The Babysitter. Nancy Bush

Чтение книги онлайн.

СКАЧАТЬ slip away as her old friend regaled her with stories about friends of theirs from high school. Camryn, whose hair was cut in a short, blondish bob and who always seemed to wear a smile, was an aide at the grade school and was in contact with lots of their schoolmates through their kids. Only a few of them had high school kids like Jamie. Camryn said, “Dug Douglas, Icky Vicky, and, well, Cooper, sort of. Some others, I think, but mostly the parents have grade-schoolers or no children at all, like me.”

      Camryn had moved to Portland after college and married an older man with kids who’d been in high school. They’d divorced about four years earlier, and she’d ended up with enough money to buy her condo outright with enough left over to make it easy for her to support herself. “I should do like you and become a teacher. I like it. I like being around the kids. I probably should have had children when I could.”

      “It’s not too late, is it?” Jamie asked. Camryn tried to refill her cup of decaf coffee, but Jamie waved her off. She’d laid out a plate of assorted crackers and cheese, and Jamie, who’d managed half a peanut butter sandwich at home with Emma and Harley, dug in, famished.

      “It’s way too late. For me anyway. I just don’t see it happening. If I’d started when you did and had one already in high school, that would be okay. I think maybe I’m too lazy. I like just taking care of me, and I volunteer at Luv-Ahh-Pet Animal Shelter, a great place. It’s just outside the River Glen city limits.” She pointed northeast.

      Jamie thought of her own responsibilities. The uncertainty of her life was enough to make her yearn for what Camryn had.

      “Oh, by the way. You know whose twins are in one of my classes? Teddy Ryerson’s.”

      Jamie moved sharply in surprise and knocked into her mug, sloshing coffee. Apologizing profusely, she jumped up to help, but Camryn told her not to worry, she’d find a sponge. Luckily, only a little liquid had spilled onto the table and Camryn easily swiped it up.

      “His wife died. Leukemia, I think. So, he’s in charge of the twins, Oliver and Anika. They’re seven now. Second-graders. And Teddy’s some kind of investment guy. He lives at his parents’ old house. You know they divorced. Of course you do.”

      “Yes.”

      Dr. William and Nadine Ryerson had split not long after the terrible attack on Emma, citing irreconcilable differences. Teddy and Serena had stayed with Nadine in River Glen, while William moved on to a new relationship and a new life in a new area.

      Palm Desert, maybe? Jamie wasn’t sure. As soon as Teddy and Serena were of age, Nadine left River Glen as well and had also chosen to live somewhere in the Southwest.

      “She gave the house to Teddy and Serena, right?” Jamie asked. Anything that touched on Emma’s attack made her feel like she was gossiping about her sister.

      “Yes. Serena lives in Portland. She’s a nurse. I think she worked at Glen Gen for a while. Oh, right. Your mom knew her.”

      Jamie nodded. Mom had been very circumspect and careful about Serena Ryerson. She couldn’t look at any of the Ryersons, or their house, without thinking about Emma’s attack. She had made a few remarks about Serena to Harley, whom she spoke with more often than Jamie, but in the long run, she’d grudgingly admitted Serena worked hard and did a good job. Somewhere in the last few years, Serena had moved on to a Portland hospital, and Jamie had heard she worked in the cardiac unit.

      She knew next to nothing about Teddy Ryerson.

      “So, Teddy has twins,” she said now.

      “Yep. They’re cute as buttons. Oliver’s fairly outgoing, but Anika’s shy.”

      “A lot like Teddy and Serena.”

      “Ah, yes. You babysat for them.”

      Jamie nodded slowly.

      “It’s still hard, isn’t it? Especially with Emma, the way she is.” Camryn sighed. “I still wish I knew what happened that night. We all do, I guess.”

      “Yeah.”

      They talked for a while more, but Jamie was starting to feel tired and worn out. It had been a stressful day. “I’d better go,” she said, putting her empty mug by the sink. “Harley’s probably back by now. I’m kind of surprised she hasn’t called me already. And I want to check on Emma.”

      “If you need anything? Any extra help, or anything, anything at all, I’m around, with a lot of time on my hands since I broke up with my last boyfriend. More like a friend really. It never got out of the gate, truth be told.”

      “I’ve had a few of those,” Jamie admitted. Friendships that couldn’t seem to turn the corner to romance, although she suspected it was more her fault than theirs.

      “I was dating this guy for a while . . .” She seemed to want to continue, then said, “Well, it was never going to go anywhere.” She made a face, then changed the subject. “No one in your life either?” she asked curiously.

      “Nope.”

      “You know who I was dating? Nate.”

      “Nate Farland?”

      “He lives in Seattle, so it was kind of whenever he was in the Portland area. His job’s something in tech. He used to live here. We connected on the tail end of that, but then he moved. He made a half-hearted attempt to get me to move to Seattle, but I’m stuck in River Glen. By choice,” she added.

      “Nate . . .” Jamie smiled and shook her head. He’d been a sometime buddy of theirs in high school, never anything more.

      “I know, right? I kind of thought, hey, maybe this’ll turn into something now that we’re mature adults.... Ha! I kept thinking about how he was such a goofball. Couldn’t get past it!”

      They both laughed. It felt good.

      Jamie said, “I’m glad you’re here. It’s nice to have a real friend.”

      “Me too. Did you know Gwen Winkelman’s a psychologist in town? You were good friends with her.”

      “Once upon a time. We don’t really keep in touch.” Jamie felt that same twinge of guilt she always did that she hadn’t been quite fair to Gwen as a friend.

      “Her parents left her the house, too. A lot of that going around in River Glen.”

      “Did she get rid of all the weird tchotchkes and fake Spanish moss and other decorations around the outside of the house?”

      “God no. I think she likes being ‘mystical.’ It’s worse than ever. I talked to Rosie, too, about a month ago. She lives in Florida now. I keep telling myself I should go visit her, maybe in January when the weather’s cold and wet. We should go together.”

      “Yeah.” Jamie knew that was never going to happen with her current responsibilities.

      Jamie hadn’t mentioned that she’d met with Icky Vicky and her crowd for drinks earlier. Hadn’t wanted to. She’d enjoyed just listening to Camryn and not having to add much input. But now she let her friend know about meeting them for wine, admitting she felt she was invited because she was a curiosity to them.

      “Because СКАЧАТЬ