workforce for more than a couple of years. In her first official day on the job, she greeted thirty-two women between the ages of twenty and sixty-eight. Plus she began to learn that there was more to the reentry program than filling out an intake form. There was also fund-raising and grant writing going on because the stipends allotted from the county and state couldn’t begin to cover the expenses of running an office of social workers. And there was a great deal of networking to do, connected with businesses that would take on a displaced individual who was starting over. Just before noon, Fran left for a professional businesswomen’s luncheon where she would be the keynote speaker.
Adele desperately wanted to hear her speech. She found herself mesmerized even when Fran asked her to print something out.
After lunch she found Ross sorting through a stack of folders, envelopes and loose pages. Addie asked if there was anything she could do to help.
“I’m trying to organize these client files so they can be put in some order.”
“Do they have to be filed?”
“And scanned so they can be saved. We’re trying to go paperless. By now you’ve noticed we don’t have enough space.”
“How about I scan, file and save them to the cloud?”
Ross just looked at her, a little nonplussed. “For someone who hasn’t been in the workforce in eight years, you seem to really know your way around an office.”
“The computer and social media was just about my only connection to the outside world. At least my most dominant, since I could check in on the computer without leaving the house. I used to scan and file my mother’s medical records and insurance papers. The computer was my lifeline.”
Ross just pushed the piles toward Addie.
She took them eagerly. “What’s your deadline on this project?”
“You have a front office to maintain. My deadline is whenever you can get it done. Thank you. This helps tremendously since I’m also in the middle of writing a grant proposal.”
“I’d like to learn more about that,” Addie said.
“You can count on it,” Ross said with a smile.
At the end of the day Addie went home, exhilarated. She had so much to look forward to.
She went to a weight loss group meeting that night. She was going to have to switch over to evenings, since she’d be working during the day. She introduced herself, weighed in, her name was pulled up on the laptop and the group leader said, “Adele, you’re down nineteen and three-quarter pounds! Congratulations.”
I’m going shopping this weekend, she thought in a fever of excitement. I always hated shopping, but this feels brand-new.
That night she stood in front of her mirror in her underwear and turned this way and that. She was noticeably slimmer than she’d been in over eight years, trimmer than she had been even before she got pregnant. Then that thing that had been lurking in the back of her mind surfaced. She had had zero contact with Hadley. He didn’t know about the baby, never sought her out to ask, just walked away without looking back after telling her he loved her. After telling her they’d start over together.
She intended to get some closure on that.
* * *
Justine closed her bedroom door. Olivia was practicing her guitar in her room; Amber was on the phone in her room. Homework was finished, dishes were done. Scott decided he was going out for a couple of hours. She couldn’t wait until they were no longer sleeping in the same house. She found it incredibly annoying that Scott never asked if she had any plans. They barely spoke. She got the impression he’d go on like this forever.
She took a sip of her wine. She found a number in her directory, dialed and a man answered. “This is Logan,” he said.
“It’s Justine Somersby. I’m sorry to bother you,” she said. “Do you have a minute?”
“Sure. Of course. Let me turn this TV down.”
“If you’re busy—”
“It’s fine. I’m not working tonight. Nothing going on here.”