For All She Knows (Potomac Point #3) - Jamie Beck Page 0,4

worry lines on his forehead surprised me.

“What’s the matter, honey?” A glance at the clock told me only one hour remained in which to help him, serve dinner, do the dishes, and freshen up before racing to town hall for the seven o’clock hearing.

His shoulders fell. “Mom, please don’t make a scene tonight.”

“When have I ever made a scene about anything?” If Margot were here, she’d be laughing hysterically. I shoved my hands into the Christmas-themed oven mitts he’d decorated with fabric markers as a sixth grader.

He stuffed his school supplies into his backpack and heaved it over his slim shoulders. Poor kid inherited my lanky build. “I told you, kids at school are fired up. The football team will go off if they lose their field money.”

I stiffened, resigned to the fact that high school remained a hierarchy where jocks ruled. Carter had Sam’s bright blue eyes and ebony hair, nice sense of humor, gentle heart, and sharp mind, but because he wasn’t athletic and extroverted, he remained on the fringes of school society. I’d watched helplessly as he sat alone many Saturday nights, reading dystopian novels or watching TV with Sam and me. But in truth, Mimi didn’t have it easier, despite her son’s popularity. If anything, maybe she had it harder because popularity brought its own set of risks—the parties and sex and peer pressure.

Perhaps there wasn’t any parenting nirvana or perfect teen experience.

“Are they still giving you trouble?” My mitted hands rested on my hips.

“Just . . . Why are you making this a big deal?” He groaned.

When I was young, my sister was the only one to stand up to my father. Watching their vicious arguments convinced me to keep my head down to avoid getting caught in the cross fire. For a long time I thought myself smarter than my sister, although I loved her for trying to protect us. But by the time I turned twenty-one, the fallout from all she’d done had turned her into what she’d once hated. In our teens, I’d felt betrayed by her drinking and drug experimentation. As time went on, I ached for her pain and suffered with guilt for never once standing up to Dad with her.

On one anniversary of her death, I’d shared my feelings with Mimi, who suggested practicing taking a firm stand with something small. In her casual way, she’d also hinted that asserting myself might teach my kids to handle conflict better, sparing them my regrets. Although I didn’t agree with all Mimi’s parenting choices, some of her instincts were dead-on. I couldn’t give in to teen bullies tonight if I intended to help my kids develop the backbone they’d need to stand up for themselves in the future.

“Because academics should be the school board’s top priority, not sports. The science labs haven’t been upgraded since before we moved here.” I opened the oven and crouched to retrieve the roast chicken, freshly irked by the way athletics garnered so much attention in high schools and colleges.

“The labs are fine,” he said. “So are my grades.”

“We’re very proud of you, honey.” His summa cum laude average boded well for him, but Potomac High needed to do better by all the taxpayers’ kids, not simply the ones who played sports. “But this isn’t about only you. Other kids and parents care. And your sister will be coming up behind you in a few years. By the way, call her to dinner, please.”

“Whatever.” He took his backpack to the mudroom and called up the back stairs, “Kim, dinner!”

If I’d wanted to hear yelling, I would’ve called her myself.

Kim came skipping into the kitchen and then scowled at us both. “Dinner’s not ready.”

That one was almost ten but going on twenty, with a personality like my sister’s. Brash. Confident. Taking no guff. It was as if she had rejected my DNA in the womb.

“Help your brother set the table.” I mashed the lumps in the gravy and turned off the burner beneath the pot of rice.

I heard Sam enter the house before I saw him. He came into the kitchen, loosening his tie and then unbuttoning the top button of his shirt. At forty-three, he retained a youthful charm and playful smile, with only fine wrinkles at the edges of his twinkling eyes.

After giving Kim a kiss on top of her head, he swerved around the island to give me one on the cheek. “Smells delicious.”

“Too bad we don’t have much time to enjoy it tonight.”