move again. I drove through the intersection, but then pulled over to the curb at the first open spot. I put the car in park and turned in my seat to face her. “I don’t want to make you late to school because Allie would kill me, but I want to tell you a story.”

“Okay,” she said. “Is it about a teenage girl who gets herself in trouble, and a mom who doesn’t care? Please tell me there’s a happy ending.”

“No but close,” I said. “It’s about a teenage boy who got himself in trouble, and a mom who
did
care…just like
yours
does…but she was just too messed up to do anything about it. It does have a happy ending though, and yours will too.”

Lizzie’s eyes went wide.

“My childhood was a lot like yours, Lizzie,” I began. “The only difference was that I had a dad who was around some of the time. But my mom and your mom could be the same person. I know what its like to take care of someone who should be taking care of you. I’ve been where you’re at, and if you ever want to talk about it, I’m here. Okay?”

Lizzie looked back at me with tears in her eyes. A faint smile slipped out. “Okay,” she said, nodding.

“And there are lots of other people who care about you, too. You know that right?”

She sat still for a moment, and I wondered if she was going to open up. “Hey, I love this song,” she said, instead. She reached over and turned the volume back up on the radio.

I watched her bounce in the seat, singing along to whatever shit she had found for us on the radio. She was going to be a hard to nut to crack, but I had been, too, when I’d been her age and in her position. It wasn’t easy to open up about the unpleasantness of living with a drunk.

Since ‘the moment’ was over, I steered back onto the road and didn’t pull over again until we were in front of her school. “I’ll see you at 3:30, okay? I’ll be right here,” I said.

“Yeah,” she said climbing out. Before closing the door, she leaned back in. “Oh, and Adam … thanks for earlier. I feel better now.”

Ahh, so she had heard me. “Any time,” I said, but she had already slammed the door. I watched her ponytail bounce up the steps of the school. It was then that I noticed what she was wearing. Allie had bought her all of those new clothes on Sunday, but Lizzie was still wearing her worn-out Columbia Law sweatshirt. I made a mental note to swing by the campus bookstore this morning after my only class of the day. I’d add a little something new to her wardrobe as well.

Alexis

The morning had been organized chaos. We had stayed up too late watching the movie, and getting Lizzie up this morning had been a challenge. She’d been grouchy and testy. It had given me an inside look at what having a teenager would be like, and it wasn’t pretty.

I sifted through some papers on my desk. I’d arranged to take Friday off so that Lizzie and I could go to Boston. But, as a result, I needed to get a lot of things off my desk today and tomorrow.

Ethan swung into my office and leaned against the door. “Hey, it’s Huuuuuuummmmpppp Dayyyyy,” he said. “Want to meet for happy hour? I’ll call Jillian. You can call Adam and Carly.”

In the past, our happy hours had consisted of a bunch of lawyers from our office in a stuffy bar like the Library. Now our happy hours were much more casual. I found it funny how Ethan had worked his way into Adam’s group of friends. Ethan was a pretty boy. He couldn’t be any more different from Burke and his bandmates than he was. However, he managed to fit right in. Ethan was like that. He could handle any situation.

I still didn’t know the extent of what had gone on between Adam and Ethan while I had been on my little hiatus from life. But whatever had happened, they had gone from hating each other to being good friends. It was an unlikely combination, but no more unlikely that Adam and me, I guess.

“I can’t tonight,” I said. “I have Lizzie, remember?”

“Oh, that’s right … that sucks.”

“No, it doesn’t. I like having her. But you guys should go out. Call Adam. I’m sure that he’ll want to do something. I feel kind of bad about tossing him out.”

“Will do,” Ethan said, pushing himself off the door. “I miss you though, wifey. It’s just not the same anymore. We never go out. You work all the time. You come home late, and we don’t talk. I think our marriage is over.”

I looked for something to throw at him. It seemed like I was always looking for something to throw at him. I settled on a hot pink tape dispenser shaped like a stiletto heel and chucked it at him.

He caught it easily. “I’m keeping this and holding it hostage. You can have it back after you go to happy hour with me next week,” he said before heading down the hall.

“That pink high heel is going to look real cute on your desk,” I yelled after him.

I worked through lunch so that I could leave early. Adam had said that he would get Lizzie a snack after school. That meant that he’d probably drop her off at the apartment around 4:30, and I didn’t want to leave Lizzie home by herself for more than a couple of hours. It was 1:15 when my cell phone rang. I was making good progress sifting through the piles on my desk and still had almost five hours left in the work day.

