Page 61 of Half Baked

Idrank two cups of coffee by eight, preparing myself to head over to my house to face my mother. Just as I was about to head out the door, Maddie called.

While I was happy to see her name on my phone, I was also worried. What if she’d slept on everything and decided she was done with me?

“Hey,” I said softly, unsure of what to say other than I’m sorry, but the more I said it, the cheaper it felt.

“What are you doing this morning?” she asked breathlessly as though in a hurry.

“I don’t know yet. Do you need help with your aunt this morning too?”

I heard her car door ding, followed by the sound of her door closing. “No, something else. Mallory and I put some things together last night, and we caught Deidre in a semi-with-it state this morning.” She paused and told me that her aunt remembered about Andrea leaving Maddie with her and then a sitter, ending with the story of how she’d wandered out of the house one night, looking for her mother.

“There might be a police report,” I said. “I can look into it.”

“Last I checked, both neighbors are still living in the houses next door,” Maddie said. “I want to talk to them and see what they remember.”

“Good idea. Do you want to do that when you get off this afternoon?”

“Actually, that’s why I asked what you were doing this morning. I traded with Trista for her shift tonight. She’s going to cover me at nine-thirty, and I’m going to work her five to nine tonight.”

“Which is why Mallory asked me to stay with Deidre,” I said.

“Yeah,” she said, sounding apologetic, “but I understand if you only said yes because you felt pressured. It’s a big ask.”

I felt like an asshole. She shouldn’t consider this a big ask. It should be part of being her boyfriend, but then again, I’d walked away from her for weeks. I hadn’t given her reason to think otherwise. “I want to be part of your life, Maddie, and your aunt is part of it. I don’t have plans, and I’d be honored to help.”

“Thank you,” she said, her voice tight. “You have no idea how much I appreciate it.”

If I was really committing to this, I realized there was another way I could show her. “Why don’t you come over to my house after you get off work, and then we can head to the neighbors’ together?”

“To your house?”

“Yeah. You haven’t seen it, and my mother’s organized the hell out of it. Might as well see it before it returns to normal, which isn’t all that bad, by the way.”

She hesitated. “I’m not sure that’s a good idea.”

I knew what was giving her pause, and it made me sick to my stomach. “My mother won’t be there, Maddie. She’ll be on her way back to Memphis.”

“Noah, don’t kick her out on my behalf.”

“I have plenty of reasons to send her home. But if you’re worried, text me when you get off, and I’ll tell you if the coast is clear.”

“Okay.” But she didn’t seem convinced. “I’ve got to go. I’ll see you when I get off.”

I rinsed out my coffee cup and then headed back to my place. Lance had left early to follow up on some leads with the car theft case. The kid he’d interrogated had talked but hadn’t given any big player names, just his associates who got the orders. Lance planned to bring them in for questioning today, and I felt like a proud father.

My mother’s car was parked in front of my house, and I found her sitting at my kitchen table. She was sipping a cup of coffee while writing something on a notepad. While she was dressed, she wasn’t wearing makeup, and her hair was uncharacteristically pulled back into a short, low ponytail. She looked up in surprise when she saw me.

“Noah.”

“We need to talk,” I said, resting my hand on the back of a chair and holding her gaze.

Her mouth twisted, and tears filled her eyes. “I’m sorry.”

“I’m sorry too,” I said, feeling my resolve start to soften, but I also knew my mother. If I gave an inch, she’d take a mile. “While I appreciate you coming to make sure I’m okay, you know that I’m fine. I think Dad needs you more.”

Her mouth dropped open. “You’re kicking me out?”

“You can only rearrange my kitchen so many times, and I can assure you the alphabetical organization won’t last longer than a couple of days after you leave.”

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