Chapter 14 - Mara Didn’t Ask Me To Forgive Her
Emily came on Tuesday.
Daylight.
Public booth.
No uniform.
She bought coffee.
Tipped.
Excellent start.
“I’m sorry.”
I looked at her.
“For?”
“Using your workplace to stage something.”
“Yes.”
“For speaking to Noah about his family without his parents knowing.”
“Yes.”
“For letting him think the uniform meant authority.”
That one was better.
“And?”
Emily looked at my badge.
“I saw Mara wearing your name.”
“You knew.”
“Yes.”
“You didn't stop her.”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because part of me liked watching someone else force the Hayes family to deal with what they buried.”
I nodded.
Not pretty.
Believable.
“You realized later you were using the same method.”
“Yes.”
“What happens with you and them?”
“Not your problem.”
I almost smiled.
“Good answer.”
She smiled too.
Then:
“May I ask you something?”
“Depends.”
“Why did you stay involved?”
I laughed.
“I didn't.”
Emily raised an eyebrow.
“Three days.”
“I was at work.”
“Fair.”
I looked toward the kitchen.
“Also because a child hugged me like I had promised something.”
Emily's face softened.
“That bothered you.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
I thought.
“Because somebody made him trust a symbol.”
My badge.
My uniform.
Not me.
“And?”
“I hated that I could have been anybody.”
Emily nodded.
Then caught herself before explaining me to myself.
Good.
She finished her coffee.
Before leaving she said:
“Mara thinks you hate her.”
“I don't know her.”
“I told her that.”
“Better.”
Emily stood.
Then:
“Daniel asked Mara to come to Noah’s soccer game Saturday.”
I looked up.
“That sounds like information I didn't ask for.”
Emily almost smiled.
“I’m leaving.”
“Please.”
She went.
On Saturday I worked lunch.
At 2:10, Noah came in with Katherine.
Not Daniel.
He waved.
Did not hug me.
“Hi, Claire.”
“Hi, Noah.”
He looked at my badge.
“New one.”
“Yes.”
“Can people steal that one?”
“Not if Helen has anything to say about it.”
Helen called from the host stand:
“Correct.”
Noah smiled.
Katherine said they were picking up sandwiches before his game.
“Mara coming?” I asked before remembering my own rule.
Katherine noticed.
“She might.”
“Right.”
She smiled slightly.
“We're all learning.”
“Painfully.”
Noah looked between us.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
He rolled his eyes.
Before leaving, he turned.
“Claire?”
“Yes?”
“Do you want to come?”
“To your game?”
“Yes.”
I thought.
“No.”
He looked surprised.
“Why?”
“Because I'm your waitress.”
“You're not our waitress right now.”
Fair.
I tried again.
“Because your family is figuring something out, and I don't need to be there for it.”
Noah considered.
“Okay.”
No injury.
No accusation.
Children can survive a boundary when adults do not turn it into rejection.
Then he said:
“Mara says she won't come if Dad doesn't want her.”
“What does your dad say?”
Noah frowned.
“He says he's thinking.”
I nodded.
“That sounds like him.”
At 3:45, Daniel texted the restaurant.
Helen read it to me because he did not have my number.
Tell Claire I told Noah the truth about shoving her.
I stared.
Helen asked:
“Response?”
“None.”
She smiled.
“Excellent.”
At 5:20, Luis checked a local youth-league account because apparently everybody in restaurants becomes invested in customer families once enough drama happens.
“Mara went.”
I looked at him.
He held up the phone.
No photo of her.
Just a game score.
“How do you know?”
“Daniel called for a reservation tomorrow.”
I laughed.
“For how many?”
Luis checked.
“Four.”
Daniel.
Noah.
Katherine.
Mara.
One table.
Not a repaired family.
May you like
Just four chairs.
For once, nobody had booked one on somebody else’s behalf.
