Free These Girls by Sarah Pekkanen Page A

reached out, cut off a hunk of Brie, and spread it on a cracker.
    “Try the cheese, it’s good,” he said, swallowing it in one bite.
    Abby smiled as she reached for the knife. “Thanks.”
    “I’m going to be traveling a bit for my job,” Joanna was saying. “So we may need flexible hours from you, too. Of course, we wouldn’t interfere with school, but could you work the occasional weekend?”
    Abby shrugged. “I’m sure we could work it out. Other than school, I won’t have very many commitments.”
    “You’re not dating anyone?” Joanna asked. The question feltoddly out of place; it hung between them for a swollen moment. Even though they’d talked about personal things, this seemed different. Joanna’s dark eyes stayed fixed on Abby. What was her motivation for asking?
    Abby finished chewing her cracker before she replied. “Actually, I do have a boyfriend. But I would never have him stay over here or anything—”
    Bob cut her off. “We’re not worried about it. That’s your business.”
    “Well, actually, she raises a good point. I wouldn’t want a strange guy in our basement,” Joanna said. “I think no overnight guests is a good rule.”
    Hadn’t Abby just said that? She felt her cheeks flush, wondering how her dating habits had suddenly become part of this conversation and why Joanna seemed to be acting like her mother.
    Abby changed the subject. “Can you let me know a bit more about the salary and benefits? Will you be offering health care?”
    “I think Bob and I should talk a little bit privately, then maybe we can give you a call with all the details?” Joanna said. She phrased it like a question, but it wasn’t one. She was letting Abby know the job hadn’t been formally offered. Somehow the two of them had become locked in a silent struggle.
    Abby gave in first. “That sounds perfect. You have my references, so I’ll just wait to hear from you.”
    It wasn’t until Abby was turning the key to start her Honda Civic that she realized: The whole time, Joanna hadn’t held Annabelle. Had she even looked at her new daughter?
    Later Abby would wonder if Joanna had a premonition about Abby and Bob; it could’ve been why she was so prickly. But then why would she have offered Abby the job?
    The next morning, Joanna had called. Abby was still asleep—it was eight o’clock on a Saturday, and it took her three rings to locate the phone.
    “I didn’t wake you, did I?” Joanna asked.
    Abby could almost picture her, clad in top-of-the-line spandex, skin glistening from an early-morning aerobics class. She was probably feeding celery and apples into the restaurant-quality juicer Abby had spotted in the kitchen last night.
    “Oh, no,” Abby lied. She held the phone away and cleared her throat and tried to sound alert. What was it about Joanna that made her feel like everything was a competition?
    “I’m going back to work in a week,” Joanna said. “We actually had someone else lined up, but she took another job without telling us. Isn’t that lovely? So now we’re scrambling. Bob can take a little time off, but I don’t know how much longer his clients are going to be patient. We really need you as soon as possible.”
    “I have to give two weeks’ notice at the day-care center,” Abby said. She added, “I’m the head caregiver there,” even though she’d already told Joanna that. She wanted to show Joanna that she was important, too. That people needed her.
    “I understand,” Joanna said, but her voice was brusque. “Well, could you move in sooner and help out a bit in the evenings? Annabelle goes to bed early, and maybe Bob could get out and do some work if you’re in the house. I mean, we’d pay you, of course. We could do an hourly rate until you start fulltime. I’ve got to go to Michigan next week; we have a primary coming up and things are going to be nuts for me. And if Bob gets an emergency call from a client—well, it’ll look bad if he has to turn