Such a Beautiful Family: A Thriller(9)

Nora stood by the open door, waiting for her daughter. Hailey was a sophomore in high school and attended a different school than her brother. Nora would drop her off on her way to work. She watched her daughter tuck strands of dirty-blonde hair behind her ear as she approached. Her little girl with the round face and pigtails was growing up fast.

Nora switched her cell phone to camera mode and told Hailey to make a pose.

Hailey plunked her hands on her hips and thrust one shoulder forward. Her lips were closed tight.

“Smile,” Nora said.

“No way,” she said under tight lips, sounding like a bad ventriloquist. “Not until I get these braces off.”

Nora laughed and took the picture. Kids.

After they got in the car, buckled up, and drove off, Hailey asked, “Are you going to take the new job?”

“I don’t think so.”

“Why not? Whenever you and Dad talk about it, your voice raises an octave and you get all googly-eyed.”

“Googly-eyed?”

“Yes. You know . . . like how Trevor looked when you and Dad gave him that super-duper drone with the live Wi-Fi camera connection or how Dad gets when he talks about meeting Paul McCartney when you two went to some music festival in the desert.”

Nora laughed.

“And what happened to the woman who is always telling me I should try new things?” Hailey wanted to know.

Nora said nothing. But she did recall the initial excitement she’d felt after Jane had first approached her about a new job opportunity.

Hailey wasn’t finished, and she did her best Nora imitation: “You should challenge yourself, Hailey! Put yourself out there, Hailey! Don’t be afraid of making mistakes or failing. If it doesn’t work out, you just brush yourself off and try again.”

“Is that all?” Nora asked.

“No. Seriously, Mom. You can’t preach one thing and do another. Last year, you talked me into running for student council. I really didn’t want to do it, but I did it for you and Dad.”

“And you won.”

“More importantly, I met Josh.”

Nora’s stomach dropped at the thought. It was one thing to make new friends, but Hailey had been infatuated with the boy since their first meeting after school. The feeling seemed to be mutual. Nora had thought their friendship would have waned by now, but no such luck. Despite her misgivings, Nora knew relationships at Hailey’s age were normal, even healthy, and would only help her daughter grow; it was puppy love, and it would pass.

“There’s Josh now!” Hailey said. “Just pull to the curb, and I’ll walk the rest of the way with him.”

The school was up ahead, close enough for Nora to see a long line of cars at the drop-off area. Nora drove to the curb as requested.

Hailey grabbed her backpack, opened the door, and jumped out. “Thanks, Mom.” Before shutting the door, she peeked her head back inside the car and said, “You’ve got this, Mom. I love you.”

“I love you, too.” Nora watched them walk away. When they glanced her way, Nora waved. Hailey waved back, but Josh kept his hands in his pockets—too cool to let anyone see him waving at Hailey’s mom? She wasn’t sure what his deal was, but she knew that whenever he was at the house, he went out of his way to avoid talking to her or David. Maybe she needed to try harder to interact. Or maybe not.

Fifteen minutes later, Nora was at work, making her way to her office when she noticed a cloud of colorful balloons hovering above Marianne’s cubicle. She peeked inside and saw OFF THE CLOCK and OFFICIALLY RETIRED signs taped to her desk and computer screen.

“Wow,” Nora said when Marianne looked her way and smiled. “Looks like time really does fly when you’re having fun.”

Marianne laughed. “Despite my permanent smile, I thought this day would never come.”

Nora did her best to hide her surprise. Marianne had such a positive attitude and was always eager to help anyone who needed it.

“Don’t get me wrong,” Marianne said. “I enjoyed working here, but—”

Nora stopped her. “No need to explain. Congratulations. I’m going to miss seeing you around here.”

“Thanks. That’s very sweet of you to say.”

When another employee stopped in to wish Marianne well, Nora continued to her office, which was basically a larger cubicle with a view of the parking lot. Another perk of the promotion she’d received a few years ago was an administrative assistant named Amanda who was standing at her desk, sorting through her mail. In her twenties, Amanda was energetic and smart. She helped with scheduling and arranging meetings with other department managers.

“Good morning,” Amanda said. “Did you see that Marianne is retiring?”

“I did.” Amanda was great at multitasking, and she could talk a mile a minute while doing so. “Can you imagine spending thirty years of your life in this place?”

The question caught Nora off guard. Of all the questions she’d been asking herself this past weekend, that wasn’t one of them. And yet it should have been.

“Maybe that’s most people’s long-term career plan,” Amanda went on. “It’s just not mine.”

“What is your plan?” Nora asked, genuinely curious.

“Well, working here, wonderful as it is,” she said, “is merely a chance for me to learn some basic skills before I move on.” She tilted her head. “TMI?”