Jim held Laurie out to look into her face. ?Mommy got a job offer,? he said.
Laurie was holding her head so well these days we no longer cradled it. Yet as Jim was holding her up and she was looking at him happily and gurgling, her head started to wobble and she suddenly pitched herself headfirst into Jim?s chest.
?Whoa,? Jim said. ?She?s excited.?
We laughed.
?What kind of offer?? he asked.
I filled him in on the details.
His face displayed an array of emotions as I recounted Gary?s offer. I left out the girdle-popping incident?no need to sound like a complete moron in front of my number one fan.
When I?d finished talking, he was silent for a moment.
Finally I asked, ?So do you approve? Can I take him up on it??
He shuffled Laurie from one shoulder to the other. ?Kate, I don?t ever want to keep you from doing something you want to do.? He wrapped his free arm around me. ?I just want you to be safe. Promise me you?ll be careful.?
I kissed him. ?I promise.?
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
To Do:
1. ?
2. Throw out stupid girdle and exercise?there is no substitute.
3. Find Margaret?why isn?t she calling me back?
4. Get Laurie outfit for Thanksgiving.
5. Groceries!!!
In the morning I looked out my front window and saw our neighbor Kenny washing his van. It was an old white van with tinted windows.
A van?
His van would be perfect for a stakeout!
I rapped on the window. He looked up and waved when he saw me. I picked Laurie up, wrapped her in a blanket, then ran down the stairs.
?Hi, Kenny, can I use your van? I want to check something out.?
?Sure. Is your car in the shop??
?No. I need to go on a stakeout,? I said proudly.
Kenny bobbed his head up and down. ?Cool.?
I observed Celia?s midwife center from inside Kenny?s van. There was no activity.
Wow. I was on a stakeout.
I?d done a stakeout on my first case, but Jim had been with me, so it felt more like I was hanging out with my husband?which I was?instead of a stakeout. And following Alan last week didn?t count because that was really only following?so now it was official?my first stakeout.
And I actually felt prepared. I had stopped by Mom?s to water her plants and borrowed her binoculars, then I?d bought lunch.
Practically a legitimate PI.
Where was Margaret?
I unwrapped the bagel I?d purchased from the shop up the street. Cream cheese dripped over the side but the tomatoes and spinach were still crisp. If I waited any longer to eat it, the veggies would start to wilt.
Oh, well, better eat it now. If Celia kept me waiting too long, I could always get something else from the shop.
Wait. What if I missed her leaving?
I used my binoculars to check out the shop.
Oh, I was growing, growing, growing!
Never mind the fact that I had borrowed them from Mom.
The shop was within view, but if I went inside and, say, I was at the counter ordering, then I wouldn?t be able to see the entrance of Celia?s midwife center. I couldn?t risk missing her.
Darn.
I bit into the bagel anyway. It was absolutely divine. Either that or I was extremely hungry?which I was. After a few bites the bagel was gone.
Now I was out of food but still hungry.
