Beyond Repair Read Free

car seat. I never could stay mad at her.
    Zoey knew that, and she had the perfect peace offering. “I’m making mac and cheese tonight!” she called out as she walked down the steps toward us.
    “Sounds good. I’ll take the kids to my place after so you can pack for a few hours,” I replied, sliding into the driver’s seat. It was Friday so the kids could stay up a little later.
    She paused at my window. “I forgot to ask you last night if you wanted to have Mia’s birthday party at the studio. The party slots are filling up fast. Should I save you one?”
    Anxiety rolled in my stomach. In a month, Mia would be turning four. I was hoping to avoid a huge party, but it wasn’t fair to her. “I’ll talk to her about it and let you know tonight, okay?”
    “Sure,” she said, stepping back from the car. “Later, skater.”
    “This is getting lame. We’re not ten years old anymore.”
    “Finish it.”
    I resisted rolling my eyes because I really shouldn’t mess with tradition. “Peace out, girl scout.” I rolled up the window before she could spurt off another rhyme.
    “Mom?”
    “Yes?” I looked at Mia over my shoulder as I backed the car out of the driveway.
    “What do you do at work?”
    “I make pretty ads on the computer with pictures and words. It’s called graphic design.” I turned my gaze back to the road and started driving.
    “Is that what Aunt Zoey does on the computer, too?”
    “No, she types when she works with Uncle Kyle at karate.” I paused, knowing that I needed to ask about her party. “Hey, your birthday is in one month. That’s not too long from now.”
    “Can I have a party? With all of my friends from school? Not just Mike, Justin, and Beth?”
    My stomach dropped. There went my master plan of trying to talk her into something small. “Sure you can.”
    Not noticing my disappointment, Mia squealed and clapped her hands. “Yay!”
    “Aunt Zoey just asked if you wanted to have your party at karate. Uncle Kyle can show everyone some of the cool moves you’re learning, and then we can have birthday cake.”
    “I want a chocolate cake!”
    “Sure. Do you want your party at karate?”
    “Can the cake have purple frosting?”
    I tried not to laugh. “Yeah, Mia. So, you don’t care where the party is?”
    “Maybe we can get ice cream, too? Like Sidney had at her party.”
    “Okay, so we are going to have your party at karate, with ice cream and a chocolate cake with purple frosting. Sound like a plan?”
    “And a piñata.”
    I looked in the rearview mirror. She grinned at me, and I had to smile back, even though I could already tell this party was going to be a pain in the ass.
    Making small talk with all of the parents? Not my idea of fun.
    I took my hand sanitizer out of the cup holder.
    * * *
    After dropping Mia off at school, I battled crappy traffic for forty-five minutes. When I finally pulled into a parking space outside of the ad agency where I worked, dread washed over me. I really did not want to go into the office. Turning the car off, I stared out my windshield at the rainbow of colors from the other cars in the parking lot.
    I was being paranoid. Nothing bad ever happened to me in this building.
    But going in reminded me of shit that was much better forgotten. Or, in my case, ignored. Some things were just etched into my mind too deep, and they had changed my life so dramatically that I didn’t have the luxury of forgetting.
    My knuckles turned white as I gripped the steering wheel, willing myself to go in. Finally, I gave up. “You’re being stupid.” I used my hand sanitizer, and then I climbed out of the car and slammed the door shut. My ankles buckled in my stupid heels as I stormed into the building, angry with myself for getting upset about something as ordinary as going to work.
    By the time I reached my desk, the anger had subsided and my attention focused on not falling on my ass. So when a hand touched my shoulder, my breath caught in my throat