In Search of Tomorrow ✓

Nine

I could smell the bread burning, and I had to run to the oven to save it. As I took it out and placed the scalding hot pan onto the stove, I glanced at the time. Thirty minutes until Cameron came.

Surveying the mess of the bread, I put them on plates and pulled out the ham. How had I thought toasting the bread would have been a good idea? Maddie would definitely complain about her slightly blackened food, but I didn't have time to try again.

"Is something burning?" asked Clare, coming into the kitchen. Her nose was up in the air like a bloodhound's, and her eyes widened when she saw my poor attempt at sandwiches. "You should just stick with microwaved dinners," she pointed out.

I rolled my eyes. "Get the honey mustard, and be a help, okay?" I asked her, and she obediently went into the fridge and pulled out the condiment. When she handed it to me, I quickly spread it over the bread, added the ham, cheese, and lettuce, and then slapped the halves of the sandwich together.

"Go get Maddie for dinner," I told her, and she glared at me, most likely for bossing her around, before scampering into the living room to get her little sister.

We gathered at the breakfast table and I opened the blinds so that my sisters could see out into the backyard. Maddie watched the birds chirping on the grass with fascination as she ate her food, not even paying attention to the overcooked state of her bread.

"How was school?" I asked Clare, struggling to keep my expression neutral as I swallowed a chalky bite of sandwich and washed it down with some water.

"Good." Clare wasn't really looking at me, so I stared her down pointedly until she glanced up and said, "My teacher is scheduling parent-teacher conferences for all the kids in my class."

My eyebrows shot up. This wasn't my first time dealing with this problem, but it was always a pain. "Is she really?" I asked, giving up on my bread altogether and opening up my sandwich so that I could just eat what was inside. "Tell her to call my phone, okay?"

Clare rolled her eyes and grumpily went back to her food.

The doorbell rang just as I was about to take a bite of ham, and I was forced to set down my fork and wipe my fingers on my napkin before hurrying over to answer it. When I saw Cameron standing on the other side, his hands in his pockets and his seemingly permanent smile on his face, I could feel heat rising up to my cheeks.

"Hi," I said.

He smiled a little wider—then, his expression froze and he cocked his head. "Is something burning?"

Exhaling loudly, I gestured for him to step inside the entryway and shut the door behind him. "I burned dinner," I told him as he crossed the living room and poked his head into the breakfast room.

He waved cheerfully at Maddie and Clare, who grinned back, and addressed me again. "Parents still not back?"

I coughed; my throat was suddenly on fire. "No."

While I finished my sandwich and then put the dishes into the dishwasher, Cameron spread out his things on the living room floor. Then I herded Maddie and Clare up to their bedroom to work on homework before coming back downstairs and plopping down on the living room floor.

"So, I saw you got your car back," Cameron said as he neatly lined up his mechanical pencils. I knew he was trying to make small talk, but thinking of the car made me think of the upcoming payments (plus interest!), and thinking of payments made me think of my quickly dwindling bank account.