“Maybe.” She frowns as the lines crisscrossing her face grow more pronounced. “Has your son had all his vaccinations?”
All public schools require a full set of vaccinations, and I’m sure she knows this. But fine—I’ll humor her. “Yes.”
“Including influenza?”
It’s not even flu season, but whatever. “Yes.”
“You can’t be too careful, you know,” she says. “Spencer is very fragile.”
Admittedly, the boy does look a bit fragile, with his nearly translucent skin and tiny body, swimming in that giant woolen sweater. But some color has come into his cheeks now that he is chatting with Nico.
“It would be nice to get to know each other since I’m new here,” I say. “My husband and I are having dinner with Suzette and Jonathan tonight.”
“Oh.” Her lips curl in distaste. “I would watch yourself around that woman.” She gives me a knowing look. “And I would especially watch that handsome husband of yours.”
I don’t like what she’s implying. Yes, Suzette is very attractive, and yes, she was a bit over-the-top flirtatious. But I trust my husband—he’s not going to cheat on me with the next-door neighbor. I’m also not thrilled that Janice has taken it upon herself to comment on this.
“Suzette seems… nice,” I say politely, even though I’m not sure I believe it.
“Well, she’s not.”
I don’t know what to say to that, but fortunately, at that moment, the school bus arrives, and Janice detaches her child from his leash. (But I’m sure he has a microchip with GPS implanted in his brain or something.) Nico barely acknowledges my slightly tearful goodbye, because he’s so involved with his new friend. He does allow me to plant a kiss on his forehead, which he has the good grace not to wipe away until he’s climbing the steps to the bus. Ada, on the other hand, gives me a big hug and clings to me long enough that I wish I were taking her directly to the school.
“You’re going to make a ton of friends,” I murmur in her ear. “Just be yourself.”
Ada gives me a skeptical look. Ugh, I can’t believe I said that. Telling someone to be themselves is like the worst advice ever. I’ve alwayshatedit when people said that to me. But I don’t have any better wisdom than that. If I did, I’d have more friends.
I wish Enzo were here. He would know exactly what to say to get her to smile. But he had a landscaping job he left for early this morning, so it’s just me.
“I’ll be waiting at home this afternoon!” I call after them. I am taking a half day today to make sure I’ll be there when they arrive, although in the future, they will likely beat me home by thirty minutes to an hour.
The doors to the bus slam shut and it drives away, carrying my two children away with it. I get that twinge of anxiety that I always feel when I’m separated from my children. Will that ever go away? It was so much easier when they were growing inside me. Well, except for the life-threatening preeclampsia I got in my third trimester with Nico, which was what prompted my decision to get my tubes tied.
It is only after the bus has disappeared from the cul-de-sac that I notice Janice is staring at me, a horrified expression on her face.
“Is something wrong?” I ask as politely as possible.
“Millie,” she says. “You’re not honestly expecting them to walk home all by themselves, are you?”
“Well, yes.” I point to my house, barely a stone’s throw away. “We liveright there.”
“So what?” she shoots back. “We live right there.” She points to her house, which is literally right behind us. “And you don’t see me leaving Spencer alone for even a second. If a predator is after your child, they could snatch him just like that.”
Then she snaps her fingers right in my face to demonstrate the immediacy of the threat.
“It’s a pretty safe town though,” I say tentatively, not wanting to outright tell this woman that she’s ridiculous for keeping her grade-school-aged son on a leash.
“False security,” she sneers. “Do you know that an eight-year-old boy vanished right off the street three years ago?”
“Here?”
“No, a few towns away.”
“Where?”
“I said,a few towns away.” She gives me a look. “His mother let go of his hand forone second, and he was snatched away. Vanished without a trace.”
“Really?”
