Fed up

limited resource—fresh water. But instead of telling me to forget about ecological friendliness, my parents found a young carpenter, Emilio, who designed and built rain barrels that blended in with the colors and styles of individual clients’ houses. My job was to accompany my parents on landscaping consults and push rain barrels into the design equation. I did some neighborhood canvassing on my own, too, but I loathed the door-to-door approach.
    “Okay, Carter Landscapes’ rain barrel business will have to take Tuesday off.” I leaned my head into Josh’s shoulder.
    Can I come see you at Simmer tomorrow night?”
    You bet. I’ll make you whatever you want,” he promised.
    I loved going to see Josh at the restaurant. Not that I usually got to spend much time with him there, but his outstanding food made up for his absence. Besides, it was a way for him to be with me, really. He often made me special dishes that weren’t on the menu, and those were some of my favorites. Sometimes he played with seasonal ingredients experimented with dishes he was considering for the menu or just cooked what he was inspired to make that day.
    “Good. Maybe I’ll hang out with Ade for a bit tomorrow afternoon, and I’ll come in after that. What time are you working?”
    “I should get there around nine, I suppose. I have to close, so I’ll be there late, but who knows what shape the place will be in after I was gone today?” Josh stretched his arms above his head and gave a long, deep yawn. “This day is officially over, okay?”
    Josh and I crawled into bed. “Josh?” I said. “What if it was poison? Not food poisoning, but poison?”
    He curled his body around mine and pulled the comforter up high. Even though it was August, we were both shivering. “I know,” he answered quietly. “I’ve had the same thought.”
     

 
    MY mind could have used a good fourteen hours of oblivion, but my body refused to sleep past eight o’clock the next morning. When I awoke, Josh had already left for work. I knew that he must be exhausted. Even so, since he was going to be at Simmer tonight to cook me the dinner he’d promised, he’d be working a brutally long day. I brewed a pot of coffee and called my mother to let her know I wasn’t coming to work today. I didn’t feel ready to tell my parents about Josh’s nightmare of a TV episode yesterday, so I simply said that I had a cold. In fact, I sounded so raspy that it took almost no effort to make myself sound sick.
    “Chloe, you poor thing. Aren’t those summer colds the worst?” My mother was so full of sympathy that I felt a pang of guilt about my lie. “Why don’t I stop by later with some tissues and soup? Or, better yet, why don’t you come and stay with us for a few days, and we'll take care of you?”
    I was touched by my mother’s offer to nurse me back to health, but even if I’d been sick, I’d have refused. I loved my parents to pieces, but it would have been impossible to get any real rest with my mother popping into the guest bed room every five minutes to take my temperature and feed me hot broth. I’d have had to return home to recover from recovering.
    “No, thanks, Mom. I’m really fine. It’s just a cold. I should be much better tomorrow.”
    “Well, don’t worry about tomorrow, either. I think it’ll be a slow day around here. I’ll call you if we need you. While I have you on the phone, are things looking all set for Adrianna’s shower on Saturday?”
    “I think so. I’ve heard back from almost everyone.”
    I couldn’t believe that it was only four more days until my best friend's combination wedding shower and baby shower. Both the shower and wedding itself were going to be held at my parents’ house. I’d been determined to host Adrianna’s shower myself, but it would’ve been impossible to squeeze more than a few people into my little condo. And the wedding? Owen, who was working as a fish purveyor, was living off the commissions he made from selling seafood to restaurants, and Adrianna had just stopped working as an independent hair stylist. Consequently, the two parents-to-be were barely able to pay their bills. Owen’s parents simply didn’t have the money to help them, and Adrianna’s mother, Kitty, had suggested that they go to City Hall for a quick service. Kitty was less than thrilled about the order in which her daughter was getting married and starting a family. Adrianna’s father had vanished when she was