“I don’t know why he can’t take a few minutes and be with us,” Bruce said under his breath. He was clearly trying to hide his irritation, but it came out against his will. He poured a cup of coffee and looked back out the window. Carrie understood Bruce’s feelings completely. He was more annoyed by Adam’s absence than he let on, but he held his tongue. Carrie could imagine Bruce’s pride at the fact that his son was so successful, had a home worth millions, owned his own business, but at what cost? His family was very accommodating of his working, and she understood that Adam was an adult and could make his own choices, but he needed someone to stand up and tell him what they thought.
There had to be a book on workaholics, Carrie thought. She decided that she’d find one for her next purchase. As good a man as Adam seemed to be, and as lovely as his family was, she found his absence confusing. She understood that it took a lot to run a business, but why, as smart as he clearly was, couldn’t he figure out a way to balance it all? Was there some reason he didn’t want to?
Bruce and Eric left the room to join Walter, and Carrie heard the click of the widescreen television. Sports highlights, it sounded like. The three women and the children were left in the kitchen. As Carrie watched Sharon with the kids and Joyce chopping apples at the island in the kitchen, she wondered why she was even there. Why had Adam hired her when he clearly had an entire family who was willing to watch them? As she thought about it, she began to feel out of place, and she wished she could be with her own family on Christmas. A snowplow grumbled down the street outside.
Adam came into the kitchen, and she immediately felt the heat on her neck from nerves. He’d changed and had on jeans and a navy blue sweater. She almost had to look away before her hands started shaking. He was so attractive that she felt like she’d fall apart just looking in his direction.
“I heard the snowplow, and Andy said it’s been down the main roads. I’m going to go into work,” he said to Joyce, but he glanced in Carrie’s direction. Why did he look at her? Could he sense how he made her feel? Did he know how much it bothered her that he was never around? “I shouldn’t be too late, but don’t feel like you have to save me a spot at the table.” He walked over to David and Olivia who were watching him with interest. “Bye, kids. See you… in the morning.”
A pinch took hold of Carrie’s chest as she watched the exchange. He didn’t plan to be home until after their bedtime, and the kids wouldn’t see their daddy until the next day. She worried for them. Did they think he was choosing work over them again? Certainly they must. She wanted to grab him by the shoulders and look straight into his eyes. It’s been snowing like crazy! Take one little day off! Don’t go to work, she wanted to say. As she was mentally pleading with him not to go to work, she caught sight of Sharon, whose eyes were on Adam, her gaze like daggers.
Carrie understood that look. She had only known Adam a short time, but her irritation with him was quite strong, so she could only imagine what Sharon felt if she’d been dealing with this for years. Carrie looked at the faces of the children, and she could feel the sting of anger—she wanted to scream at him, but even if she knew him as well as Sharon, her manners made her think better of it. Even though he made her so nervous, there was a part of her—the part who knew without a doubt what he needed—that wanted to stand up to him, look him in the eye, and tell him not to be so selfish, to stay at home with his kids just for one day.
“I wish we could paint some more, Daddy,” Olivia said, coloring haphazard streaks across her paper with a purple crayon.
Carrie could feel the tension in the air. Joyce’s artificial smile, Olivia’s request, Sharon’s look—it all put a heaviness in the room. The only one who hadn’t added to the moment was David, but even he was looking down at his paper, a disappointed look on his face. He colored slowly back and forth, and she wondered what was going through his little mind. The anger was nearly boiling under her skin. Didn’t Adam realize what he was doing? How rude could one person be? This was so much bigger than her wish for him to spend more time with his kids. This was clearly a family that had dealt with it for much longer than she had. It wasn’t just his kids he was letting down but his grandfather, his parents, and his sister. What concerned her most was Sharon’s look of disapproval—it wasn’t hurt or disappointment, it was anger. What was going on between those two?
“Andy’s waiting at the office. We have some things that have to get done. I have to go,” he said, but he looked at Sharon as he said it. That look Carrie had seen in his eyes—that moment of consideration, of deliberation—she saw it just then. He knew he needed to stay, she was nearly certain, but he wasn’t going to. He was choosing work. She could feel the wetness in her palms from the anxiety that his leaving was causing. She worried for the kids, and for Sharon. There was something on Sharon’s face that made her believe that the anger was rooted deep, and she wished that she could ask about it, help her through whatever it was.