Free Memories by Deanna Lynn Sletten

now that Darci is here..." Janette paused a moment and took a breath. She looked close to tears. "I just can't stand the thought of leaving her with anyone else. My job has always come first, but now nothing else seems as important as Darci."
     Janette stopped again and stared out at the trees as if looking for an answer. Finally, she looked back at Dani. "I thought if I took a little more time off I could make a more rational decision. The trouble is you're the one who'll be stuck with my job until I do decide, and I feel awful about doing that to you."
     "You mean you might not come back, at all?" Dani was too stunned to believe she had heard right.
     "It's possible," Janette told her. "I just need some more time to decide."
     Dani sat in silence for a long while, staring at the droplets of water making trails down the outside of her tea glass. Never coming back? Janette had always been so dedicated to her work. And now she's made a complete turnaround.
     Janette broke the silence. "I'm sorry to drop this all on you, Dani. But I hope you understand. This is something I need to do."
     Dani looked up at her friend. "I can't say I do understand," she told her. "But then, I've never been a mother so I guess I wouldn't." She smiled then, making the worried frown on Janette's face disappear. "You take the time you need and don't worry. I'll take care of things until you do decide."
     Janette sighed with relief. "Thanks Dani. Thanks for being such a good friend."
     Dani only smiled, even though she didn't feel like smiling on the inside.
     
     
     Later, after leaving Janette's home, Dani decided to take a drive through the winding roads between Chaska and Apple Valley before returning to her own apartment. The drive past the river and through the small hills helped to ease the tension she was feeling and let her mind wander.
     She still couldn't believe Janette was considering staying home permanently. It was just so unexpected. But then, when Janette's husband had come out on the deck with Darci, and Janette's eyes lit up, Dani could see the bond between mother and child. Perhaps Janette was right in wanting to stay home. She just didn't know.
     Dani did know that by continuing in Janette's position as coat buyer she'd have to work on the spring line, and that meant once again working with Miguel. The thought upset her terribly. She'd been so successful at dodging his calls over the past month-and-a-half and she was sure he'd finally given up trying.
     She'd talked to Cathy several times, too, and had found out Miguel had been inquiring about her. But Dani had made it clear to Cathy; she was not interested in his concern. Now, just when she thought she might be home free from having to ever see Miguel again, she was going to have to continue with coats.
     As Dani turned her car northward toward her St. Louis Park apartment, she tried for the thousandth time to figure Miguel out. After all these years his sudden interest in her didn't seem real. After all, he'd been the one who left. Yet, ever since she'd been to New York, he'd tried several times to call and talk with her. She never returned his calls. She couldn't see any point in doing so. Dani figured he was just playing his old games again, trying to see how many women he could add to his list of conquests. And maybe adding her twice might be a new game for him.
     What scared her most was that for a few minutes at the party in Southampton, she'd seen the side of him that she'd once loved so much. And she was still drawn to him. But she'd just brushed it off as a pang of nostalgia, trying to re-create that old feeling because in reality, she knew he was incapable of feeling love for her. He didn't take that kind of love seriously.
     The sun was just fading into evening as Dani pulled her car into her apartment's garage. She hadn't resolved anything, she told herself. Only rehashed the same old thoughts she'd been fighting with for years. Fortunately, the spring