Chapter Two

Jessie tossed her keys on the kitchen counter and hung her purse off the back of a chair. The water was running in the bathroom, indicating that her sister, Monica, was getting ready for her day. At twenty-one years old, Monica was more grown-up than most. Her last year at the community college nursing program had started in September. Jessie had vowed to help her out as much as she could. Monica stayed with Danny at night while Jessie worked, and Monica lived in the apartment rent-free.

Monica worked about eighteen hours a week as a nurse’s aide at the local community hospital to help with food, but for the most part, Jessie took care of the bills. The two of them had made a pact years ago. Monica would go through school first, with Jessie’s help, and then when she was finished, Jessie would do the same.

In the beginning, Jessie thought maybe nursing was something she’d enjoy doing. Lord knew the profession paid well, but the thought of working with the sick and injured all the time didn’t sound appealing.

Jessie actually liked the service industry. Not that she wanted to become a career waitress or anything, but maybe some type of manager position in a fancy establishment. Maybe catering events, or organizing big parties. The thought of being a wedding planner had a nice, clean feel about it. Not like nursing, with all the blood and body fluids.

Jessie did manage to take one class each semester online to help her out once she started back full-time. She had a year to figure out what she wanted to do for a living.

Of course, dating a rich guy couldn’t hurt.

Jessie considered the overnight crowd at the diner, especially him…Jack. The guy with the sexy, cute smile and never-give-up attitude. He hadn’t left the restaurant until after five in the morning. When he did, he climbed into the worn-out truck in the parking lot and sputtered on down the road. Before he left, he promised to return.

Jessie hadn’t encouraged him, didn’t even reveal her schedule when he asked. By the end of the evening, she and Jack’s conversation had been reduced to snarky comments and witty comebacks.

If she were being honest with herself, she’d have to admit her shift had flown by and left her with a smile on her lips. It didn’t suck to know someone actually acknowledged her as a woman and not just a mother.

The soft patter of feet tapped down the hallway of the apartment. Danny sported his race-car pajamas and hair that stuck up in several places. He rubbed sleep from his eyes when he said, “Good morning, Mommy.”

“Morning, buddy. How’d you sleep?” Jessie knelt down and pulled her son into her arms for a hug.

Danny gave up one arm to join her hug, but continued to scratch his eyes with the other. “Good,” he said with a big yawn. “Auntie made us sundaes last night after you went to work.”

“Did she? Were they good?”

“We didn’t have any nuts to sprinkle on the top, but they tasted good anyway.”

Danny pulled away and climbed up onto the stool at the kitchen counter.

Jessie removed bowls from the cupboard and brought a box of cereal off the top of the refrigerator. “I’ll buy some nuts before we do our Christmas baking. Next time you can have nuts on your sundae,” she told him.

He yawned again. “OK.”

While Danny took a few minutes to wake up with his bowl of cereal, Jessie stepped to her bedroom to slip into a nightgown.

The bed was tousled since Monica slept in it on the nights Jessie worked. Otherwise, she took the sleeper sofa bed in the living room. They really could use a three-bedroom apartment, but that was a luxury they couldn’t afford. It was hard enough rubbing her tips together to pay for what they had.

Monica slipped into the bedroom, wearing her student nurse uniform. The stark white outfit would hang on most people, but not Monica. Her slim build and naturally blonde hair accented the clothes. “Oh, good, you’re home,” she said as she sailed around the room picking up her clothes from the night before.

“Day shift showed up on time for once,” Jessie told her.

“That’s good. I need to be at the hospital at eight thirty sharp.”

Jessie glanced at her watch. “Can you still take Danny to school?”

“Yeah, that’s not a problem.”

Good. Danny had started kindergarten a couple of months prior, which afforded Jessie a few hours of uninterrupted sleep. Sleep was heaven. Only on her days off did she manage more than about five hours.

“You work again tonight, right?” Monica asked.

“Right. Off tomorrow.”

“What about Thanksgiving?”

“I couldn’t give up the shift, Mo. Time-and-a-half pay is needed this month if I’m going to give Danny any Christmas at all.” Jessie would have to work graveyard on both Wednesday and Thursday nights, leaving a small window of time to sleep and enjoy the holiday.

Monica leaned against the dresser. “You know Mom is expecting us at her place at two.”

Jessie rolled her eyes. “Yes, I know. Has Pat come back, or are we taking him off our Christmas card list?” Pat was her mother’s latest boyfriend.

Renee Effinger, Jessie and Monica’s mother, three-time divorcee, no longer married the many men in her life. Instead, she dated them, let them move in for a few months, and then kicked them out when she tired of their crap. Pat had actually left her around Halloween. Renee hadn’t seen it coming, and ever since his departure, she moped around her singlewide mobile home playing the jilted woman. Too bad the woman didn’t follow her own advice and marry a rich man. No, Renee Bradly-Mann-Smith-Effinger fell in love three times in her life, all with losers, dreamers, or wannabe men.