The Friendship List(11)
“Coop, come on. Don’t say that.”
“You know I can’t leave her. She needs me.”
No, no, no, no! Ellen battled panic. Who needed him? She didn’t even know Coop was seeing someone. What bitch had trapped him?
She went cold all over and the unthinkable pushed its way into her brain. What if some girl was pregnant? There was a lot of that going around.
She closed her eyes. That couldn’t be it. They’d talked and talked about safe sex. She bought him condoms. She reminded him of how hard it was for just the two of them and how using a condom protected him from unplanned pregnancies and STDs. Hadn’t he been listening?
“You know her,” Coop continued. “You know what our relationship is like. She depends on me. She won’t make it without me.”
Who was it? Ellen wanted to scream the question. She ran through the list of girls she knew her son hung out with and tried to figure out which one might be holding him back. Did Keith know? No, he would have said something. Maybe she should talk to Lissa. Maybe—
“That’s no reason to stay here,” Luka told him. “You want to go away to college.”
“I can’t. Luka, I can’t. She’s my mom and she needs me.”
Ellen sagged against the wall as all the air rushed out of her body. Heat replaced the cold as she battled with the impossible. Her? The person he was talking about was her?
“We’ve always been a team,” Coop said. “I’m her life. She doesn’t date. I’m seventeen years old and my mom hasn’t been on a single date my whole life.”
“Not even one?”
“Nope. She’s never gone in the evening, unless it’s to hang out with Unity or Coach Kinne. She doesn’t do anything but work and take care of me. How can I leave her? Who will take care of her?”
The horror returned, but this time it was laced with confusion and shame. How could her son think like this? She was perfectly capable. She’d raised him, she’d graduated from college, she had a good job. She didn’t need her kid to take care of her. Why would he assume he was her everything? She had a life.
Without thinking, she began backing away from the door. She retreated to the main corridor and stood there, trying to clear her mind.
This was nothing but a misunderstanding, she told herself. Coop was reading the situation wrong. Of course she had a life and she would be fine when he was gone. Why wouldn’t she be? She was more than capable of being on her own. He had to know that. He was free to go live his life—be his own person. She wanted that for him, of course, but just as important, she never wanted him to resent her the way she’d always resented her parents.
She would take a second and gather her thoughts, then return to the weight room. She would find out about his plans for the evening, then go home and... And... Well, she didn’t know what she was going to do, but it would be something fun and exciting. Because of course she had things to do. Not dating didn’t mean anything. Lots of people didn’t date. She was absolutely and totally fine and happy and living the dream. That was her. For sure.
Unity finished tightening the new faucet in place. She ran water, then checked under the sink to make sure there were no leaks. When she was confident everything was perfect, she collected her tools, put the old faucet in the box the new one had arrived in and wiped down the counter. Only then did she go get Mr. Sweetman who was in his recliner, watching TV.
“I’m all done,” she said loudly, so the eightysomething gentleman could hear her over Judge Judy.
Mr. Sweetman, as adorable as his name, looked up and smiled. “All done?”
“I am.”
He nodded and got to his feet, a slow process that was painful to watch. When Unity couldn’t bear the struggle anymore, she grabbed him by both forearms and pulled until he was standing.
She matched his slow pace to the kitchen, then showed him the new faucet.
“If you press this button, the water goes from a steady stream to a nice spray,” she told him. “You don’t have to make it go back to a steady stream. The next time you turn it on, it’s on the steady stream automatically.”
“Oh, that’s very nice.”
She demonstrated the hose feature, showing him how he could easily rinse out his sink. He watched carefully, then practiced using the faucet before turning to her.
“Technology’s a marvel. When I was growing up, we had to pump water out of a well and carry it into the house. We’ve come a long way.”
“We have. I’ll send you a bill in a day or so.”
He patted her arm. “You’re a good girl, Unity. Thanks for my new faucet.”
She gave him a wave and let herself out.
After stowing her tools, she slid onto her seat and called her answering machine back home to pick up messages, then started her truck and drove through Silver Pines. Phyllis, the head of the local pickleball league, had asked her to stop by after work.
She was lucky that way, she thought, driving through the tidy community, waving at people she knew. Being her own boss meant she could come and go as she wanted. Although there were days when she had more work than she could handle, even with her part-time helpers.
She knew the solution was to hire a full-time employee—something she’d thought about and talked about and whined about. Ellen had threatened to place an ad online herself, just to force Unity to make a decision. It was probably the right thing to do, but Unity just couldn’t seem to make herself take the step. Hiring someone seemed like a big responsibility.