This time I recognized the number as Marlene’s. She’d said that she would call to check in. “Hi, Marlene,” I answered.

“Alexis, I’m glad I caught you,” she said. The tone of her voice immediately set me on edge. She sounded strained, upset even. I’d never heard or seen Marlene get upset. Even yesterday when she had called to tell me about Lizzie’s missing mother and she had clearly been stressed out, she’d still been upbeat.

“What’s wrong?” I asked. “Is it Lizzie’s mom?”

“No,” Marlene answered quietly. “It’s Lizzie.”

My stomach dropped, and I broke out in a sweat. My heart was racing, my hands shaking. “Is she hurt?” I whispered. “Is it the baby?”

“No, no, it’s nothing like that,” Marlene said. “Lizzie is fine. But we have a problem. A teacher saw her get out of Adam’s car this morning and questioned her about it. We didn’t coach Lizzie on what she should and shouldn’t say. I didn’t think it was necessary. I didn’t anticipate anything like this. I guess I should’ve. Anyway, Lizzie told the teacher everything.”

“Everything?”

“Yes, everything. She told her that she was staying with you because her mom was missing and that Adam is your boyfriend. I don’t know why she was so forthcoming with information. She usually isn’t.”

“She didn’t know any better. So are we in trouble?” I asked.

“You’re not. I might be though. I don’t know, but that’s not my biggest concern right now.” She sighed into the phone. “A social worker from CPS is picking Lizzie up from school today.”

“No,” I said. This was exactly what we had been trying to avoid. Now Lizzie was going to be just another kid lost in the system.

“She’ll probably be in a group facility tonight. If they aren’t able to locate her mother, I’m guessing that she’ll be placed in foster care.”

“This is awful,” I said. “Will I be able to see her?”

Marlene was silent for what seemed like an eternity. “I doubt it,” she finally said. “Not at first anyway. She can probably call you if she has access to a phone, but I doubt that they will allow you to see her. I’m sorry, Alexis. I should’ve handled it differently, I know. But I thought this was best for Lizzie.”

I felt as defeated as she sounded. “It’s not your fault, Marlene. It was what was best for Lizzie.”

“I thought so,” she sighed.

“You’ll keep me updated, right?”

“Of course, I will,” she said. “Alexis, I need to come get her stuff from your place. I know you’re working but is there anyway you can meet me at 5 o’clock?”

“Sure. I’ll be there,” I said.

I ended the call and cradled my head in my hands. This was awful. I knew nothing about Child Protective Services. I knew nothing about the foster care system, but I imagined that it was going to be difficult for me to maintain a relationship with Lizzie while she was in it. I had friends who took on pro bono work in this area. I could ask them how it all worked, but at the moment I just wanted to go home.

I was no longer worried about getting more work done today. I was emotionally wasted and would be worthless the rest of the day. It didn’t really matter anyway since I wouldn’t be going to Boston on Friday. I closed my computer down and threw it in my bag. I gathered up my purse and phone and told Constance that I would be working from home the rest of the day.

I’d planned on walking the few blocks to my apartment, but when I saw the line of cabs outside the office, I broke protocol and slid into the closest one. There was somewhere else I wanted to go first. Someone I
needed
to see.

Traffic on a Wednesday afternoon was relatively light, and the cab pulled up in front of Adam’s building in Murray Hill just a few minutes later. His only class on Wednesday was in the morning and had ended a few hours ago. I had texted him on the way to tell him I was coming, and he’d immediately responded to come on in.

As I neared Adam’s apartment, his cranky and elderly neighbor, Mr. Donaldson, was shuffling back to his apartment. “Hello, Mr. Donaldson,” I said, trying to put on a brave face. I didn’t want the old man to know I was in emotional turmoil.

“Ms. Allie,” he said, with a tight smile. “I tell you, the boys these days are never happy. My Grace was all I ever needed. Been gone 20 years now. God bless her.”

I smiled back at him but just nodded in acknowledgement of the craziness coming out of his mouth. I’d had a few run ins with Mr. Donaldson, and he had gotten nuttier with each encounter. Adam had explained to me that he was senile and possibly a bit schizophrenic. ‘Just nod and smile,’ Adam had said.

I moved on past him and approached Adam’s door. Even though we never stayed here, I still had my key. I stuck it in the lock, but the door pushed open before I could even turn it. I was immediately assaulted by the voices coming from the direction of the kitchen. One was higher pitched and sultry … and decidedly female.